Privacy Policy/ GDPR

Who we are

We are the Medium Wave Circle, a non-profit club for radio enthusiasts. Our website address is: https://www.mwcircle.org.

Introduction

We understand the importance of your privacy and we will do our utmost to respect it. From 2018 new European legislation has come into effect to protect your personally identifiable information. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) replaces previous Data Protection legislation. We aim to comply with the GDPR and we want you to understand how we collect, store and use your personal information.

What we need from you

When you contact the Circle we will need to collect and store information in order that we can fulfill your request or requirements. This could include:

  • Contact details – name, address, email address, IP address and phone number.
  • Billing/Payment details – bank account number, sort code, credit card details.
  • Delivery details – name, address, email address and phone number.
  • Your signature

If you do not provide us with all of the personal information that we need this may affect our ability to offer our services.

Other information that we may record potentially containing your personal details

  • Information gathered from the public domain
  • Records confirming delivery of goods
  • Anything needed for problem resolution
  • Records of meetings, phone calls (and other communications) and appointments

Online information

When you use our website information is logged by your and our Internet Service Providers as well as our web hosting company. Information is also is logged by Google Analytics and we only use this data in an anonymised form to continuously improve the user experience and effectiveness of this website.  If you arrived at this website from another website this location may be logged.

If you responded to online advertising (e.g on Google Adwords or Facebook) your activities on those platforms may be logged. The extent to which your online activity is recorded depends upon many factors including privacy settings on your browser and computer as well as your relationship with social media platforms.

If you choose to join the Circle’s Facebook Group or the MWC Group at groups.io then you need to familiarise yourself with their privacy policies and decide whether or not to accept them. The Circle has no responsibility for any website other than this one and cannot vouch for any external links from this site to other websites. Though these have been set up in good faith you access third party websites entirely at your own risk. Any personal information you submit to these sites does not constitute personal information held by the Medium Wave Circle.

Why we need your personal information – contractual purposes

We need to collect your personal information so that we can manage our relationship with you. We will use this information to manage our ongoing contractual relationship. This includes arranging and maintaining your membership of the Circle and the supply of our services, It also includes problem resolution, satisfaction surveys and similar. This also includes pre-contractual contact with the Circle to enable you to decide whether you wish to become a member.

Why we need your personal information – legitimate purposes

We also process your personal information in pursuit of our legitimate interests to:

  • Ensure that you are in receipt of services to which you are entitled as part of your membership
  • Enable us to provide you with future services
  • Keep you informed of service issues (e.g. delivery problems, administration changes, etc).
  • Solicit your feedback on the quality of our work.
  • Respond to your questions, comments, support needs, complaints or concerns.
  • Manage any offers/incentives/prizes that you may have received (e.g. discount against a future order, credit notes etc.)
  • Improve the user experience and effectiveness of this website and other club processes related to your membership.

Why we need your personal information – legal obligations

We record and store data in accordance with legislation in England. For example:

  • Company law and HMRC regulations specify record keeping for limited companies
  • VAT rules specify, among others things, record keeping for exports
  • Ensuring your statutory rights under Sales of Goods Act 1979
  • Keeping records to satisfy our insurers

How we store your information

We store information electronically and on paper. Any queries should be addressed in the first instance to the Secretary.

Protecting you and us

We may check any information you provide for accuracy and to verify your identity and address and to combat fraud. If information you provide is inaccurate or becomes obsolete (e.g. post or email gets returned as undeliverable) we may seek alternative communications channels so we can continue to provide your service.

Retention of your information

We retain all information during the time you are a member of the Circle. Data will normally be deleted 12 months after you cease to be a member. Exceptionally we may retain data longer to comply with the law, prevent fraud, conduct statistical analysis, collect any fees owed, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigation and take other actions permitted by law. The information we retain about you will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Sharing of your information

We do not sell your data to third parties.

We routinely share some data in order to provide our services to you; e.g. with postal services to deliver publications; with our internet service provider to communicate with you by email

We do not regularly share data with third parties but we may share information with our professional advisers (e.g. book keeper, accountant, legal counsel) and credit card merchant service providers as needed for the smooth running of the Circle.

We do not sell or pass on your details to unconnected third parties in the normal course of business. However we may share information

  • with third parties if we believe in good faith that this will prevent fraud, injury or other problems,
  • with credit card companies/banks particularly for the resolution of charge-backs and similar claims,
  • in order to recover a debt or to seek legal redress,
  • if there is a lawful obligation for us to do so.

Exception

This policy does not apply to any personal information that you voluntarily provide for publication in Medium Wave News or other publications, in online forums or groups or similar. This information is available to all other members at the time it is published and will be available in print or digital archive format in perpetuity.

revised 9th May 2021