Privacy policy

Last updated: June 2024

1. Who are we?

Somerset is one of the most habitat-diverse and wildlife-rich counties in Britain. Somerset Wildlife Trust is an independent conservation charity working to ensure this remains the case. Formed in 1964 by a group of individuals the Trust has grown from an original 15 members to be Somerset’s leading conservation charity, with over 18,000 members and many other people, communities and organisations supporting our work, including as volunteers.

We rely on the support of our members, donors and volunteers, as well as income from grant-making bodies and companies, including profits from our ecological consultancy, to look after Somerset’s wildlife and wild places. This includes the nature reserves in our care and creating thriving ‘Living Landscapes’ across the Mendips, the Levels and Moors, Taunton, and Somerset’s coast.

We also work to influence Somerset’s policy-making and planning decisions, which affect the county’s wildlife and the wider environment. We believe access to wildlife and wild places is important for people of all ages to value wildlife and help protect it, and also to enhance the health and wellbeing of everyone who lives and works in our wonderful county.

2. Our commitment to your privacy

We are committed to keeping the personal details of our members and supporters safe. This policy explains how and why we use your personal data, to ensure that you remain informed and in control of your information.

Any references to Somerset Wildlife Trust, the Trust, or to ‘we’ or ‘us’ refer to:

• Somerset Wildlife Trust. We are a registered charity in England and Wales, and our registered charity number is 238372.
• S.W.T (Sales) Limited, our charitable trading company; (registered company number 01317396). The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Somerset Wildlife Trust, trading as First Ecology, which trades only to raise funds for our charitable organisation.
• Somerset Environmental Records Centre partnership (SERC) is hosted by Somerset Wildlife Trust in the Taunton office

We use three key definitions to describe people mentioned in this policy. These are definitions used by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights (www.ico.org.uk).

• ‘Data subject’: this is you, one of our loyal members and supporters. As the data subject, we respect your right to control your data.
• ‘Data controller’: this is us, the Somerset Wildlife Trust. With your permission, we determine why and how your personal data is used (as outlined in this policy).
• ‘Data processor’: this is a person, or organisation, who processes your data on our behalf, with your permission. For example, this might be a mailing house who sends your membership magazine to you, on our behalf (due to the size of our organisation, it’s more cost-effective to outsource ad-hoc and large-scale tasks like this).

When we work with other organisations or individuals in this way, we always set up a written contract with them to protect your data. The third parties we work with at no point ‘own’ your data, so you will never hear from them independently and they will always delete your data from their systems when they have completed the task in hand. We always send your data to partner organisations securely, to minimise the risk of it being intercepted by unknown individuals and/or organisations.

We will never sell your personal data.

Should you wish to find out more about the information we hold about you, or about our privacy policy, please contact our Data Controller:

• Head of People, Culture & Resources, Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5AW
• Telephone: 01823 652400
• Email: enquiries@somersetwildlife.org
• Our offices hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. 

3. Why do we collect your personal data?

We use your personal data to keep in touch with you.

We will only ever collect, store and use your personal data when we have an identified purpose and reason to do so. The ICO refers to this as a ‘lawful basis’. Further information about why we collect your personal data is outlined below.

a) To administer your Somerset Wildlife Trust membership

We collect your personal data to administer your membership, which may involve:

• Sending you your membership welcome pack when you first join us
• Processing your Direct Debit subscription payments, if you have set this donation process up with us
• Sending you your membership renewal letter
• Getting in touch should there ever be any issues processing your subscription payment

The ICO define the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes as ‘contractual’.

b) To send you items purchased from our online shop, including event bookings

We collect your personal data to send you:

• items you have purchased from our online shop
• information about events you have booked onto

The ICO define the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes as ‘contractual’.

c) To send you information about our work and ask for your opinion

We also collect your personal data so that we can send you information about our work that we feel will be of interest to you. This includes your membership magazine, fundraising including appeals, wildlife adoptions and raffles, events, campaigning, volunteering opportunities, membership, services, products, newsletter requests, feedback, competitions and other activities, as well as information about other carefully selected organisations that we work in partnership with.  From time to time, we may also use your personal data to ask for your opinion about our work.

This information is in addition to that outlined in sections a) and b) and is defined as ‘direct marketing’ by the ICO.

Joint and family membership

If you are a ‘joint’ or a ‘family’ member of our Wildlife Trust, we will address communications to all those listed on your membership. If you wish to update this at any point, please let us know.

Gift membership

If your Wildlife Trust membership was purchased as a gift, we will use the name and address provided by the purchaser by to send you information about our work in the post. This will include a ‘renewal letter’, which we will send you when your membership is due to expire, to see if you would like to continue supporting our charity.

When your membership has ended

Unless we hear from you directly, we will continue to send you information about our work for up to 12 months after your membership has ended. This is just in case your support was cancelled accidentally, by for example changing your bank account details, and you wish to update your details with us.

