The Church of England is committed to protecting your personal data, and respecting your privacy. Personal data is defined as any information relating to an identified or identifiable person.
This privacy notice describes how we collect, process and use your personal information in accordance with data protection law. It is important that you read this notice so that you are aware of how we are using your data. By engaging with our apps, you acknowledge to have read and understood this privacy notice.
The data controller is the Church of England Central Services whose registered address is Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ. Church of England Central Services is one of the organisations that make up the National Church Institutions (NCIs).
The information we collect about you
1. Information you give us
We will collect and process the personal data that you have provided us about yourself. This may include:
- Information such as your name, email address and telephone number that you have provided by completing forms on our apps, including registering to use such a service.
- Your login and password details in connection with signing into an account if applicable.
- Communications you send to us to submit enquiries, comments etc or to report a problem regarding our apps or their content.
- Information from surveys that we may run occasionally on our apps for research purposes if you choose to participate in them.
2. Information we collect from you by using our apps
When you visit the app, we may automatically collect additional information about you including:
- Your IP address, device type, browser type, operating system, and other identifier data. Such data is anonymised and cannot be used to identify any individual. This data is solely used to assist us in providing an effective service on our apps.
- Local geographical data based on your IP address, device locale, or your choice of location. This data allows us to provide services accurate to your location.
How do we use your personal data?
We will only use this information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where your rights do not override these interests.
Our apps use technologies similar to cookies to collect usage, diagnostic and identifier data while you are engaging with the app. Such information allows us to understand how you use the app and what content you interact with and consume. By analysing audience behaviour, we can provide a more personalised experience, measure our reach, and improve the services offered by our apps.
Information submitted via forms and surveys is used to respond to your enquiry (where applicable) and to improve our services to you.
Security of your personal data
We are committed to ensuring that your personal data is secure. All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers in the United Kingdom. We follow appropriate security procedures in the storage and disclosure of personal data to guard against loss, damage and unauthorised access by third parties.
We will not release your information to third parties and will only share wider details where required by law. Personal data will not be transferred outside the UK or EEA without your explicit consent.
We will only hold your personal information for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy policy and to fulfil our legal obligations.
The lawful bases for using your data
The legal basis on which we process your personal data is legitimate interests. When you use any of our apps, it is in our legitimate interests to:
- Process your personal data to authenticate your account
- Allow you to access our apps
- Provide you with content as stipulated by the app
- Create and improve your personalised experience while using the app
We can collect and process your data with your consent. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the details provided below.
Use of cookies
We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store information about your usage of our apps. This information may be used to manage a range of features and content as well as storing searches and presenting personalised content.
Our apps use cookies and other tracking technologies to distinguish you from other users of the app. This allows us to continually improve our apps and to provide you with a better user experience.
Your rights
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information that we hold for you or ask for modifications or deletion of such data at any time. To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details outlined below.
Links to other websites
Our apps may contain links to other websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before submitting any personal information to these websites.
Complaints and concerns
If you have any queries about how we use your personal information and why we do so, please contact [email protected].
If you have any concerns or queries about how Church of England Central Services handles your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer at [email protected] or call 020 7898 1114.
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the UK’s privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner. If you are based in the EU, you can lodge a complaint with your local privacy regulator, which is based in the country or territory where you live, work or the alleged infringement took place.
Changes to this policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review. We will place any updates on this page without prior notice.
Last updated 8 May 2024.