1. Purpose of this notice

This notice describes how we collect and use personal data about you, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 1998 and any other national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK (‘Data Protection Legislation’).

Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

 

2. About us

North East Chamber of Commerce (“the Chamber”, “we”, “us”, “our” and “ours”) is the Chamber of Commerce representing businesses and providing business support services across the North East. We are registered in England and Wales as a company under number: 02938084 and our registered office is at Aykley Heads Business Centre, Durham, DH1 5TS

In line with the Data Protection Legislation and this notice, we are the ‘data controller’. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal data about you. We are required under the Data Protection Legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice.

 

3. How we may collect your personal data

We obtain personal data about you, for example, when:

• You register to use our site / further use and visits.
• You or your employer become a member of the Chamber, and during the provision of that membership.
• You or your employer obtain services from the Chamber, and during the provision of those services.
• You contact us by email, telephone, post, or social media (for example when you have a query about our services).
• From third parties and/or publicly available resources (for example, from your employer or from Companies House)

 

4. The kind of information we hold about you

The information we hold about you may include the following:

• Your personal details (such as your name, address, email address and phone number, financial information, photograph, signature, interests, and preferences).
• Your professional information (such as your job title and details of your employer).
• Details of contact we have had with you in relation to the provision, or the proposed provision, of Chamber membership and services.
• Details of any services you have received from us.
• Our correspondence and communications with you.
• Information about any complaints and enquiries you make to us.
• Information from research, surveys, and marketing activities.
• Information we receive from other sources, such as publicly available information,
• Information provided by your employer, colleagues, or other Chamber members.
• Information relating to your use of the Chamber’s website, and other online resources

 

 5. How will we use information we hold about you?

We may process your personal data for purposes necessary for the performance of our contract with you, your employer, or our members and to comply with our legal obligations.

We may process your personal data for the purposes necessary for the performance of our contract with our members or customers. This may include processing your personal data where you are an employee, subcontractor, supplier or customer of our member or customer.

We may process your personal data for the purposes of our own legitimate interests provided that those interests do not override any of your own interests, rights and freedoms which require the protection of personal data. This includes processing of your membership, or that of your employer (including the terms contained within our Memorandum and Articles of Association, marketing, business development, statistical and management purposes.

We may process your personal data for certain additional purposes with your consent, and in these limited circumstances where your consent is required for the processing of your personal data then you have the right to withdraw your consent to processing for such specific purposes.

Please note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful basis depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data.

Situations in which we will use your personal data

We may use your personal data to:

• In some circumstances we may anonymise or pseudonymise the personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use it without further notice to you.
• If you refuse to provide us with certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered with you. Alternatively, we may be unable to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.
• We may also process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in accordance with this notice, where we are legally required or permitted to do so.
• To carry out our obligations arising from any agreements entered between you or your employer or our members or customers and us (which will most usually be for the provision of our services) and to provide you with information, publications, surveys, event details, benefits, assistance, and services that you request from us
• To carry out our obligations arising from any agreements entered between our members or customers and us (which will most usually be for the provision of our services) where you may be a subcontractor, supplier, or customer of our member or customer.
• To display it in our members’ publications, including our searchable on-line directory which is available to our members only.
• To provide you with information related to our services and our events and activities that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, provided you have consented to be contacted for such purposes.
• To provide you, or permit selected third parties to provide you, with information about services we (or any selected third party) feel may interest you. If you are an existing customer, we (or any selected third party) will only contact you by electronic means (e-mail, telephone, SMS) with information about opportunities, goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale, enquiry or negotiations of a sale to you, or with information about opportunities, goods and services we (or they) feel may be of interest to you, such as but not limited to information relating to events, publications, newsletters trade missions, membership benefits or services or information about offers we have negotiated with third parties. If you are a new customer, and where we permit selected third parties to use your data, we (or they) will contact you by electronic means only if you have consented to this. If you do not want us to use your data in this way, or to pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes, please tick the relevant box situated on the form on which we collect your data (for example, on the Join form);
• To administer, improve, and secure the operation of the Chamber website, and other online resources
• To deliver relevant marketing information to you.
• To seek your thoughts and opinions on the services we provide; and
• To notify you about any changes to our services.

As a member of the Chamber, you are automatically opted in to receive emails from us. However, we understand that you may not wish to receive these emails, and we respect your right to opt out at any time. You can either unsubscribe from all email communications or from specific topics that are not relevant to you. These unsubscribe links are located at the bottom of all emails.

Information we receive from other sources.

We may combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We may us this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).

How we store & protect your data

We securely store your information within our CRM system. We have put in place commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed.

In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it is collected. When assessing what retention period is appropriate for your personal data, we take into consideration:

The requirements of our business and the services provided.

