Privacy Policy 

Introduction

This Privacy Policy outlines The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of Immanuel Church, Highters Heath practices with respect to information collected from users who access our website at www.immanuelhightersheath.com or otherwise share personal information with us.   It should be read in conjunction with our "Data Protection and Privacy Policy", "online and Social Media Policy" and our Safeguarding Policies which can all be found on our Policies Page.

Who we are

The PCC of Immanuel Church, Highters Heath, is the data controller. This means it decides how your personal data is processed and for what purposes. 

What is the legal basis for processing your personal data? 

  • Explicit consent of the data subject so that we can keep you informed about news, events, activities and services and process your gift aid donations and keep you informed about diocesan events. 
  • Processing is necessary for carrying out obligations under employment, social security or social protection law, or a collective agreement. 
  • Processing is carried out by a not-for-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim provided: 
    • the processing relates only to members or former members (or those who have regular contact with it in connection with those purposes); and  
    • there is no disclosure to a third party without consent. 
When you use this Web Site, you consent to the collection, storage, use, disclosure and other uses of your Personal Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

We encourage our Users to carefully read the Privacy Policy and use it to make informed decisions. 

What information do we collect?

We collect two types of data and information from Users. 

The first type of information is un-identified and non-identifiable information pertaining to a User(s), which may be made available or gathered via your use of the Site (“ Non-personal Information ”). We are not aware of the identity of a User from which the Non-personal Information was collected. Non-personal Information which is being collected may include your aggregated usage information and technical information transmitted by your device, including certain software and hardware information (e.g. the type of browser and operating system your device uses, language preference, access time, etc.) in order to enhance the functionality of our Site. We may also collect information about your activity on the Site (e.g. pages viewed, online browsing, clicks, actions, etc.).

The second type of information Personal Information which is individually identifiable information, namely information that identifies an individual or may, with reasonable effort, identify an individual. Such information includes:
  • Device Information: We collect Personal Information from your device. Such information includes geolocation data, IP address, unique identifiers (e.g. MAC address and UUID) and other information which relates to your activity through the Site.
  • Personal information such as name, email address, physical address, contact information, and other information pertaining to the enquiry which you make with us, eg wedding enquiries, baptisms, etc.

How do we receive information about you?

We receive your Personal Information from various sources:
  • When you voluntarily provide us with your personal details in order to enquire about our services;
  • When you use or access our Site in connection with your use of our services;
  • When you email us.
  • From third-party providers, services and public registers (for example, traffic analytics vendors).

How do we process your personal data? 

We do not rent, sell or share Users’ information with third parties, except as described in this Privacy Policy.

We use your personal data for the following purposes: 
  • To administer membership records 
  • To fundraise and promote the interests of Immanuel church 
  • To manage our employees and volunteers 
  • To maintain our own accounts and records (including the processing of gift aid applications) 
  • To inform you of news, events, activities and services running at Immanuel 
We may also use the information for statistical and analytical purposes, intended to improve the Web Site.
    Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be shared with other members of the church, including the Local Minister and Priest-in-Charge (or Area Dean in the case of a vacancy or interregnum) in order to carry out a service to other church members or for purposes connected with the church. We will only share your data with third parties outside of the parish with your consent. 
    We may also disclose information if we have good reason to believe that disclosure of such information is helpful or reasonably necessary to: 
    1. comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; 
    2. enforce our policies (including our Agreement), including investigations of potential violations thereof; 
    3. investigate, detect, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities or other wrongdoing, suspected fraud or security issues; 
    4. to establish or exercise our rights to defend against legal claims; 
    5. prevent harm to the rights, property or safety of us, our users, yourself or any third party; 
    6. or for the purpose of collaborating with law enforcement agencies and/or in case we find it necessary in order to enforce intellectual property or other legal rights.

    Your rights and your personal data 

    How long do we keep your personal data? 

    We keep data in accordance with the guidance set out in the guide “Keep or Bin: Care of Your Parish Records” which is available from the Church of England website at www.churchofengland.org/more/libraries-and-archives/records-management-guides. Specifically, we retain electoral roll data while it is still current; gift aid declarations and associated paperwork for up to 6 years after the calendar year to which they relate; and parish registers (baptisms, marriages, funerals) permanently. 

    Cookies

    We and our trusted partners use cookies and other technologies in our related services, including when you visit our Site or access our services. 


