This policy is effective as of 29th August 2023

This Privacy Notice outlines the way in which the Congregation will use personal information provided to us.  Personal information includes any information that identifies you personally, such as your name, address, email address or telephone number.

The Congregation recognises the importance of your privacy and personal information and we have therefore outlined below how we use, disclose and protect this information. The Congregation, jointly with the Presbytery of Edinburgh is the data controller, because we decide how your data are processed and for what purpose.  Contact details for us are provided below.

We use the information you give to us:

• to administer membership records, including a Communion Roll and Supplementary Roll;
• for pastoral care purposes;
• in relation to participation in Congregational activities ;
• to provide you with information about news, events, and activities within the Congregation or the wider Church of Scotland;
• to provide the services of a parish church to the local community;
• to fulfill contractual or other legal obligations;
• to manage our employees;
• to further our charitable aims, for example through fundraising activities;
• to maintain our accounts and records (including the processing of Gift Aid applications);
• if CCTV is in place we have this for the prevention and detection of crime.

The Congregation will only share your personal information where this is necessary for the purposes set out above. Information will not be shared with any third party outwith the Church of Scotland without your consent unless we are obliged or permitted to do so by law.

The Congregation processes your information in the course of its legitimate activities, with appropriate safeguards in place, as a not-for-profit body with a religious aim and on the basis that our processing relates solely to members, former members or people who have regular contact with us, and that this information is not disclosed to any third party without your consent.

We also process information where this is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations; where processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests and such interests are not overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms; and where you have given consent to the processing of your information for a particular purpose. 

During national or local lockdowns, we may record the names and contact details of every person who comes into church premises as per required by law at that particular time.

This information will be used to enable NHS Scotland to contact you, as part of its Test and Protect program, should you have been in the church at the same time as someone who has tested positive for the Covid 19 virus.

Your data may be shared with NHS Scotland if required for contact tracing, but will not be used for any other purpose.

It will not be retained by us for longer than 28 days, and will be held and disposed of in a safe and secure manner.

We are asked to undertake this data collection as it is important for public health and safety. It also helps us protect the wellbeing of our congregation. However, you have the right to request that your personal data should not be held or processed by the church, as well as to change any details you consider have been incorrectly recorded.

If you have any questions you wish to raise, please contact the Church Manager. 

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled by us, you can raise this with the data controller. In this instance, the data controller is the Trustees of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. They may be contacted through the Law Department at the Church of Scotland at lawdept@churchofscotland.org.uk or by letter to: Data Protection Officer, Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN.

If you remain dissatisfied you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.

The Congregation will strive to ensure that personal information is accurate and held in a secure and confidential environment. We will keep your personal information for as long as you are a member or adherent or have regular contact with us or so long as we are obliged to keep it by law or may need it in order to respond to any questions or complaints or to show that we treated you fairly. We may also keep it for statistical purposes but if so we will only use it for that purpose. When the information is no longer needed it will be securely destroyed or permanently rendered anonymous.

You can request details of the personal information which the Congregation holds about you by contacting us using the contact details given below.

If you believe that any information the Congregation holds about you is incorrect or incomplete or if you do not wish your personal information to be held or used by us please let us know. Any information found to be incorrect will be corrected as quickly as possible.

You have the right to object to our use of your personal information, or to ask us to remove or stop using your personal information if there is no need for us to keep it. There may be legal or other reasons why we need to keep or use your data, but please tell us if you think that we should not be using it. If we are processing your data on the basis of your explicit consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. Please contact us if you want to do so.

You can contact us by getting in touch with the Session Clerk, (vacancy) or the Roll Keeper or any member of the Business Committee. Address: 18 West Mayfield, Edinburgh, EH9 1TQ