• Any statutory or legal obligations.
• The purposes for which we originally collected the personal data.
• The lawful grounds on which we based our processing.
• The types of personal data we have collected.
• The amount and categories of your personal data; and
• Whether the purpose of the processing could be fulfilled by other means.

Change of purpose

Where we need to use your personal data for another reason, other than for the purpose for which we collected it, we will only use your personal data where that reason is compatible with the original purpose.

Should it be necessary to use your personal data for a new purpose, we will notify you and communicate the legal basis which allows us to do so before starting any new processing.

 

6. Media

• If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
• If you upload images to the website, you should avoid using copywritten images.

 

7. Embedded content from other websites

• Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
• These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

 

8. Data sharing

Why might you share my personal data with third parties?

We will share your personal data with third parties where we are required by law, where it is necessary to administer the relationship between us or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

Which third-party service providers process my personal data?

“Third parties” includes third-party service providers and other entities within our group. The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers: Chamber legal helpline & legal expenses insurance, IT and cloud services, professional advisory services, administration services, marketing services, insurance services and banking services adapt as relevant.

All our third-party service providers are required to take commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect your personal data. We only permit our third-party service providers to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

The British Chambers of Commerce

The Chamber is part of a network of 53 Chambers of Commerce across the UK accredited by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). One purpose of the Chamber is to “influence the function of …any governmental body”. This objective is stated in the Chamber’s ‘Articles of Association’. We will provide BCC with your company’s email address for BCC to conduct research into the impact of policies on your business.

What does the BCC do with your data?

BCC will not contact your business for any other purpose other than to notify you of an opportunity to respond to a national policy survey. Each year, BCC conducts around five surveys which directly help us develop and shape Government policy across a range of areas, including business taxation, international trade, and employment conditions. The data from these surveys are completely anonymised and aggregated so that individual responses cannot be identified. The anonymised data are then presented in closed briefings with stakeholders across UK Government and shared publicly through BCC’s press team.

The purpose of carrying out the surveys is to produce reports, which BCC, and the Chambers can then use in their activities in promoting and protecting the interests of UK businesses; in other words, they are part of the function and purpose of BCC and the Chamber.

You can contact us if you do not wish to be contacted by BCC, and you will have the opportunity to unsubscribe from BCC’s research mailing list at any point. If your or your parent company’s membership of a local Chamber has lapsed, the BCC may continue to contact you about opportunities to respond to business surveys. You can choose to opt in or out of further contact with the BCC.

What about other third parties?

We may share your personal data with other third parties, for example in the context of changes to our business. We may also need to share your personal data with the British Chambers of Commerce for accreditation purposes, with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

 

9. Transferring personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)

We will not transfer the personal data we collect about you outside of the EEA.

 

10. Rights of access, correction, erasure, and restriction

You have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data. This enables you to receive details of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are processing it lawfully.
• Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you.
• Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your situation which makes you want to object to processing on this basis. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
• Request the transfer of your personal data to you or another data controller if the processing is based on consent, carried out by automated means and this is technically feasible.

Your duty to inform us of changes

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Should your personal information change, please notify us of any changes of which we need to be made aware by contacting us, using the contact details below.

Your rights in connection with personal data

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

If you want to exercise any of the above rights, please email our data protection point of contact [email protected]

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

 

11. Right to withdraw consent

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing, and transfer of your personal data for a specific purpose (for example, in relation to direct marketing that you have indicated you would like to receive from us), you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please email our data protection point of contact [email protected]

Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your personal information (personal data) for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

 

12. Privacy Policy of Other Websites

Our website contains links to other websites. Our privacy policy only applies to our website, consider checking the privacy policy of other websites when leaving our website.

 

13. Cookies

What are cookies?

Cookies are files created by websites you visit. They make your online experience easier by saving browsing information. With cookies, sites can keep you signed in, remember your site preferences, and give you locally relevant content.

How do we use cookies?

Cookies allow us to know if your computer or device has visited our website before. We use Cookies to help understand how you are using our website, help you navigate between pages efficiently, remember your preferences, and generally improve your browsing experience.

What types of cookies do we use?

Below is a detailed list of the cookies we use on our website. Our website is scanned with our cookie scanning tool regularly to maintain a list as accurate as possible. We classify cookies in the following categories:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies
• Performance Cookies
• Functional Cookies
• Targeting Cookies

How to manage cookies?

You can manage your cookie preferences by clicking the button at the bottom screen.

 

14. Changes to this notice

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, you will be notified by email. Please check back this page to see any further updates or changes to our privacy policy.

This privacy policy was last updated on 27th March 2023.

 

15. How to contact us

If you have any questions regarding this notice or if you would like to speak to us about the way we process your personal data, please email [email protected] or telephone +44 (0)300 303 6322

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues, at any time. The ICO’s contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone – 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

Website –  https://ico.org.uk/concerns