Housing Studies Association – Privacy Notice
We comply with GDPR and The Data Protection Act 2018 which helps to keep your personal data safe and secure. We appreciate that when you share your data with us you trust us to look after it. By visiting www.housing-studies-association.org you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
Our Privacy notice describes to you:
- Who we are.
- What personal data we need & how we collect it.
- What we do with your personal data.
- Who has access to the data that we hold.
- How we store your data.
- How long we hold your information for.
- Your rights and how to exercise them.
- Changes to this privacy notice.
- How to contact us and complain.
1.Who we are.
The Housing Studies Association was established in 1991 to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among all those with interests in housing research and education.
We are the Data Controller when processing your data.
The Data Protection contact (person responsible for maintaining records of personal data and data processing activity) is our current Chair.
2.What personal data we need and how we collect it.
When you become a member, subscribe or join our Committee we ask for your name, address, telephone number and an e-mail address. On other occasions such as events we will also ask for additional information which may include: gender, ethnicity, any special health requirements, photograph. We will only request personal data that is necessary for us to perform our duties.
With regard to each of your visits to our site we may automatically collect the following information:
- technical information, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform.
How we collect your data
We only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
- Where there is a contract in place (this is when you become a member) and we process the personal data in the administration of entering into or maintaining this contract.
- Where it is in the legitimate interest of you and the organisation.
- When you give consent on our subscribe button on our website or complete the membership form on our website. Remember whenever you give us consent you are in control of how we contact you, and if you would like to unsubscribe at any time, we provide the information on how you do this easily.
3.What we do with your personal data
We will use this information:
- To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us and to provide you with the information, and services that you request from us.
- To provide you with information about other events, products and services we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about.
- To notify you about changes to our service.
- To ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.
Without this information HSA would be unable to offer its services. None of your data is passed on to third parties for direct marketing purposes. If we would like to use your personal data then we will always ask for your permission before we do so.
4.Who has access to the data we hold
Access to the information which you have provided will be limited to authorised members of the HSA committee.
The HSA will not sell your data onto third parties at any time however we may share your information with selected third parties including:
- Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract related to your membership (for example, membership payments, processing of journal orders etc.).
- Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site.
We may disclose your personal information to third parties:
- If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Housing Studies Association, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
As the Data Controller we only use trusted third parties to help us to provide our service to you, we have checked their Data Protection/GDPR compliance to ensure that we are happy to share your data.
5.How we store your data
The organisation regularly reviews its arrangements for physical and IT security, ensuring these remain aligned to GDPR and The Data Protection Act 2018 to continue to robustly safeguard member & committee personal data, protecting against its unauthorised access or misuse.
However, no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, can be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information. The internet by its nature is a public forum, and HSA encourages you to use caution when disclosing information online.
Personal data is processed mainly within the European Economic Area (EEA) which adheres to the same Data Protection Laws, but may be stored outside the EEA with third parties which follow strict Data Protection guidelines.
6.How long do we hold your data for
We will keep your data for as long as is necessary for HSA to fulfil the purpose of the organisation. For members who choose not to renew their membership, then we will delete all your details from our database after a period of time has lapsed. The organisation keeps a processing and retention record which gives our specific retention information for each category of data.
7.Your rights and how to exercise them
Access to your personal data and data portability
You have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you, this is called a ‘Subject Access Report.’ This will provide you with all personal data we hold about you, subject to some limited exemptions for example, you will not necessarily be entitled to access third party information.
Also, you have the right to data portability. Under this right for information you can request that your personal data is provided to you (or another organisation) in a portable, electronic format.
Change, restrict, delete
You may also have rights to change, restrict the use of, or delete your personal information. Unless there is an exceptional circumstance (like where we are required to store personal information for legal reasons) we will generally delete your personal information.
Object
You can object to us processing your information based on our legitimate interests. In such cases, we will delete your personal information within a month of receipt of the objection, unless we have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.
8.Changes to this Privacy Notice
HSA reserves the right to amend this notice at any time in line with legislation changes. Any changes will be posted on this page. This Privacy Notice was last updated in April 2020.
9.How to contact us & complain
Should you be unhappy with how we are handling you data we would hope that you will contact us in first instance by emailing our Membership Officer. To find out who our current Membership Officer is please visit our Committee Page.
Alternatively should you wish to complain you can contact the relevant Supervisory Authority which is the Information Commissioners Office: www.ico.org.uk
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
