A new phase, a fresh relationship with government...introducing the Business Council.
OUR PRIVACY POLICY
British Chambers of Commerce (“the BCC”) honours the rights of its members, employees and other users including website visitors’ right to privacy and data protection. The BCC is fully committed to complying with the provisions of all applicable Data Protection legislation and regulations such as Data Protection Act and EU GDPR.
This privacy policy describes how the BCC collects, uses, shares, and retains:
The privacy policy is effective as of 18 May 2018. The privacy policy will be continuously assessed against new technologies, business practices, regulatory changes and the evolving needs of the BCC and the services provided the BCC.
1) Data controller and data processor
The data controller for all personal data collected via the BCC’s website is the British Chambers of Commerce with its registered office at 65 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EU. This means that we are responsible for deciding what data we collect and how we hold and use your personal data. We will implement appropriate data security measures for protecting the data from unauthorised access and loss, as laid out in the Security section of this privacy policy.
The BCC is also a data processor on behalf of the accredited local Chambers of Commerce to contact members of these Chambers for input into the BCC's surveys to from the BCC's national policy stances. This is highlighted in the section 'Purpose of processing data for the BCC's national research programme'.
2) The BCC’s national research programme
2.1) What personal data are used, and where are they obtained from?
The BCC collects information from each of the accredited local Chambers containing two fields of personally identifiable information about the local Chamber member, specifically: first name and email address.
2.2) What is the BCC’s legal basis?
Our legal basis for processing data for the BCC’s national research programme is to pursue the ‘legitimate interests’ of the local Chamber member.
The purpose of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is to represent the interests of our network to the UK Government. This objective is stated in the ‘Articles of Association’ of both the BCC and the accredited local Chambers. The BCC and the accredited local Chambers achieve this objective primarily through conducting research into the impact of policies on businesses via short online surveys.
Each year, the BCC conducts around five surveys which directly help develop the business policy positioning of the BCC in order to influence UK Government policy. The BCC’s national research programme will not contact individuals for any other purpose other than to notify them of an opportunity to respond to a survey
From the results of the surveys, the BCC produce reports, which BCC and local Chambers then use in their activities in promoting and protecting the interests of UK businesses; in other words, they are part and parcel of the function and purpose of BCC and the local Chambers.
2.3) Are personal data shared with anyone to achieve this purpose?
The data are stored on a GDPR-compliant, password-protected online database system accessed only by the BCC. No personal data are shared with any third-party.
The data from these surveys are completely anonymised and aggregated so that individual responses or personal data cannot be identified. The anonymised data are then presented in closed briefings with stakeholders across UK Government, and shared publicly through the BCC’s press team. Occasionally, the BCC may work with a commercial partner to support the national research programme, but again, no personally identifiable data are provided to the commercial partner.
We limit the access to personal data to only those employees of the BCC who have a legitimate business need to have access to the data.
2.4) How long does the BCC keep personal data for this purpose?
The BCC rebuilds the database it uses for conducting the national research programme every two years and removes individuals who are no longer members of an accredited local Chamber. 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. In this event, you can choose to opt out of further contact with us by clicking ‘unsubscribe’, found on every email sent by the BCC.
3) Data collected for events, newsletters, updates, and marketing
3.1) What personal data are used, and where are they obtained from?
The BCC collects personally identifiable information about individuals from the following sources:
For each of the above categories, the information collected includes first names, email addresses, job titles, and telephone numbers.
3.2) What is the BCC’s legal basis?
Our legal bases for processing these data is to pursue the ‘legitimate interests’ of the individual. The personal data collected are used by the BCC to provide individuals information in relation to the BCC’s activities, the BCC’s website, other BCC services, customer administration, press releases, to process and respond to queries received from the public or other relevant stakeholders, to seek views or comments on emerging economic issues, and to send marketing communications.
The BCC does not collect personal data about individuals except when there is a legitimate business requirement (e.g. an event), or when such information is provided on a voluntary basis.
3.3) Are personal data shared with anyone to achieve this purpose?
The data are stored on a GDPR-compliant, password-protected online database system accessed only by the BCC. No personal data are shared with any third-party except if permission has first been obtained from the users.
We limit the access to personal data to only those employees of the BCC who have a legitimate business need to have access to the data.
3.4) How long does the BCC keep personal data for this purpose?
Personal data will be retained for 24 months after the last activity on your account. Individuals can update their subscription preferences or opt-out of correspondence at any time by clicking ‘unsubscribe’, found on every email sent by the BCC, or by contacting us directly.
4) Non-personal information collected via the BCC website
Users should also be aware that non-personal information and data may be automatically collected through the standard operation of the BCC’s web servers, and by the use of cookies technology and/or Internet Protocol (“IP”) address tracking. Non-personal identification information might include the browser used by you, the type of computer, the operating systems, the Internet service providers, and other similar information.
The BCC’s web server also automatically gathers information about the top viewed and visited pages and links on our website, top entry and exit points, number of form completions, time spent on pages, top downloads, top keywords used offsite to lead customers to our website, your internet protocol (IP) address, information collected via cookies, the areas you visit on the website, the links you may select from within the website to other external websites and device event information such as system activity, crashes, hardware settings, browser type etc. Most browsers are set to accept cookies.
You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent; however, if you disable cookies, the full functionality of the BCC’s websites may not be available to you. The information thus collected enables us to develop and customise our services better to meet your needs and preferences, and to bring to your attention business updates, services, events, and networking opportunities
Relevant areas of the BCC's website will employ Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) encryption technology to enhance data privacy and help prevent loss, misuse, or alteration of the information collected and retained by the BCC
5) Working with other organisations
From time to time, the BCC collaborates with other relevant organisations and companies to promote other programs that may be of interest to members and the wider business community. In such cases, the BCC does not provide these organisations with any personally identifiable information.
6) Social media
We may use third party provided tools to manage our social media interactions. If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message may be stored by on these platforms. Like other personal data, these direct messages will not be shared with any other organisations
7) Access, review and correction
The General Data Protection Regulations gives you the right to access your personal data held by us (“subject access request”). If you have an established business relationship with the BCC, you may request from us a list of the categories of personal information held about you. Subject access requests must be made in writing to the details below. We will endeavour to respond to the request within a reasonable period and in any event within one month as required by the relevant provisions in the GDPR.
When you make a request to access or review the personal data we hold about you, we will request you to verify your identity before the request can be fulfilled.
8) Privacy rights
In addition to the rights of access, review and correction, you have the right to object to your personal data being processed for any particular purpose, or to request that we stop using your information. If you wish to exercise these rights, please e-mail [email protected] or send a letter marked "Data Protection" to the BCC's offices at 65 Petty France, London, SW1H 9EU. If you have further concerns about how we use your personal data, you also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the data protection authority for the UK. Please visit https://ico.org.uk/ for more details on your data protection rights and how to contact them.
This privacy policy was last updated on 18 May, 2018.