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Teamexperiences Data Protection Policy

CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW

Key Details

Policy prepared by: Arjan Drost

Approved by management on: July 2022

Policy became operational on: July 2022

Next Review Date: July 2023

Introduction

Teamexperiences needs to gather and use certain information about individuals.  These can include customers, suppliers, business contacts, employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.  This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the companies data protection standards – and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists

This data protection policy ensures Teamexperiences:

  • Complies with data protection law and follow good practice
  • Protects the rights of staff, customers and partners
  • Is open about how it stores and processes individual’s data
  • Protects itself from the risk of data breach

Data Protection Law

The Data Protection Act describes how organisations including Teamexperiences must collect, handle and store personal information.  These rules apply whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials. To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The Data Protection Act is underpinned by eight important principles. These say that personal data must:

  • Be processed fairly and lawfully
  • Be obtained only for specific, lawful use
  • Be adequate, relevant and not excessive
  • Be accurate and kept up to date
  • Not to be held for any longer than necessary
  • Processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
  • Be protected in appropriate ways
  • Not to be transferred outside of the European Economic Area, unless that country or territory also ensures an adequate level of protection

 

PEOPLE, RISKS & RESPONSIBILITY

Policy Scope

This policy applies to:

  • The head office of Teamexperiences
  • All offices of Teamexperiences
  • All staff, freelancers and volunteers of Teamexperiences
  • All contractors, suppliers and other people working on behalf of Teamexperiences

It applies to all data the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even if that

information falls outside of the Data Protection Act. This can include:

  • Names of individuals
  • Postal addresses
  • E-mail addresses
  • Telephone numbers
  • …. Plus any other information relating to individuals

Data Protection Risks

This policy helps to protect Teamexperiences from some very real data security risks, including:

  • Breaches in confidentiality. For instance, information being given out inappropriately.
  • Failing to offer choice. For instance, all individuals should be free to choose how the

company uses data relating to them.

  • Reputational damage. For instance, the company could suffer if hackers successfully

gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with Teamexperiences  has some responsibility for ensuring data is

collected, stored and handled appropriately. Each team that handles personal data must ensure it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection policy.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

 

  • The director are ultimately responsible for ensuring that Teamexperiences meets it’s legal obligations.
  • The data protection officer, Arjan Drost, is responsible for:

o Keeping the director updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues

o Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies, in line with an agreed schedule

o Arranging data protection training and advise for the people covered in this policy

o Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy

o Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data Teamexperiences  holds about them (also called subject access requests)

o Checking and approving any contracts and agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data

  • The IT manager, is responsible for:

o Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards

o Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly

o Evaluating any third-party service’s the company is considering using to store or process data. For instance, cloud computing services.

  • Arjan Drost, is responsible for:

o Approving any data protection statements attached to communications such as e-mails and letters

o Addressing any data protection queries from journalists or media outlets such as newspapers

o Where necessary, working with other staff to ensure marketing initiatives abide by data protection principles

GENERAL STAFF GUIDELINES

  • The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
  • Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, employees can request it from their line managers.
  • Teamexperiences will provide training to all employees to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
  • Employees should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
  • In particular, strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared.
  • Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
  • Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
  • Employees should request help from their line manager or data protection officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

 

DATA STORAGE

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT manager or data controller. When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.  These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

  • When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked drawer or filing cabinet.
  • Employees should make sure paper or print outs are not left where unauthorised people could see them, like on a printer.
  • Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required.

When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts:

  • Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees.
  • If data is stored on removable media, these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
  • Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers and should only be uploaded to an approved cloud computing services.
  • Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space.
  • Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line wit the company back up procedures.
  • Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones.
  • All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and firewall.

DATA USE

Personal data is of no value to GOTO Events unless the business can make use of it. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

  • When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when unattended.
  • Personal data should not be shared informally.
  • Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
  • Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
  • Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computer. Always access and update the central copy of any data.

 

DATA ACCURACY

The law requires Teamexperiences to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date. The more important it is that the personal data is correct, the greater the effort Teamexperiences should put into ensuring it’s accuracy. It is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

  • Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create unnecessary additional data sets.
  • Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, confirming a customer’s details when they call.
  • Teamexperiences will make it easy for data subjects to update the information Teamexperiences holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
  • Date should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on their stored telephone number it should be removed

from the database.

  • It is the marketing managers responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

 

SUBJECT ACCESS REQUESTS

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by Teamexperiences are entitled to:

  • Ask what information the company holds about them and why.
  • Ask how to gain access to it.
  • Be informed how to keep it up to date.
  • Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations.

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request. Subject access requests from individuals should be made by e-mail, addressed to the data controller (info@teamexperiences.co.uk). The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals do not have to use this. Individuals will be charged £10 per subject access request. The data controller will aim to provide the data within 14 days. The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

 

DISCLOSING DATA FOR OTHER REASONS

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.  Under these circumstances Teamexperiences will disclose requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the directors and company’s legal advisers where necessary.

PROVIDING INFORMATION

Teamexperiences aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

  • How the data is being used
  • How to exercise their rights

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement, setting out how data relating to individuals is used by the company.

PRIVACY POLICY

Teamexperiences is committed to protecting your privacy, and at the same time we endeavour to use any data we collect from you to provide the best possible service. This privacy policy describes how we collect and use your personal data.

This (www. teamexperiences.co.uk) site takes reasonable care to comply with requirements of the UK Data Protection Act 1998 with regard to the personal information you supply on this site. The Teamexperiences site uses a security system that protects your information from unauthorised use. However, as no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk.

Teamexperiences may occasionally modify this Privacy Policy, such variations becoming effective immediately upon posting to the website and by continuing to use the website, you will be deemed to accept any such variations. Please note that Teamexperiences does provide links to other sites, which may not be governed by this Privacy Policy and you should view the particular privacy policies of those sites for further information.

Data collectionThis site collects personal data from you via web forms, and also via email addresses we provide so that you contact us with enquiries and send us your details. You submit information using these methods voluntarily, and agree to the use of the personal data you provide as described in this policy.If you give us personal information about somebody else, such as a colleague, we will assume you have their permission to do so, and their data will also be subject to this policy. Data collection via cookies Teamexperiences may also collect personally identifying information using cookies.

Sometimes cookies are required as part of this site’s operation. We will not collect personal data about you using cookies outside of this purpose.If you prefer not to allow the use of cookies, you can change the configuration of your browser to either warn you when you receive a cookie, or to automatically reject them. You may find, however, that disabling cookies means certain areas of the site do not function correctly. Teamexperiences will use the data you supply to answer an enquiry or to administer an ongoing commercial relationship.We will also use your data to tell you about changes to the site, new information, or products and services offered by Teamexperiences that we think you will find valuable. You can choose not to receive this information by sending a blank email to Teamexperiences (info@teamexperiences.co.uk) with the subject ‘No Teamexperiences information’.

Teamexperiences does not share, sell, trade or rent your personal data outside of the Teamexperiences group. We may choose to do so in future with selected third parties whose products and services we think you will find interesting. You can choose not to receive this information by sending a blank email to Teamexperiences (info@teamexperiences.co.uk) with the subject ‘No 3rd Party Information’.Data usage links to external websites.

Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, Teamexperiences cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.