The Scottish Council on Archives (collectively “SCA”, “we”, “us” and “our”) take your privacy very seriously. We are committed to respecting and protecting any personal information you share with us. Please read the following to learn more about how we collect, store, use and disclose information about you when you interact with us, in any manner, via our website and/or our services.

  1. Who are we?

The Scottish Council on Archives provides leadership for the archives and records management sector in Scotland. We build national and international partnerships, deliver strategic advice and research, and develop projects spanning outreach, education, and quality improvement. SCA also produces publications and delivers conferences, training and networking events.

We are a membership body and a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) (SCO44553).

  1. What does this Privacy Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy covers our treatment of information that we gather when you are accessing or using our website or services or when you contact us in any manner. We gather different types of information, including information that identifies you as an individual (“Personal Information” as explained in section 4).

  1. Your rights and your personal data

From May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides you with rights in respect of your personal data. These include:

  • The right to request a copy of your personal data which we hold about you
  • The right to ask us to correct personal data that is wrong or out of date
  • The right to request your personal data is erased
  • The right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office

Any questions regarding this Policy, our privacy practices and any requests to exercise your rights should be sent by email to contact@scottisharchives.org.uk or by writing to Scottish Council on Archives, General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YY Alternatively, you can telephone 0131 535 1362.

  1. What information does SCA collect?

4.1 Information you provide to us:

When you register as a member, an event attendee or newsletter recipient– we collect the personal information that you provide to us, for example your name, your email address, your telephone number and your company name via our online forms.

As a supplier or contractor, if you submit an invoice to us for payment via BACS or cheque, we will use this information to process your payment. We are then required to keep a record of the invoice and payment for auditing and legal purposes. This information is stored securely and will not be used for any other purpose than to make a payment and maintain a record of the transaction.

If you make a payment to us for event attendance, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our payment processors, Eventbrite.

Eventbrite use secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions.

If you complete a survey or register for membership, this information is collected via Smart Survey. Smart Survey also have security measures in place for the online capture and processing of personal data.

You can find out more about our relationship with these providers and their privacy policies in section 11.

4.2 Information we automatically collect:

When you use our website – we collect information via cookies and other similar technologies which may include saving cookies to users’ computers. We collect information related to your device such as your device’s IP address, referring website, what pages your device visited, and the time that your device visited our website.

4.3 Use of ‘cookies’

In common with many websites, the SCA website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. Cookies are typically made up of letters and numbers. They are stored on your computer by your internet browser, which are then sent back to the originating website, which recognises the cookie.

Cookies collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual.

Cookies are used to record information about your preferences as you browse our website, which allows us to improve your experience by tailoring the website accordingly. Cookies can also be used to identify you every time you revisit our website.

Browser settings

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies visit aboutcookies.org.uk.

Removing cookies

You can withdraw your consent and remove or block cookies at any time using the settings in your browser, but in some cases, this may impact your ability to use our website.

  1. Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third-party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third-party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third-party site.

  1. How do we use the information?
  • to register your membership to SCA;
  • to register your attendance at an event;
  • to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us;
  • dealing with applications for our bursary;
  • to seek your views or comments on the services we provide;
  • to carry out research to inform our advocacy and development activities;
  • to notify you of changes to our services;
  • to send you communications which you have opted to receive and that may be of interest to you. These may include updates on our activities and invitations to our events;
  • processing a job application or an invitation to tender;
  • to process and complete transactions and send related information including transaction confirmations and invoices;
  • to investigate and prevent fraudulent activities and other illegal activities;
  • for any other purposes about which we notify members and users.

You will always be able to opt-out of such communications at any time (see “What choices do I have” in section 14).

  1. How do we use the information we collect via our website?
  • for administration and reporting purposes including (but not limited to) troubleshooting, performance analysis, statistical analysis and testing
  • to improve our website to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device;
  • to analyse use of our website for trend monitoring and marketing purposes;
  • for the purposes made clear to you at the time you submit your information – for example, when you register to receive our quarterly e-magazine
  1. How long will we keep your information?

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our legal obligations as a charity and membership body (for example, a register of members and trustees).

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us. All information we hold about you is disposed of securely and we maintain a record of how, when and why we destroy any records we hold.

  1. Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We do not currently transfer any information, personal or otherwise, outside of the EEA (European Economic Area).

We do use the services of Eventbrite and they do hold information outside of the EEA. Eventbrite comply with the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework as set out by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal data from EEA member countries. Please read more about their Privacy Policy in section 11.

We may process your personal information for our legitimate business interests e.g. marketing our events, data analytics and/or enhancing/modifying/improving our services and activities (see ‘Legitimate Interests’ section 12).

Please be assured that we will not release your information to third parties for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes or for any other purpose not expressly communicated and agreed by you. The only exception would be when are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

  1. Service Providers working on our behalf

We may pass your information to service providers, such as subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example, a human resources contractor assisting with SCA recruitment processes).

However, when we use external providers or work with external organisations, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service. We have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes.

  1. Product Providers we use

We use some product providers to allow us to efficiently collect information and process payments. The providers we use are Eventbrite and Smart Survey.

In some cases, they will be acting as a data controller of your information and therefore we advise you to read their Privacy Policies. These product providers will share your information with us which we will use in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Smart Survey Privacy Policy

Eventbrite Privacy Policy

  1. Legitimate Interests

“Legitimate Interests” means the interests of our organisation in in carrying out our charitable purposes and providing services to members. For example, we have an interest in making sure our members and stakeholders have up to date information about our activities and services, so we may process your information to send you relevant communications.

When we process your personal information for our legitimate interests, we make sure to consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative), and your rights under data protection laws.

Our legitimate business interests do not automatically override your interests – we will not use your Personal Data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

If you have any concerns, you have the right to object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests.

  1. Is personal information about me held securely?

We use appropriate technical, organisational and administrative security measures to protect any information we hold from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction.  Unfortunately, no organisation or service can guarantee complete security. Unauthorised entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security of user information at any time.

  1. What choices do I have?

We will not contact you by post, email or telephone unless you have given your prior consent. You can always opt not to disclose information to us, but keep in mind some information may be needed to take advantage of our services (for example, membership of SCA and notification of upcoming training events and conferences). You can opt-out of receiving communications from us at any time by using the unsubscribe link at the foot of any email communications we send.

You can also unsubscribe at any time by contacting us by email at contact@scottisharchives.org.uk or write to us at: Scottish Council on Archives, General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY. Alternatively, you can telephone 0131 535 1362.

  1. Children

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 16. If you are under 16, please do not attempt to register as a member or send any Personal Information about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a child, we will delete that information immediately. If you believe that a child under 16 may have provided us Personal Information, please contact us at contact@scottisharchives.org.uk

  1. How you can access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. SCA will contact you on an annual basis to confirm we have up to date information. You have the right to ask for a copy of the information Scottish Council on Archives hold about you. This will be provided free of charge.

If you change email address, or any of the other information we hold about you is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at: contact@scottisharchives.org.uk, or write to us at: Scottish Council on Archives, General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY. Alternatively, you can telephone 0131 535 1362.

  1. Changes to our Privacy Policy

We’re continuously trying to improve our website and services, so we may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will alert you immediately to any material changes by placing a notice on our website and by sending you an email when we are required to do so by applicable law. You can see when this Privacy Policy was last updated by checking the date at the top of this page. You are responsible for periodically reviewing this Privacy Policy.

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to contact@scottisharchives.org.uk or by writing to Scottish Council on Archives, General Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YY Alternatively, you can telephone 0131 535 1362.