This privacy notice (last updated 30 April 2018) tells you what to expect when Geology for Global Development (GfGD) collects personal information. For further information please contact our team member responsible for data protection, Dr Joel C Gill (Executive Director, Geology for Global Development).
a. Legal Basis for Processing Your Data
Unless stated otherwise, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information is ‘consent’. We will only collect, store and use your personal information when we have your consent to do so. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. See Sections i and j below for further information on your rights. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal. We do not currently engage in any automated decision making.
b. Website and Blog Visitors
When someone visits www.gfgd.org we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of our site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone (anonymous data). We do not make, and do not allow Google to make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.
We use a third-party service, WordPress.com, to publish our blog (https://blogs.egu.eu/network/gfgd/), part of the European Geoscience Union (EGU) blog network. The EGU use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns (anonymous data). They do this to allow GfGD to find out things such as the number of visitors to the blog and specific articles. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. They do not make, nor allow Google to make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. Read more in the EGU Privacy Policy. Subscriptions to any of the blogs within the EGU blog network are managed by the EGU and details of subscribers are not shared with GfGD.
c. Newsletters
When people subscribe to our e-newsletter we collect their email address (required), and optional information of name, university/institution, and country. The email address is used to deliver the service requested, and the optional information is used to allow us to send targeted news and events (e.g., contact subscribers in South Africa about an event in South Africa, or contact all those working in universities regarding a free educational tool). We use a third-party tool, MailChimp, to deliver our monthly e-newsletters. We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. For more information, please see MailChimps privacy notice. MailChimp is based in the USA, and GfGD has signed a data protection agreement with MailChimp that recognises our mutual obligations under the GDPR.
d. People Who Contact us via our Website and Social Media
If you send us a private message via our website, we will ask for your name and email address so that we can reply and address your comment/question in an efficient manger. All personal details, will be deleted after three months, and they will not be shared with other organisations unless you have given your permission to do so and this is necessary to address your comment/question. We may store anonymised information from your message to help improve the delivery of future services. For example, if you send a message with feedback regarding a conference, we may keep an anonymised copy of this feedback to inform planning of future conferences.
If you send us a private or direct message via social media, the message (and your personal information) will be deleted from the inbox after three months. It will not be shared with any other organisations. We may store anonymised information from your message to help improve the delivery of future services. For example, if you send a message with feedback regarding a conference, we may keep an anonymised copy of this feedback to inform planning of future conferences.
e. GfGD Charitable Activities
GfGD coordinates various charitable activities for public benefit (e.g., resources, conferences, workshops, training, outreach events). We hold the personal details of people who have requested involvement in these activities to provide the activities in an efficient way. We may share these details with other organisations involved in the hosting or delivery of the specific charitable activity. We, and our partners, will only use personal details to provide the service the person has requested and request feedback. We will not share data for any other purposes other than the shared delivery of the specific charitable activity. For example, where conferences are held at the Geological Society of London (Burlington House), it may be necessary to share participant names to meet fire and security regulations.
We will not auto-enrol people into our newsletter if they are involved in an activity. We will provide a simple and easy way for participants to actively consent to joining our mailing list, providing clear and focused communications about future events. When people do subscribe to our services/activities, they can cancel their subscription at any time and are given an easy way of doing this.
f. Volunteer Applicants, Current and Former GfGD Volunteers
GfGD is a voluntary organisation, with no paid employees. From time to time, we open recruitment for additional volunteers to join our trustees, executive committee, and project support teams. GfGD is the data controller for the information you provide during this process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information, please contact us.
What will we do with the information you provide to us?
All the information you provide during the process will only be used to progress your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary. We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with third parties. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
What information do we ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary. The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You do not have to provide what we ask for, but it might affect your application if you don’t.
We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all this information.
Post-Application
If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we will delete your information within two months. We may contact individuals with relevant skills and experiences to ask if we can securely store their information in case future opportunities arise. We will always seek explicit consent from applicants before retaining information for more than two months and will only use this information to share relevant opportunities with GfGD.
If we make a conditional offer of a voluntary position, we may ask you for further information (e.g., references) so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. This is particularly important for positions on our Board of Trustees and executive committee.
If we make a final offer, we will also ask you to complete a declarations of interest form, to ensure conflicts of interest are appropriately managed.
If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us for the duration of your voluntary engagement with GfGD, plus 1 year afterwards. This includes your contact information, CV, letter of application, and declarations of interest. After this time, information will be deleted.
Final recruitment decisions are made by our executive committee and Board of Trustees.
g. Children
We strongly believe in protecting the privacy of children. We do not knowingly collect or maintain personal information from persons under 13 years of age, and no part of our website, blog or social media are specifically directed towards persons under 13 years of age. We will take appropriate steps to delete any personal information of persons less than 13 years of age.
h. Photographs and Videos
Before taking photographs or videos at GfGD events we will seek permission from participants. We will outline for what purposes we intend to use these photographs and/or videos. If you feature in a photograph or video on our website/social media and would like a copy or would like this removed, please contact us.
i. Your Rights
Under the General Data Protection Regulations (2018), you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you. You can read more about these rights here.
j. Access to Personal Information
Individuals can find out (free of charge) if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’. If we do hold information about you, we will:
give you a description of it;
tell you why we are holding it;
tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.
To make a request to GfGD for any personal information we may hold, please contact us using the information at the end of this page. We will provide this information within one month of your request. If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes. You can also ask us to remove any information you no longer wish us to have. We will correct or remove any information within one month of you informing us of the correction/removal. If you object to data accuracy or a processing purpose, we will immediately halt the processing of your data until your concerns are resolved.
Individuals can request their data in a suitable digital format, sent either directly to them or to a third party. We will do this within one month of your request.
k. Complaints or Queries
GfGD tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.
To object to the processing of your data, please contact us using the information at the end of this page. We will respond to your message and concerns within one month.
This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of GfGD’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below.
If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)in their capacity as the statutory body which oversees data protection law.
l. Disclosure of Personal Information
Unless legally obliged (e.g., to the police), we will not disclose personal data without consent.
m. Links to Other Websites
This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
n. Review of and Changes to this Privacy Notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review.
Our trustees recognise the importance of data protection, regularly auditing what we do and ensuring that our practices and this privacy notice are fit-for-purpose. Our policy and practices will be reviewed at least annually by our trustees, with ongoing reports by the Executive Director as needed.
We will review the data that we hold every two-years to determine its relevance to our charitable objectives, and whether ongoing retention is justified. Any data determined not relevant will be permanently deleted.
Our trustees also recognise the importance of data security. We will only store and transfer your data using secure and trusted methods. These will be regularly reviewed, and actions taken to change storage methods if deemed necessary.
o. How to Contact Us
If you have questions about our privacy policy, please contact our team member responsible for data protection, Dr Joel C Gill (Executive Director, Geology for Global Development) or email info[at]gfgd.org
This privacy notice was last updated and approved by our Board of Trustees on 30 April 2018.