The SIF Union Ltd, trading as Security Industry Federation, is committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of members, potential members and our website visitors and we work hard to ensure we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into effect on the 25th May 2018. This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information.
Under the GDPR trade union membership is considered a special category of personal data, this puts an extra onus on us to ensure members’ personal information is processed in accordance with the legislation.
1 Introduction
1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of (our website visitors, members and potential members).
1.2 This policy applies where the Security Industry Federation is acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of such persons; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.
1.3 We use strictly necessary cookies on our website, please see our cookie policy for further details.
1.4 In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Security Industry Federation.
1.5 In this policy, “SIF” refers to the Security Industry Federation
2 The personal data that we collect
2.1 In Section 2 we have set out the general categories of personal data that we process.
2.2 Personal data means any information relating to an identifiable person and as such can be used to identify an individual.
2.3 We may collect only your personal data required to register you as a member of the SIF such as name, email address and postal address. Payment details will be required in order to set up payment of membership fee’s and we will act as an agent between you and our bank.
2.4 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or that we send to you (“communication data”). The communication data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our website will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms.
3 Purposes of processing and legal bases
3.1 In Section 3, we have set out the purposes for which we may process personal data and the legal bases of the processing.
3.2 Section 24(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, (TULRCA) requires a union to compile and maintain a register of members’ names and addresses and, so far as is reasonably practicable, to secure that the entries in the register are accurate and kept up-to-date. This is referred to as the “section 24 duty”. The address to be recorded can be the member’s home address or any such other address that the member has requested us, in writing to treat as their postal address. Where a trade union does not have an address for a member it must ask for one. In order to help meet this statutory obligation, we may put in place a system which encourages members to notify us of any changes of address but in any case we encourage members to notify us as soon as possible as it is lawfully their primary responsibility.
3.3 Operations – We may process usage data for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website, services and business.
3.4 Relationships and communications – We may process communication data for the purposes of managing our relationships, communicating with you by email, providing support services and complaint handling. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely communications with our members, the maintenance of relationships, and the proper administration of our website and services.
3.5 Member services and direct marketing – We may process your data for the administration and management of your membership records, to provide you with information and updates about Security Industry federation’s activities, campaigns, benefits and services, to notify you of changes to our services and benefits, to determine eligibility for and services and benefits, to conduct elections and ballots, to administer member meetings such as the Annual General Meeting, to provide you with support, assistance, advice and/or representation in an individual or collective case and to process your membership subscription payments.
3.6 Security – We may process your personal data for the purposes of security and the prevention of fraud and other criminal activity. The legal basis of this processing is to protect our legitimate interests, namely the protection of our website, services, business, and the protection of others.
4.0 Providing your personal data to others
4.1 We will only disclose your personal data to our reward partners who offer you their services and benefits. The data will consist of your name, SIF membership number, SIF membership level and email address. This is in order for our reward partners to recognise you as a SIF member and provide you with the services and benefits awarded by your SIF membership level. You agree that our reward partners may contact you on your email address in order to take further personal details from you that may be required in order to fully use their services. We will not request this data and any personal data you provide to 3rd parties are at your own risk and subject to your own GDPR agreements.
6 Retaining and deleting personal data
6.1 Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal data.
6.2 Personal data that we hold or process for any purpose or purposes shall only be kept for as long as you remain a member of the SIF.
6.3 Once you have informed us of your decision to terminate your membership we will delete your personal data that we hold. There is an expected reasonable time frame to allow us to do this which is set at 30 days.
7 Your rights
7.1 In this Section 7, we have listed the rights that you have under data protection law.
7.2 Your principal rights under data protection law are:
(a) the right to access – you can ask for copies of your personal data;
(b) the right to rectification – you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data;
(c) the right to erasure – you can ask us to erase your personal data;
(d) the right to restrict processing – you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data;
(e) the right to object to processing – you can object to the processing of your personal data;
(f) the right to data portability – you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you;
(g) the right to complain to a supervisory authority – you can complain about our processing of your personal data; and
(h) the right to withdraw consent – to the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your personal data is consent, you can withdraw that consent.
