Privacy Policy

The Knitting & Crochet Guild (KCG) takes its responsibilities to safeguard your personal data seriously. This document outlines how and why we collect information, and your rights regarding this information. It also explains how and why we use cookies when you visit our website.

Personal information you give us

Our responsibilities and your rights regarding this information are set in the Data Protection Act 2018. The Data Protection Act 2018 incorporates the EU General Data Protection Regulations that came into effect in May 2018 (GDPR). The KCG complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 and therefore the GDPR.

Our responsibilities

We have a responsibility to ensure that your information is accurate. We have provided the facility for you to update your own information using Sheep, and we will update your information for you if you are unable to do so when you tell us of any required changes.

We have a responsibility to ensure your information is kept securely. We do this by limiting access to the data to those who need to have it, and only to those parts of the data that are required. For example:

• Board members responsible for membership and the treasurer have access to membership information to manage the services we provide.
• Other volunteers, such as local branch co-ordinators, may have access to contact details of members in their area or to provide something you requested.
• Some third-party organisations, such as the company that prints and distributes Slipknot, our quarterly magazine, need access to members’ names and addresses.

All KCG volunteers who have access to your information and all Board members sign a data sharing agreement. This ensures they are aware of their responsibilities regarding your information.

We do not sell your information and do not share it with any organisation that does not have a legitimate need to access it to provide a service you have requested.

Retention of information

We have a responsibility to securely destroy your personal information when it is no longer needed. We only keep it for as long as necessary to provide the services you have requested and to comply with legal requirements.

For example:

• Details of members are kept for the duration of membership and for 10 years after membership ceases. After membership has ceased, data is only kept to fulfil our legal requirement to do so. We do not use it for any other purpose.
• If you register for an event without becoming a member, we keep your information until the event and related notifications are complete. (If you have given your permission, we may retain some information for a longer period to give you information about future services and events.)
• If you donate to the Guild as a non-member and we have claimed Gift Aid on that donation, we retain related information for 7 years after the donation to fulfil our legal obligation. (Details of donations by members is part of their membership record.)

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal information.

• You can ask to see the personal information that we hold about you.
• You can ask us to update your personal information at any time.
• You can decide which of the non-essential uses of your information you give permission for and which you don’t.
• You can ask us to destroy all the personal information we hold about you. We will do so as long as we do not have a legal obligation to keep it.
• If you need to contact the KCG about your personal information and you are a member, please contact the membership secretary. If you have registered for an event, please contact the event organiser or the chair of the KCG.

Our membership management system

We store membership details on a third-party system called SheepCRM. Information is held securely in Sheep and is accessed on a separate (secure) website. All SheepCRM servers are in the UK. Using Sheep, you can view and edit your own personal details.

Our email communications

Emails relating specifically to memberships (renewal reminders and so on), notifications members have requested (that publications are available for download, for example) and information we are required to send to members (notifications of the AGM, for example) are sent using Sheep.

Newsletters and similar communications are sent using MailChimp. The email addresses and names of members (no other personal details) are synchronised automatically to MailChimp from Sheep. Anyone receiving a newsletter or similar from the Guild can unsubscribe from the newsletter without affecting membership-related emails. For information on how information is stored on MailChimp, see the MailChimp website.

Our own website and use of cookies

We do not automatically collect any personal information from our website. You may provide such information (for example, when completing a contact form), and that information is treated as described above. Any information you do provide may be stored on our website servers (based in the EU) or transferred to Sheep.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of information that may be saved to your device (computer, tablet or phone). Some cookies are destroyed automatically when your browser is closed; others are destroyed when they are no longer needed.

Cookies do not contain viruses and are generally harmless. Our cookies do not identify you by name but may provide some other information that enables your device to be identified.

They belong to one of the following categories:

• Necessary – cookies in this category are needed for the website to function and for security reasons.
• Preferences – cookies in this category enable a website to remember your preferences, such as the language you use or your location.
• Statistics – cookies in this category enable a website’s managers to understand how the website is used, which pages people visit and how they get there.
• Marketing – cookies in this category may track visitors across websites, recording when links are followed.

We are working hard to comply with our responsibilities under The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the amendments made in 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018 that have been adopted as UK Regulations.

Note: If you follow a link from our website to another website, that website will have its own cookie policy. The KCG has no responsibility for cookies associated with websites other than its own.

If you want to remove cookies from your device and restrict their use in the future, please visit www.AboutCookies.org for information.

We provide details about the cookies we use in the table below so you can make an informed decision.

This list details the cookies used in our website.

How can I change my cookie preferences ?

You can change your preferences at any time by clicking on this link: Cookie Settings. This will display the consent notice again enabling you to change your preferences or withdraw your consent entirely.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed, and should be addressed to the Secretary at our Registered Office address or using the contact form.

This policy was updated 26 October 2022. The list of cookies was updated October 2022.