Privacy

The policy sets out how we use your personal information so that you can be confident as to the way in which the information you have shared with us will be used. The policy will be reviewed regularly and may be updated at any time.

About the Society

The Alpine Garden Society is a membership organisation and a registered charity (charity number 207478).  The charity has two wholly owned subsidiary companies through which it operates its commercial activities: AGS Publications operates our book publishing and selling operations and AGS Expeditions organises botanical trips for members.

How we use your data

Your personal data will only be used by us if we have a legal basis to do so. We will only use your personal data where we have your explicit consent in order to enable us to fulfil a contract with you, comply with a legal duty or right, to protect your vital interests, or where the processing of your personal information is in our legitimate interest and in accordance with your legal rights.

Basically, there are three legal bases under which we may process your data:

• Consent: Where consent is required we will always ask for your explicit consent to process your personal data.
• Contract: When you purchase an item from us or become a member, you will be entering into a contract with us. In this case we need to process and store your data in order to fulfil our part of the contract.
• Legitimate interest: On occasions we may collect and process your personal data for purposes that are in our legitimate organisational interests. In doing so we consider that there is no overriding prejudice to you and that you would reasonably expect us to use your data in this way.

Members

Your personal data is used for the purposes of administering your membership and our legal basis for this is based on your membership contract with us.

As a member we may collect the following information about you:

• Name
• Address and postcode
• Email address
• Telephone numbers
• Bank and/or credit card details
• Date of birth

We may also create information about you that becomes your personal data such as:

• Your membership number
• Membership history
• Payments and donations you have made to us.

We may also send you communications that you would reasonably expect to receive as a member with minimal impact on your privacy. This could be in the form of postal information or by email and could relate to a fundraising campaign or in connection with a retail offer if you have previously purchased goods or services from us. Such communications would come under the category of ‘legitimate interest’.  If you have agreed to us contacting you by email regarding events we may be organising, forthcoming tours or books and merchandise and you subsequently change your mind then you can update your preferences by notifying us at the address below or by amending your personal details through the AGS website.

Gift Membership – If you buy membership for someone, else join as a family or are the parent of one of our younger supporters, we will record your contact and payment details, the contact details of the recipient or child and your relationship to that person.

If you have been received a gift membership, you will need to activate it and provide your name and contact details to us to allow us to administer your membership.

Customers

When you purchase goods or services from us (such as books or merchandise) we use your personal data to provide the goods or service and our legal basis for this processing is our customer contract with you.

Fundraising and retail marketing emails (where you have not shopped with us before) will only be sent when you have given us your explicit consent to receive them.

You can change your preferences at any time by emailing ags@alpinegardensociety.net.

Please see the section below on other ways we may use your personal data.

As a customer we may collect the following information about you:

• Name
• Address and postcode
• Email address
• Telephone numbers
• Bank and/or credit card details
• Payments and donations you have made to us.

**Please also see the section below regarding sensitive personal data

You can also object to the way we process your data, including the way we communicate with you at any time using the contact details at the end of this policy.

We maintain appropriate safeguards, procedures and technology in order to keep your personal data secure and also require that third parties we choose to process your personal data do the same.

We actively manage our use of your personal data and store it securely in the EU. We have up to date security, a comprehensive privacy programme, carry out security audits and have a dedicated privacy expert to advise us.

International processing

It is our policy not to allow our service providers to transfer data outside of the EU.

Banking details & Payment card information

We store your bank account and debit/credit card details in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Our IT systems do not directly collect or store your payment card information.

If you pay by direct debit we will hold your bank account details securely and they will only be shared with a third party for the purposes of collecting your subscriptions.

At shows and events

From time to time we take photos and videos at our shows and events. Your image may be captured and recorded if you attend one of our events. These images may appear in AGS publications, the website and social media accounts. You consent to this when you purchase a ticket to our flower shows or event.

Third Parties

Our website includes some links to other sites that may be operated by third parties. If the third party website is operated on our behalf any personal data that you submit via that website will still be governed by this privacy policy.

Our site may have “plugins” (such as Facebook “like button”) through a third party website. These and similar features are governed by the third party’s privacy statement.

Retention of data

We will retain your personal information whilst you have an active membership and to comply with our legal obligations in relation to financial accounting rules. If you cease to have an active relationship with us or request to receive no further contact, we will also retain some basic information in order to avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future and to ensure that we don’t accidentally duplicate information. The time periods for which we retain your personal data depend on the purposes for which we use it. Once we have reached the time limit by which your data is no longer required we will destroy it securely.

Access to your data and how to contact us

You have the right to ask us for details of the personal data we hold for you. This legal request is called a ‘subject access request’ and should be sent in writing, either by letter or email to:

The Data Protection Officer

Alpine Garden Society

Avon Bank

Pershore

WR10 3JP

dataprotectionofficer@alpinegardensociety.net

If you do request a copy of the information we hold for you it will be sent within one month of the date of receipt of your request. If you have any other questions regarding our policy then you can also contact us at the above address.

Key Terms

• CCTV: means closed circuit television.
• Cookies: means small text files which our website places on your computer’s hard drive to store information such as activity on our website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognise your browser. Cookies may store your preferences and other information. We also set Google Analytics cookies to collect general statistical information to help us understand how our website is used. It may also help us to improve the services we provide to you by learning whether visitors have used the website before, which pages are popular and how users navigate around the site. This information does not allow us to identify any individuals and is anonymous.
• Malware and viruses: means malicious software (such as viruses) which can gain access to your computer or device and be used for criminal activity.
• Member: means a person who has a current membership with the AGS.
• Membership: means membership of the AGS following payment of an annual fee.
• Personal data: means any information that identifies you or that could identify you either alone or when combined with other information.
• Processing: means anything that is done to, or with, personal data (including simply collecting, storing or deleting those data).
• Third Party Marketing: means marketing or other communications about non-AGS events, products and services that are sent by or on behalf of a third party (and not the AGS).
• We/us: means the Alpine Garden Society. We are a charity registered in England and Wales (Reg. No. 207478) and its wholly owned subsidiaries, AGS Expeditions Limited and AGS Publications Limited.
• Website: means the website located at alpinegardensociety.net and any other websites operated by the AGS.