7.3 These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about the rights of data subjects by visiting https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/.
7.4 You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by written notice to us, using the contact details set out below.
Daniel Garnham is the “Data Controller” of your personal data and our Head Office address is:
85 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7LT
Reference to personal data may include any information which directly or indirectly identifies you. This may include: your name, email address and bank details.
The personal data you supply to us will be held in electronic and/or manual format.
The processing of personal data by SIF Union Ltd will be in line with the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This policy reflects our duties to use information fairly, keep it secure, make sure it is accurate and keep it up to date.
Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated. It may change from time to time, so please check back periodically. It was last updated in June 2022.
How SIF Union Ltd uses your personal data as a member
By joining SIF Union Ltd you should understand that we may use some or all of the personal data you have provided for the above purposes. Where other purposes apply, we will notify you when you provide your data.
The primary basis upon which the SIF Union Ltd process members’ personal data is it is necessary for the legitimate interests of a trade union. SIF Union Ltd’s legitimate interests are broadly defined in our terms and conditions and policy decisions, which includes the interests of you as an individual member and/or of members or the union generally.
Certain processing is also carried out because it is necessary to comply with the law, including the requirement that trade unions keep an accurate register of members’ names and addresses. If you wish to be a member, you must provide this information to us.
SIF Union Ltd may contact you at your home address, by telephone, SMS or email. You can change how we communicate with you at any time by visiting our website or by contacting our Head Office to do this for you. We respect and will follow your communication preferences as far as possible when making any contact with you. There are however certain mandatory communications that we must send you for the purpose of your union membership including those (if applicable) relating to statutory ballots or elections, your union subscription payments, collective bargaining or collective consultation, legal claims and, if necessary, invitations to branch or workplace meetings. You are not able to opt-out of receiving these mandatory communications.
Sharing of information
We may disclose information about you to Security Industry Federation’s Ambassadors, staff, branch officials, workplace representatives or agents, insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes as set out in this privacy policy.
SIF Union Ltd will not disclose any of your personally identifiable information to any third party unless they are processing data on the union’s behalf, we have your consent, to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim and/or we are required to do so by law.
Third parties
Unite shares some member information with carefully selected third parties, who may carry out trade union related data processing activities on SIF Union Ltd’s behalf, including:-
Ballot and election administration, as required by law
Maintaining and updating membership information
IT systems support
Print and/or processing of authorised postal and/or electronic communications from SIF regarding the union’s objects, services, benefits, campaigns, policies or other matters relating to your membership of SIF, or as required by law
Email/web platforms and surveys
Operating the SIF Helpline
We have contractual, technical, organisational and security measures in place to protect members’ data.
SIF Union Ltd will normally also share necessary personal data with either your bank or employer, depending on the method by which you chose to pay your membership subscriptions, in order to process your subscription payments according to the payment method you consented to. This applies to your bank if you pay by direct debit or your employer if you pay by check-off. You can change your subscription payment method at any time by contacting our Head Office.
How we may use your information as a visitor to the website or as a potential member
Personal data submitted on this website will only be used for the purposes (or closely related purposes) that it was collected.
We may use your personal information to:
- administer the website;
- improve your browsing experience by personalising the website;
- enable your use of the services available on the website;
- send you email notifications which you have specifically requested;
- deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website;
- conduct surveys that you complete;
- add the details provided by you to petitions, open letters and/or emails that you sign up to;
- for the purpose of direct marketing if you have requested information on a particular service.
In the event that you are a potential member applying for membership we will in addition process your data for the purpose of progressing your application for membership. If you enter personal data on our join online application form but do not complete your membership application, we will retain your information for 7 days for statistical analysis and send you information about Unite membership by email where you consent to this.
Any personal data provided by you on any social media or other external website or service (including any that you link to from this website) will be subject to and governed by the privacy notice and policies of the organisation that operates the relevant platform/website.
Privacy and cookies
We will collect your personal data that you give to us for the purposes (or closely related purposes) for which you give it to us. Some information is gathered when you join or sign up to receive email updates.
