Privacy Policy
How we use your information
This Privacy Policy applies to all of the information that we (Signs of God, Registered Charity: 1113882) collect about you when you interact with our organisation. It explains what personal information we collect and how we use it.
1. What kinds of information does Signs of God collect about you?
The following table explains the types of data we collect about you, and our legal basis for doing so, depending on the type of interaction you have with us.
General and CIN Enquiries – Name, email address, message content. We collect this data on the basis of our legitimate interest in the operation of the charity, and for the purpose of responding to your enquiry.
Mailing List – Name, email address. We collect this data with your consent when you sign up to our mailing list, for the purpose of keeping you informed about our work.
Christian Interpreters Network (CIN) – Name, email address, address, telephone number, BSL & interpreting qualifications, interpreter registration status. We collect this data with your consent when you sign up to join the Network, in order to keep you informed of interpreting/translation requests, and if you have indicated to have your contact details published in our directory of interpreters (qualified and trainee only).
As a member of the Signs of God Core Team – Name, address, email address, phone number, level of BSL. We collect this data on the basis of our legitimate interest in the operation of the charity, and for the purpose of managing your work with us.
Workshop & Event Bookings (including Signs of God Summer School and Deaf Space workshops) – Name, email address, address, telephone number, level of BSL qualification (and, where relevant, screenshot photograph, disability & access details, dietary requirements, and/or payment details). We collect this data because it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you (where payment is taken) or on the basis of our legitimate interest in the operation of the charity (for free events), and for the purpose of administering the workshops and events that you have booked.
Sale of Merchandise - Name, delivery address, email address, payment details. We collect this data because it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, in order to provide you with the goods that you have purchased.
Donations - Name, address, email address, payment details. We collect this data because it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, in order to administer your donation, including any Gift Aid claim where relevant.
Bursary Applications – Name, contact details, application details. We collect this data on the basis of our legitimate interest in the operation of the charity, and for the purpose of assessing your application.
Website – see Section 7 of this policy for information on the Cookies that we use.
2. How does Signs of God use your data?
We will only use your data for the purposes that we have described, depending upon your interaction with us.
We will normally only collect personal information directly from you when you volunteer it to us. We try to limit our use of personal information to the details we need to provide you with the service that you have requested.
We do not normally collect any sensitive personal information (which is called “Special Category Data” in the UK GDPR) about you, and do not wish to do so unless it is absolutely essential. We may on rare occasions collect and use your sensitive personal information (such as dietary or access and assistance requirements which may indicate a health condition or illness) so that we can help you with any access requirements you might have, and to comply with our legal obligations under equality legislation.
We may store your personal information in electronic and/or hard copy format.
3. Does Signs of God share your data with third parties?
Your personal information will be made available to those members of our Core Team, other volunteers, and organisations who need to see it in order to perform their work for and with us, and to provide you with the services that you have requested.
We may share personal information with our Trustees as needed for the reasonable management of the charity including for the purposes of analysis, planning and decision making.
We may make use of expert third party service providers to perform functions and/or provide services on our behalf (such as website hosting, communication methods, or data storage). These third-party service providers (called “Data Processors” in the UK GDPR) may use your personal information in order to assist us to provide you with the services that you have requested. All of our Data Processors are bound by strict contractual terms in order to ensure that your personal information will be protected appropriately.
Currently we use the following Data Processors:
We use Google Drive, from Google Inc., for data storage and processing. Google may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Google’s Privacy Policy can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
We use Amperative, from Worthers Ltd., to host our website. Worthers’ Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.amperative.com/privacy-policy.
We use iKnowCharity, to host our database and mailings. iKnow’s Privacy Policy can be found at https://iknowcharity.co.uk/privacy-policy.php.
We will not share your personal information with any other party except as required by law.
4. How long does Signs of God keep your data?
We take the principles of data minimisation and storage limitation seriously and have internal policies in place to ensure that we only ever ask for the minimum amount of data required, and to delete that data promptly once it is no longer needed.
Where we collect data for contractual purposes, or for the purpose of operating the charity, or for the purpose of administering events and workshops, it will be retained for a maximum of seven years.
Where we collect data for general administrative purposes (such as answering enquiries) it will be retained for a maximum of two years.
