Overview
Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) is committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about any information we hold about you.
This Privacy Statement explains how we collect and use the information we receive from you.
The lawful basis for obtaining and using your data
Article 6 of the EU GDPR Regulations concerns the “Lawfulness of Processing” and the following three definitions provide SARN’s legal bases for processing data in relation to SARN:
| 6(1) (a) – Consent of the data subject | Any other personal data we collect based on consent will only be used for the stated purpose and will not be shared with third parties. |
| 6(1) (b) – Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract | When you sign up to our mailing list or agree to be kept updated about our events and services you are entering into a servicing contract with us. In order to perform this contract, we need to process and store your data. For example, we may need to contact you by email to verify your information. |
| 6(1) (f) – Necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject | By providing your time to attend our events, read our literature and contribute to the issues we focus on, you are helping deliver the objectives of SARN and ultimately contribute to improving the evidence-base relating to alcohol in Scotland, including alcohol use and misuse. Our legitimate interests are to deliver the administration of this service efficiently and to a high standard and in so doing this we may collect and process additional personal information. We will also process personal data to further improve the SARN administration services we provide. We will only do this if there is no overriding prejudice to you by using your personal information in this way. |
The data we collect
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.
The information we ask for is used to maintain up-to-date contact details for you.
The information we will process includes:
- Full name
- Email address
- Job title / Role (optional)
- Institution / Organisation (optional)
What we do with your data
We aim to communicate with you about the work that we do in ways that you find relevant, timely and respectful. To do this, we use data that we have stored about you, such as your professional interest, the events you have registered for in the recent past, as well as any preferences you may have told us about.
We use ‘legitimate interest’ as the legal basis for promotional communications by email.
SARN uses Mailchimp as its bulk emailing service – view Mailchimp’s Privacy Policy.
SARN uses Eventbrite as its event registration service – view Eventbrite’s Privacy Policy.
In the case of email, we will give you an opportunity to opt-out of receiving SARN mailings, or to choose which you would like to receive through setting your SARN email communication preferences. You can alternatively use the contact details at the end of this policy to request changes to the way we stay in touch by email.
In additional to promotional communications, we also process personal information in the following ways that are within our legitimate organisational interests:
- We may analyse data we hold about you to ensure that the content and timing of communications we send you are as relevant to you as possible.
- In order to improve our website, we may analyse information about how you use it and the content and ads that you interact with. You may also see promotions from us on social media that are tailored to your interests.
- We may analyse data we hold about you in order to identify and prevent fraud.
When we share your data
Other than where SARN has a legal obligation, data will not be shared with any external third party unless SARN has your express consent to do so.
We may be required to share your data with our own service providers who process data on our behalf and on our instructions, such as with providers of print services or postal mailing services. In these cases, we make every effort to ensure that these third parties comply strictly with our instructions and with relevant data protection laws.
How long we keep your data
We store your personal information for a minimum of 18 months after you have provided it to us through our mailing list or request to attend one of our events. We will take steps to keep our mailing lists updated and provide straightforward methods to be removed from these lists.
Website cookies
The SARN website uses cookies to monitor browsing preferences. We do not provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed into the memory or storage area of the device you are using when browsing a website. The cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual, allowing modern websites to provide a more personalised experience.
We use cookies for these purposes and use logged site usage data for anonymised statistical website usage analysis.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies, if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
We use the following cookies:
| Cookie | Description | Duration | Type |
| PHPSESSID | This cookie is native to PHP applications. This cookie is used to store and identify a user’s unique session ID for the purpose of managing the user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookie and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed. | – | Necessary |
| vuid | This domain of this cookie is owned by Vimeo. This cookie is used by Vimeo to collect tracking information. It sets a unique ID to embed videos to the website. | 2 years | Analytics |
| lang | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time the user visits the website. | – | Functional |
How you can access your data
To make a request for any personal information we may hold, you should contact the SARN Co-ordinator on +44 (0) 131 247 3609 or email c.graham@rcpe.ac.uk.
You can find out which personal information we hold by making a ‘subject access request’ under the GDPR. Where we hold information about you we will:
- Give you a description of it.
- Tell you why we are holding it.
- Tell you who it could be disclosed to.
- Provide you with a copy of the information in a suitable format within 30 days.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
Other Rights
If we do hold personal data about you, you can:
- Request that incorrect data is amended.
- Ask for data to be erased where there is no longer an ongoing need for processing.
- Specify that access to your data be restricted.
- Request that any objection you have to the processing of your personal data is considered.
- Ask not to be contacted as part of any fundraising activities.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact the SARN Co-ordinator (details above) or you can contact the RCPE/SARN Data Protection Officer on +44 (0) 131 247 3600 or email dpo@rcpe.ac.uk.
Making a complaint
SARN greatly values the working relationship it has with the many individuals and organisations we work with and aims to resolve any issues relating to data protection informally, efficiently and amicably. We will respond quickly to any requests to change your preferences, correct errors with the data we hold, provide access to your data or, if necessary, erase your data.
If any matter cannot be resolved by us then you may wish to discuss the issue further with the ICO in the UK or the relevant regulatory authority within your region.