Your personal data also helps us to get to know you better and to develop a ‘profile’ of you on our secure supporter database. This ‘profile’ enables us to send you the information listed above in a timely and relevant way, to suit you. For example, keeping track of the donations you make to our organisation helps us to send you information about fundraising appeals that we feel you would like to hear about. Likewise, keeping a record of your wildlife interests that you may tell us about in one of our Membership Surveys, helps us to send you relevant project updates.

As defined by the ICO, we use two different lawful bases for processing your data for ‘direct marketing’ purposes:

Legitimate interest

This is where we have identified a genuine and legitimate reason for contacting you, which crucially does not override your rights or interests.

We use legitimate interest to send you the information listed above by post or telephone (if you are not registered with the Telephone Preference Service, and you have given us your telephone number).

Opt-in consent

This is where you have given us express permission to contact you by particular communication channels.

We use opt-in consent to send you the information listed above by email, text message (SMS) or telephone (if you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service)

We respect your right to update the way we get in touch with you about our work at any time.

d) To enable you to volunteer with us

If you are a Somerset Wildlife Trust volunteer, we collect your personal data so that we can keep in touch with you about, for example:

• changes to planned volunteer work programmes that you may be taking part in
• the positive impact you have on our work, by sending you our volunteer newsletter
• dedicated volunteer thank you events

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘legitimate interest’.

e) To deliver environmental and consultancy services

If you engage the services of First Ecology we collect your personal data so we can administer and deliver the services and keep in touch with you about those services.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘contractual’.

f) To administer your tenancy

If you are a tenant of a Trust property we collect your personal data so we can administer your tenancy.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘contractual’.

g) To record details of your wildlife sightings

If you submit wildlife sighting data to SERC (Somerset Environmental Records Centre partnership) we collect your personal data so we can keep in touch with you regarding your sighting.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘legitimate interest’.

h) To conduct land and wildlife surveys

If you are a landowner we may collect your personal data so we can keep in touch with you regarding requests to conduct land surveys on your land and keep you informed about the survey and its results.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘legitimate interest’.

i) To be a good neighbour

If your land is adjacent to a Trust owned or managed site we may collect your personal data so we can keep in touch with you as a neighbour on matters of shared interest, for example boundary maintenance or shared access.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘legitimate interest’.

j) Local Area Group participation

If you participate in volunteer-led local Area Group’s activities, they will collect and use, with your consent, your contact details to keep you informed about their future events and meetings. This data is used only by the local Area Group.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘Consent’.

k) Employment and work administration

If you apply or work for the Trust either as an employee, contractor, apprentice, trainee or as part of a work placement we collect your personal data so we can fulfil our obligations as an employer and liaise with you regarding your work.

As defined by the ICO, the lawful basis for processing your data for these purposes is ‘contractual’.

4. What kind of personal data do we collect? How do we collect it?

a) Basic information

We will usually collect basic information about you, including your name, postal address, telephone number, email address and your bank details if you are supporting us financially.

Most of the time, we collect this data from you directly. Sometimes this is in person; other times, it is over the telephone, in writing or through an email. Occasionally we obtain information, such as your telephone number or other contact details, from external sources (only where you have given permission for such information to be shared).

b) Getting to know you better

We also collect information about you that helps us to get to know you better. This may include:

• information about your wildlife interests, which you tell us through our Membership Surveys
• records of donations you’ve made towards fundraising appeals
• your preferences of how you would like us to contact you
• ways you’ve helped us through volunteering your time
• records of events you’ve attended, or campaigns or activities that you’ve been involved in

Sometimes we will collect other information about you such as your date of birth and gender. When we do so, we will be very clear as to why we are collecting such information, and we will only do so with your specific consent and permission.

Once again, most of the time we collect this data from you directly.

We may also collect demographic and consumption data generated through geodemographic tools (such as CACI Acorn) to enable more relevant communications, as well as information related to your wealth. This may include information from public registers and other publicly available sources such as Companies House, newspapers and magazines. If you do not wish your data to be collected in any of these ways, or have questions about them, please contact us.

• Head of People, Culture & Resources, Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Road, Taunton ,Somerset, TA1 5AW
• Telephone: 01823 652400
• Email: enquiries@somersetwildlife.org
• Our office hours are Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.

Other ways in which we collect personal data to get to know you better include:

Our website

Our website uses ‘cookies’ to help provide you with the best experience we can. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile phone when you browse websites.

Our cookies help us:

• Make our website work as you'd expect
• Remember your settings during and between visits
• Improve the speed/security of the site
• Allow you to share pages with social networks like Facebook
• Continuously improve our website for you

For more information please see our Cookies policy.

c) Sensitive personal data

We do not normally collect or store sensitive personal data (such as information relating to health, beliefs or political affiliation) about supporters and members. However, there are some situations where this will occur.

When we do so, we will be very clear as to why we are collecting such information, and we will only do so with your specific consent and permission. In these situations, we collect the data from you directly.

