Privacy Policy

1. Your personal data – what is it?

Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession. The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”).

2. Who are we?

Wantage Community Church is part of OpenGate Churches, which is part of Oxfordshire Community Churches (OCC). OCC is the data controller, based at The King's Centre, OX2 0ES, and can be contacted at dataprotection@occ.org.uk or 01865 297 400.

3. How do we process your personal data?

OCC will process the personal data that you (have) provide(d) to:

a) Communicate with you about activities, events, vacancies, and other matters that are central to the life of our faith community:

For church members, OCC considers this communication to be in its legitimate interests, especially as your church membership represents our mutual commitment to our shared goals.
For non-members, OCC considers that this communication requires your opt-in consent, which you may withdraw verbally or in writing using OCC's contact details as listed above, although we may require you to confirm your intentions and/or identity if your request is ambiguous or unclear.

b) Provide pastoral care, Christian discipleship, and community governance, and to foster missional outreach, all of which are central to the life of our faith community:

OCC considers this to be in its legitimate interests for all individuals with whom it has regular contact.
OCC considers this to be justified by its legal obligations in certain situations (eg. safeguarding).
OCC considers its processing of sensitive personal data to be justified by its charitable purposes (with appropriate safeguards and confidentiality).

5. Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will only be accessible to staff members or volunteers directly involved in these purposes.

6. How long do we keep personal data?

It will be erased no more than one year after your last contact with OCC (unless as a non-member you withdraw your consent for promotional communications, after which you will be removed from our communications database as soon as possible).

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.

7. Your rights and your personal data

With respect to OCC's use of your personal data, you have certain rights:

To be informed (e.g. this privacy notice)
To access (to check the accuracy of your data)
To rectification (to have your data corrected)
To restriction (to have this processing put on hold)
To be forgotten (erased from our records)
To challenge profiling (inc. automated decision-making)
To complain to the Information Commissioners Office

OCC will not use your personal data for automated decision-making nor for profiling.

9. Contact Details

To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints please in the first instance write to the the data controller, based at The King's Centre, OX2 0ES; or email the Data Protection Officer dataprotection@occ.org.uk or call 01865 297 400.

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email or at the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.