    A "cookie" is a small piece of information that a website assigns to your device while you are viewing a website. Cookies are very helpful and can be used for various different purposes. These purposes include allowing you to navigate between pages efficiently, enabling automatic activation of certain features, remembering your preferences and making the interaction between you and our Services quicker and easier. Cookies are also used to help ensure that the advertisements you see are relevant to you and your interests and to compile statistical data on your use of our Services. 


    The Site uses the following types of cookies:


    a. 'session cookies' which are stored only temporarily during a browsing session in order to allow normal use of the system and are deleted from your device when the browser is closed; 


    b. 'persistent cookies ' which are read only by the Site, saved on your computer for a fixed period and are not deleted when the browser is closed. Such cookies are used where we need to know who you are for repeat visits, for example to allow us to store your preferences for the next sign-in; 


    c. 'third-party cookies' which are set by other online services who run content on the page you are viewing, for example by third-party analytics companies who monitor and analyse our web access.


    Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but Personal Information that we store about you may be linked, by us, to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. You may remove the cookies by following the instructions of your device preferences; however, if you choose to disable cookies, some features of our Site may not operate properly and your online experience may be limited.


    We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about your use of the Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users access the Site, which pages they visit, when they do so, etc. We use the information we obtain from Google Analytics only to improve our Site and services. Google Analytics collects the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit sites, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy.

    Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data: 
    • The right to request a copy of your personal data which the PCC of Immanuel, Highters Heath, holds about you 
    • The right to request that the PCC of Immanuel, Highters Heath, corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date 
    • The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for the PCC of Immanuel, Highters Heath to retain such data 
    • The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time 
    • The right to request that the data controller provide the data subject with his/her personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability), (where applicable) [Only applies where the processing is based on consent or is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject and in either case the data controller processes the data by automated means] 
    • The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing 
    • The right to object to the processing of personal data, (where applicable) [Only applies where processing is based on legitimate interests (or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority); direct marketing and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics] 
    • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office
    To exercise all relevant rights, queries of complaints please in the first instance contact the PCC Secretary at immanuel-pcc@outlook.com 

    You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via their Contact-us page at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or at the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF. 

    Third-party collection of information

    Our policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. To the extent you disclose your information to other parties or sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Accordingly, we encourage you to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each third party that you choose to disclose information to. 

    This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, nor to individuals whom we do not employ or manage, including any of the third parties which we may disclose information to as set out in this Privacy Policy. 

    How do we safeguard your information?

    We take great care in implementing and maintaining the security of the Site and your information.  We employ industry standard procedures and policies to ensure the safety of the information we collect and retain, and prevent unauthorised use of any such information, and we require any third party to comply with similar security requirements, in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Although we take reasonable steps to safeguard information, we cannot be responsible for the acts of those who gain unauthorised access or abuse our Site, and we make no warranty, express, implied or otherwise, that we will prevent such access.

    The PCC of Immanuel, Highters Heath, complies with its obligations under the ‘GDPR’ by: keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data. 

    Transfer of data outside the EEA 

    Please note that some data recipients may be located outside the EEA. In such cases we will transfer your data only to such countries as approved by the European Commission as providing adequate level of data protection, or enter into legal agreements ensuring an adequate level of data protection.

    Advertisements

    We may use a third-party advertising technology to serve advertisements when you access the Site. This technology uses your information with regards to your use of the Services to serve advertisements to you (e.g., by placing third-party cookies on your web browser). 

    You may opt out of many third-party ad networks, including those operated by members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") and the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA"). For more information about this practice by NAI and DAA members, and your choices regarding having this information used by these companies, including how to opt-out of third-party ad networks operated by NAI and DAA members, please visit their respective websites: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/#!/ and http://optout.aboutads.info/#!/.

    Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

    We reserve the right to periodically amend or revise the Privacy Policy; material changes will be effective immediately upon the display of the revised Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Platform, following the notification of such amendments on our website, constitutes your acknowledgment and consent of such amendments to the Privacy Policy and your agreement to be bound by the terms of such amendments.

    How to contact us

    If you have any general questions about the Site or the information we collect about you and how we use it, you can contact the PCC Secretary at immanuel-pcc@outlook.com

    Immanuel Church Highters Heath:
    Highters Heath Lane
    Birmingham
    B14 4TB

    Tel: 0121 430 7578



    Last Modified 27 May 2025