Cookies
We will collect information about your tastes and preferences, both when you tell us and by analysis of customer traffic, including using “cookies”.
A cookie is a piece of information that is stored on your computer’s hard drive. It is normally sent by a web server to you and enables the server to collect information back from your site visit.
Our cookie statement explains which cookies we use and why, along with where you can find more information about cookies.
How we may use the information you supply as a rep or member for a Security Industry Federation Training Session or Education Course
The personal details that you provide on training or education booking forms will be used by SIF to enroll you on the relevant education course or training session (where spaces permit) and to contact you with relevant information about the training.
When you sign up for training, you will be advised what information is required (usually marked with an asterisk), and what is optional.
SIF Union Ltd will also keep a record of the training you attend on your membership record to help track your learning and progress, and to communicate about courses you might be interested in.
Where the training is provided or verified by a college, the TUC or another external education provider, your information will be shared with SIF Union Ltd’s trusted education partner to allow them to facilitate the training and award qualifications or certificates (if applicable).
Where the course or training session is run virtually/online, your data may be processed by Zoom or another video conference service used by Unite to host the training and/or send the log-in details.
Any special category health information provided by you regarding adjustments for training/education courses will be used for the purpose of arranging and delivering this training/course only. The provision of this information is not compulsory and it will not be stored on your membership record – you can review and update the disability status on your membership record on the SIF website, should you wish to. Any adjustment information provided by you will be shared with the course tutor and/or external education provider (if applicable and necessary to facilitate).
Any dietary requirements will be shared with the catering provider (if applicable and necessary to facilitate).
Generally
Storage of data
We will keep your personal data only for the period necessary to enable us to fulfil the purpose(s) for which we collected it, to comply with our legal obligations and/or whilst we maintain a legitimate interest in retaining it.
Transfers overseas
We do not routinely transfer your data outside of the UK or the European Economic Area. Where this is necessary, we ensure appropriate data protection measures are in place.
Your rights as a data subject
You have rights as a data subject. These rights are:
The right of access – you have the right to access your personal data that we have kept on record. This is called a subject access request. To request access to your data, please email admin@sif.org.uk
It is very helpful if you tell us what data you are seeking when writing to us.
The right to rectification – you have the right to correct any personal data we hold about you that is incorrect or incomplete. You can do this by visiting the SIF website https://sif.org.uk or by contacting our Head Office to do this for you.
The right to erasure – in certain circumstances, you can ask for personal data we hold about you to be erased from our records. If you request this we will tell you if it is possible to delete the information. To request this, please email dataprotection@sif.org.uk
The right to object to and/or restrict processing – you can change your communication preferences (therefore restricting how we communicate with you and process your data) by logging in to the SIF website or by contacting our Head Office to do this for you. Please however note that there are certain mandatory communications that we must send you for the purpose of your union membership and that cannot therefore be opted out of. Email communications from SIF that are not mandatory, will include an unsubscribe link and/or instructions on how to unsubscribe within the email. There are also certain other circumstances in which you can restrict the use of your personal data. To request this, please email dataprotection@sif.org.uk
The right to data portability – in some circumstances, you can get a copy of the personal data we hold about you in an electronic format that can easily be re-used and ask us to transfer this (where feasible) to another organisation. To request this, please email dataprotection@sif.org.uk
The right to withdraw consent – you have the right to withdraw consent to our processing your information at any time if consent is the basis we rely on, however we may continue to process your information if we have another legitimate basis for doing to.
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – Unite doesn’t apply any automated decision making or profiling to membership data. If that ever changes, this policy will be updated.
If you have any questions or concerns about this policy or would like to exercise any of the above applicable data protection rights, you can do this by contacting our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@sif.org.uk or by post at the following address:-
Data Protection Officer
Security Industry Federation
85 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 7LT
SIF Union Ltd are committed to your data protection and upholding your data rights. If you think we have not done so, please contact admin@sif.org.uk
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Amending this policy
We may amend this policy at any time by posting a revised version on the website.
Updated 20th November 2022