Purpose
The British Society of Gastroenterology is a charitable company whose aims are to support our members and others who work in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology and to provide the best care and achieve the best outcomes for patients.
In the course of our work, we both collect and process personal data, that is, information which identifies a living person, or which can be identified as relating to a living person.
This policy outlines how we collect and use personal data and the rules and regulations surrounding this.
Scope
This policy applies to all BSG staff, BSG members, potential members and third-party contractors employed by BSG to undertake activity on our behalf.
How we collect personal data
We only store data on individuals which has been given to us by the individuals themselves and from other publically available sources. We subscribe to the GMC database and verify member applications against this information source Additional data may be collected when members attend a course or conference or to receive information from us, or it may be in response to surveys.
Most individuals who provide their personal data to BSG do so in order to become members of BSG.The data we collect includes:
- Personal details such as name, gender, date of birth, email, home address, telephone number(s)
- Professional details such as job title, hospital address, GMC number or NTN number
- Financial information such as credit card or bank account details is encrypted and stored on secure servers managed by our service providers - GoCardless, Xero and Stripe
- Personal data generated by their involvement with BSG, such as membership number, category, committee membership, bursary and award applications or correspondence relating to their membership
Legal basis for processing data
BSG will process personal data for the following purposes:
1. Discharging our contractual obligations: Most individuals whose personal data we store and process are members of BSG.
When members join BSG, they enter into a contract by which BSG agrees to provide the following benefits:
- Subscription to our medical journals (varying access depending on membership grade)
- BSG newsletters.
- Discounted registration at BSG annual scientific meeting
- ACCEA support
- A voice for GI medicine within health policy, nationally and at regional level.
- Postgraduate meetings
- Access to the BSG website members’ area
- Influence on policy
- Access to one of the largest medical gastroenterology and hepatology communities
- Monthly e-newsletter outlining all the latest news in gastroenterology and hepatology
- Access to advice/guidance on working in the independent sector
2. If members register to attend a BSG event, such as the BSG Annual Meeting or BSG Endoscopy Live, they are also entering into a contract with BSG, in which BSG agree to provide them with the services and information which are offered at the time of registration.BSG will collect and process personal data to discharge these and any other contracts with members or non-members. This includes:
- Sending information on forthcoming events, such as the BSG Annual Meeting, to members who are entitled to receive discounted registration
- Asking members for their views in to better enable their collective voice to be heard in policy circles
- Sending members, by post and electronically, medical journals, newsletters, and other written and video information outlined in our statement of membership benefits
- Sending members information and reminders about how to access services such as ACCEA support
- Providing programme information about events for which members or non-members have registered
3. BSG’s legitimate interests (supporting BSG members and others who work in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology to provide the best care and achieve the best outcomes for patients):
BSG provides a wide array of services to professionals (including physicians, surgeons, medical students, nurses, allied health professionals and scientists) which include education, medical guidelines, training, workforce research and advocacy, bursaries and other grants. These services are provided through the BSG website, through printed and online publications, and through events and conferences in different parts of the UK. BSG also conducts research, via surveys sent to selected groups of its members, to better inform medical and workforce research.
BSG believes that, as the major representative body for gastroenterology and hepatology in the UK, we can provide services to these specialties which no other organisation is able to do at a national level. The provision of these services ultimately leads to tangible, measurable improvements in outcomes for patients.
For this reason, we process personal data supplied to us by individuals to pursue our legitimate interests. We do so with great care, and in each case only after careful consideration of the balance between our interest and the right to privacy of the data subjects.
Where we can identify a clear and legitimate reason that such processing serves our charitable objectives, and it does not harm the interests of data subjects, BSG processes personal data for the following purposes:
- Direct marketing of BSG membership and BSG events
- To carry out surveys of selected groups (for example those with a sub-specialty) to assist clinical research, in accordance with the BSG surveys policy
- To carry out periodic surveys of the gastroenterology and hepatology workforce, to understand current and future challenges and influence policy
- To disseminate information on bursaries, grants and awards which BSG offers to those conducting research, education or training
4. Consent:
BSG sometimes invites individuals to give their consent, through an action such as submitting a paper form or checking a box on our website, to contact them for specific purposes. When we do this we carefully store the record of this consent along with a clear statement of what type of contact has been agreed to and for what purposes, and we ensure we use any data collected in this way only for those purposes.
Your rights
BSG is committed to honouring the rights of individuals whose data we hold, and we have processes in place to protect such rights and respond quickly and effectively to requests from data subjects. These rights include:
- Transparency over how we use personal information (right to be informed)
- Request a copy of the information we hold, which will be provided within one month (right of access)
- Update or amend the information we hold if it is wrong (right of rectification)
- Ask us to stop using the information (right to restrict processing)
- Ask us to remove the personal information from our records (right to be 'forgotten')
- Object to the processing of information for marketing purposes (right to object)
- Obtain and reuse personal data for other purposes (right to data portability)
- Not be subject to a decision when it is based on automated processing (automated decision making and profiling)
Sharing information with third parties
BSG will never sell personal data to a third party. BSG will only disclose information to third parties or individuals when obliged to by law (for example to support criminal investigations) or under the following circumstances:
- If members have agreed, we may do so for a specific purpose
- When BSG use other companies to provide services on our behalf, such as processing transactions, sending mail and emails or performing event registrations. When BSG engage other companies to process personal data on our behalf, we make rigorous checks of their data protection capabilities and their record on data protection and take a strongly proactive approach to supervision of the contract
- When providing services through our subsidiaries (i.e. trading companies owned by BSG)
We work with an events partner called TFI Lodestar, who administrate some of our events, including the Annual Conference, and our Trainee events. Their privacy policy can be found attached to this document.
Data Storage and Retention
BSG only stores personal data on servers located within the European Economic Area (EEA). BSG will not retain personal data any longer than it needs to, to fulfil the purpose for which it legitimately holds the data. This is subject to assessment according to circumstances, but we take the following factors into consideration:
- Whether it is necessary to continue to store the data to continue to perform our contractual obligations
- Whether we have any legal obligation to continue to process information, such as any record-keeping requirements imposed by relevant law or regulation
- Whether we have any legal basis to continue to process information, such as consent or our legitimate interests
- Any relevant standard practices, or guidance from the regulator on how long information should be retained
- How confident we can reasonably be that the data is up to date and accurate
Photography and filming at BSG Events
BSG is the Data Controller and this Privacy Notice provides an overview of how photography and filming data is processed.
BSG may record and/or photograph events for live streaming online or repurposing in digital e.g. on our website or social media. This will be for the purpose of promoting services and providing educational resources. BSG maintains copyright and any other intellectual property in photographs taken and/or in digitised recordings belonging to BSG.
Where practically possible BSG will seek consent in advance of an event to provide the lawful basis for processing data, and at all times, will provide clear instruction on how you can opt out of any photography or filming.
In return for access to the event, you consent to any such filming, photography and/or live streaming in reproducing and publishing your words and/or likeness in any transcript of or publication relating to the event and/or for the purposes of publicising the services of BSG.
Photos and recordings contain personal data and will be protected and disposed of securely in accordance with data protection legislation.
If at any point you wish to withdraw your consent or request that BSG stops using your images/ records, please write to
comms@bsg.org.uk.
Definitions
GMC Number - General Medical Council
NTN Number - National Training Number
ACCEA - Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards
GI - Gastrointestinal
Review Cycle
BSG will review this policy at least annually and may at any time withdraw this policy or publish replacement or revised versions of this policy to reflect developments in the business, or changes to legislation or procedures.