Where data is collected on the basis of consent this data will be retained for two years after our last interaction with you, after which we will contact you to find out if you still wish to be contacted by us.
5. How does Signs of God keep your data safe?
We take steps to protect the security of your personal information, in accordance with our legal obligations, and in line with best practice. This includes the use of standard IT security controls (such as strong password management and role based access), the use of Data Processors with internationally accredited standards of security, and the provision of training and security instructions to our volunteers.
6. What are your rights in relation to your personal information?
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information, although in some cases these rights are subject to certain conditions and limitations. You are entitled to:
request copies of, and/or access to your personal information
request that your personal information be corrected where inaccurate or incomplete
request that your personal data be deleted (or that we stop using your personal data) where it is no longer necessary. This right normally only applies where your information was provided or processed on the basis of consent, or in the performance of a contract with you which lapsed more than six years ago.
request that we stop sending you direct marketing communications.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at:
Signs of God, 61 Bridge Street, Kington, HR5 3DJ
Email: info@signsofgod.org.uk
To help us identify the personal information you are referring to, please include any details that will enable us to locate the relevant personal information.
In order to be sure that your personal information is not disclosed to an impostor, we may require you to provide us with proof of identity before any action is taken or personal information is disclosed.
Any request that you send to us in relation to your rights will be processed within one calendar month of us accepting your request.
If after receiving a reply from us you are still unhappy with our response to such a request you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Details on how to do so can be found on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/.
Please note that relying on some of these rights, such as the right to deleting your data, will make it impossible for us to continue to deliver some services to you. However, where possible we will always try to allow the maximum access to your rights while continuing to deliver as many services to you as possible.
7. Cookies & Usage Tracking
Cookies are small text files that websites save to your computer. They often include a randomly generated number which is stored on your device. Many cookies are automatically deleted after you finish using the website. Others remain on your computer to provide a seamless user experience – for example, by remembering which goods are in your online shopping basket.
Cookies are commonly used to improve browsing experience; measure website performance; support the delivery of services; and support sharing information through social media, such as Twitter or Facebook. Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
Unless you have adjusted your browser settings to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies as soon you visit it. If you have switched off cookies then some of the functionality of our website may not be available to you.
We use cookies for three major functions:
Essential (also known as ‘strictly necessary’) cookies. These cookies are essential for you to use some features of our website; for example, essential cookies are necessary to allow you to pay for merchandise or make donations. Without these cookies, services that you have asked for such as shopping baskets or search results cannot be provided.
Currently we use the following Essential Cookies :
ts. This is set by paypal.com. PayPal sets this cookie to enable secure transactions through PayPal. It remains on your device for three years.
ts_c. This is set by paypal.com. PayPal sets this cookie to make safe payments through PayPal. It remains on your device for three years.
Performance cookies. These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website to ensure that the performance of the website remains stable. These cookies do not collect personal information; all information collected by these cookies is aggregated and therefore anonymous.
Currently we use the following Performance Cookie:
_gat. This is set by us, and installed by Google Universal Analytics to restrain request rate and thus limit the collection of data on high traffic sites. It remains on your device for 1 minute.
Analytics Cookies. These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website, such as which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. We use information from these cookies to help us improve the design of our website by understanding how our visitors use the site. We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google's privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
Currently we use the following Analytics Cookies:
sid. This is set by us, and contains digitally signed and encrypted records of your Google account ID and most recent sign-in time. It remains on your device only while you remain on our website.
_ga. This is set by us and installed by Google Analytics. It calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors. It remains on your device for 2 years.
_gid. This is set by and is installed by Google Analytics. It stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. It remains on your device for 1 day.
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en (Chrome);
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences (Firefox);
http://www.opera.com/help/tutorials/security/cookies/ (Opera);
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/sfri11471/mac (Safari); and
https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-and-privacy (Edge).
Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many website. If you block or delete our cookies you may not be able to use all the features on our website.
8. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may change this policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law and/or our privacy practices. We will publish the most current version on our website. We encourage you to check this policy for changes, for example when you revisit our website. In the event of a major change to our policy that affects your rights we will contact you to inform you of the change.
By providing your personal information to us, you are indicating that you understand how we use your personal information as described in this policy.
9. Contact Us
If you have any comments or questions about this policy, please contact us at info@signsofgod.org.uk.