If you are a volunteer then we may collect extra information about you, for example:

• references
• criminal records checks
• details of emergency contacts
• medical conditions

We may also collect sensitive personal data if you have an accident or injury at a Trust site or Trust events. This information will be retained for legal reasons, for safeguarding purposes and to protect us (including in the event of an insurance or legal claim). If this does occur, we’ll take extra care to ensure your privacy rights are protected.

d) Children and young people

In line with data protection law, we will not collect, store or process your personal details if you are under 13 years of age; unless we have the express permission from your parent or guardian to do so.

If we have the permission of your parent or guardian, and you are a Wildlife Watch member, we will capture your date of birth at the point of joining. This is so that we can send you information that we feel is suitable to your age.

For further information, please see our Safeguarding policy.

5. Our use of cookies

Please see our cookies policy.

6. How do we store your data?

a) Security

All of the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK. However, for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance your information may be situated outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). This will be done in accordance with guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Electronic data and databases are stored on secure computer systems and we control who has access to information (using both physical and electronic means). Our staff receive data protection training and we have a set of detailed data protection procedures which personnel are required to follow when handling personal data.

b) Payment security

All electronic Somerset Wildlife Trust forms that request financial data will use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to encrypt the data between your browser and our servers.

If you use a credit card to donate, purchase a membership or purchase something online we will pass your credit card details securely to our payment provider (Sage Pay). Other payment methods (e.g. ApplePay) are handled in a similar manner.

Somerset Wildlife Trust complies with the payment card industry data security standard (PCI-DSS) published by the PCI Security Standards Council, and will never store card details.

Of course, we cannot guarantee the security of your home computer or the internet, and any online communications (e.g. information provided by email or our website) are at the user’s own risk.

c) Data retention policy

We will only use and store information for as long as it required for the purposes it was collected for. We continually review what information we hold, and delete what is no longer required.

For further information, please see our Data Retention Policy.

7. Your rights

We respect your right to control your data. Your rights include:

The right to be informed

This privacy notice outlines how we capture, store and use your data. If you have any questions about any elements of this policy, please contact us.

The right of access

If you wish to obtain a record of the personal data we hold about you, through a Subject Access Request, we will respond within one month.

The right to rectification

If we have captured information about you that is inaccurate or incomplete, we will update it.

The right to erase

You can ask us to remove or randomise your personal details from our records.

The right to restrict processing

You can ask us to stop using your personal data.

The right to data portability

You can ask to obtain your personal data from us for your own purposes.

The right to object

You can ask to be excluded from marketing activity.

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

We respect your right not to be subject to a decision that is based on automated processing.

In addition to the rights above, at any time you also have the right:

• To change your preferences on how the Trust communicates with you
• Withdraw any prior permissions or consents you have given us to process your data
• Lodge a complaint with the Trust or the supervisory authority (the Information Commissioner’s Office)

For more information on your individual rights, please see the Information Commissioner’s Office.

8. Making a complaint

Somerset Wildlife Trust want to exceed your expectation in everything we do. However, we know that there may be times when we do not meet our own high standards. When this happens, we want to hear about it, in order to deal with the situation as quickly as possible and put measures in place to stop it happening again.

We take complaints very seriously and we treat them as an opportunity to develop our approach. This is why we are always very grateful to hear from people who are willing to take the time to help us improve.

Our policy is:

• To provide a fair complaints procedure that is clear and easy to use for anyone wishing to make a complaint.
• To publicise the existence of our complaints procedure so that people know how to contact us to make a complaint.
• To make sure everyone in our organisation knows what to do if a complaint is received.
• To make sure all complaints are investigated fairly and in a timely way.
• To make sure that complaints are, wherever possible, resolved and that relationships are repaired.
• To learn from complaints and feedback to help us to improve what we do.    

For general complaints please contact:

• Head of People, Culture & Resources, Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5AW
• Telephone: 01823 652400
• Email: enquiries@somersetwildlife.org

If you wish to complain on how we handle or have handled your personal data you can contact our Data Controller who will investigate your complaint.

• Head of People, Culture & Resources (Data Controller), Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5AW
• Telephone: 01823 652400
• Email: enquiries@somersetwildlife.org

If you are not satisfied with our response to your data handling complaint or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), or the Fundraising Regulator.

Information Commissioner’s Office

• Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Fundraising Regulator

• 2nd floor, CAN Mezzanine Building, 49-51 East Road, London, N1 6AH
• Telephone: 0300 999 3407
• Email: enquiries@fundraisingregulator.org.uk

Confidentiality

All complaint information will be handled sensitively, in line with relevant data protection requirements.

Responsibility

Overall responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the Business Support Manager.

9. Leaving our website

We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any other websites linked to our website. If you have followed a link from this website to another website you may be supplying information to a third party.

10. Get in touch

Should you wish to find out more about the information we hold about you, or about our privacy policy, please contact us:

• Head of People, Culture & Resources, Somerset Wildlife Trust, 34 Wellington Road, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 5AW
• Telephone: 01823 652400
• Email: enquiries@somersetwildlife.org
• Our office hours are Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm.