Privacy notice

City Music Society (“we”, “us”) is a registered charity in England and Wales, No. 285985. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.

For anything to do with your personal data, write to our Hon. Secretary at the address above, or use our contact form.

• Membership details — your name, email address, and optionally your postal address and telephone number, given when you join or renew.
• Subscription and payment details — your membership category, the amount paid, the payment method, the renewal date and whether you have made a Gift Aid declaration. Card and bank details are entered directly with our payment provider and are never seen or stored by us; we only hold the provider’s reference for your subscription.
• Correspondence — emails you send us and records of the emails we send you, including delivery outcomes and unsubscribe requests.
• Technical data — standard server logs kept by our website host for security and reliability.

We do not collect special category data, and we do not knowingly collect information about children.

• To run your membership — taking payment, issuing confirmations, renewals and newsletters, and answering your questions. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you.
• To claim Gift Aid and keep charity records — where you have made a Gift Aid declaration, and to meet our accounting and charity-law duties. Lawful basis: legal obligation.
• To tell you about our concerts and the Society’s work — members receive three newsletters a year as part of membership. Lawful basis: legitimate interests (keeping members informed), or your consent where you have simply asked to hear from us. You can opt out at any time.
• To keep the website secure. Lawful basis: legitimate interests.

We never sell your data and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing. We use a small number of service providers who process data on our instructions under contract:

• Stripe — payment processing for card and Direct Debit subscriptions.
• Our website and database host — hosting of this site and secure storage of membership records.
• Our email delivery provider — sending membership confirmations, renewal notices and newsletters.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, for example to HMRC in connection with Gift Aid.

Some providers operate outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred abroad it is protected by UK adequacy regulations or by standard contractual clauses.

• Membership records: for as long as you are a member, and for up to two years after your membership ends so that we can handle renewals and queries.
• Gift Aid declarations and financial records: six years after the end of the relevant tax year, as HMRC requires.
• Email delivery logs: up to 12 months. Unsubscribe records are kept indefinitely so that we do not contact you again by mistake.

This website does not use advertising or analytics cookies, and we do not track you across other websites. We only use storage that is strictly necessary for the site to work:

• a short-lived record of your payment session while you are joining, set by our payment provider;
• a sign-in token, used only by Society officers who log in to administer membership records;
• a note of your chosen colour theme, stored in your own browser.

Because these are strictly necessary or set by your own choice, no cookie consent banner is required. You can clear them at any time through your browser settings.

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• ask us to delete your data, where we do not have to keep it for legal or accounting reasons;
• ask us to restrict or object to how we use it;
• ask for your data in a portable electronic format;
• withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent — this does not affect anything done beforehand.

To exercise any of these, use our contact form, or write to the address above. We will respond within one month. There is no charge.

To stop receiving emails, use the unsubscribe link in any message we send, or write to us.

Membership records are held in an access-controlled database. Only committee members who need it — currently the Hon. Secretary and Treasurer — can see membership records, and access requires an individual login. Payment card and bank details are handled solely by our payment provider on their own secure systems.

Please tell us first if you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, so that we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

We may update this notice from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.