Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Active Networking Club (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you visit our website, book or attend our events, become a member, join our community channels, or otherwise interact with us.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who we are

Active Networking Club is the controller responsible for your personal information.

- Email:manchesteranc@gmail.com

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, please contact us using the details above.

2. The information we collect

We may collect and process the following types of personal information:

- Identity and contact details: your name, email address, phone number, and where relevant your company name and job title.

- Account information: if you create a member account, your login details and any information you add to your profile.

- Booking and transaction information: details of the events and activities you book or attend, and your order and purchase history.

- Payment information: card or payment details you provide when booking. Payments are handled securely by our payment provider, and we do not store your full card details on our systems.

- Communications: messages you send us through our website contact form, by email, or through our social media and WhatsApp channels.

- Event photography and video: photographs and video footage taken at our events and activities.

- Marketing preferences: your choices about receiving marketing from us.

- Technical and usage information: your IP address, browser type, device information, and details of how you use our website, collected through cookies and similar technologies.

3. How we collect your information

We collect information:

- Directly from you, when you book an event, create an account, complete a form, email us, message us on our community channels, or speak to us in person at an event.

- Automatically, when you use our website, through cookies and similar technologies.

- From third parties, such as our website and payment providers, and the social media platforms you use to interact with us.

4. How and why we use your information

We use your information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. The main ways we use your information, and our lawful basis for each, are set out below.

- To process your bookings and provide our events and activities. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you.

- To manage your member account. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you.

- To take and record payments. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, and compliance with our legal obligations such as keeping financial records.

- To respond to your enquiries and provide customer support. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in communicating with you and running our club.

- To send you marketing about our events, activities and updates. Lawful basis: your consent, or our legitimate interests where permitted by law. You can opt out at any time.

- To use photography and video from our events for promotion. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in promoting the club, and your consent where required. See section 6.

- To improve and secure our website, and understand how it is used. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests, and your consent where required for cookies.

- To keep our community safe and run our events responsibly. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests.

- To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. Lawful basis: compliance with a legal obligation.

5. Marketing communications

Where you have agreed to receive marketing, or where we are otherwise permitted to contact you, we may send you information about upcoming events, activities and news.

You can ask us to stop sending marketing at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us using the details in section 1. Opting out of marketing will not affect communications we need to send you about a booking or your account.

6. Event photography and video

We often take photographs and video at our events and activities, and we may use this content on our website, social media and other marketing materials.

If you would prefer not to appear in our photography or video, please let a member of our team know at the event, or contact us in advance, and we will do our best to accommodate your request. If a photo or video of you has already been published and you would like it removed, please contact us and we will review your request.

7. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it function, to remember your preferences, and to understand how the site is used. Some cookies are essential for the website to work, while others are optional and only used with your consent.

You can manage your cookie preferences through the cookie settings on our website and through your browser settings. [If you publish a separate cookie policy, link to it here.]

8. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only where necessary, including with:

- Our website platform provider (Squarespace), which hosts our website and processes bookings and account data on our behalf.

- Our payment providers, which process payments securely on our behalf.

- Our email and marketing tools, where we use them to manage communications. [Confirm provider, for example Squarespace Email Campaigns or Mailchimp.]

- Analytics providers, where we use them to understand website usage. [Confirm provider, for example Google Analytics, if used.]

- Social media and messaging platforms, such as Instagram, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, when you choose to interact with us through them. Your use of those platforms is also governed by their own privacy policies.

- Professional advisers and authorities, where we are required to share information by law or to protect our legal rights.

We require anyone who processes your information on our behalf to keep it secure and to use it only for the purposes we have specified.

9. International transfers

Some of our providers are based outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States. Where your information is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure it is protected by an appropriate safeguard, such as UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses with the UK addendum.

10. How long we keep your information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out in this policy.

- We keep your account information for as long as your account remains active.

- We keep booking and transaction records for as long as required to meet our legal and tax obligations, which is generally six years.

- We keep marketing information until you ask us to stop contacting you.

When we no longer need your information, we will delete it or anonymise it securely.

11. How we protect your information

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take the security of your information seriously and review our measures regularly.

12. Your rights

Under data protection law, you have the following rights:

- The right to be informed about how we use your information.

- The right of access to the personal information we hold about you.

- The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information.

- The right to erasure of your information in certain circumstances.

- The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.

- The right to data portability, to receive your information in a usable format.

- The right to object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing.

- The right to withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on your consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in section 1. You will not usually have to pay a fee, and we will respond within the timescales set by law.

13. Children’s privacy

Our events and services are intended for adults and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with their information, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to remove it.

14. Third party links

Our website and channels may contain links to other websites and platforms that we do not control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

16. How to contact us or make a complaint

If you have any questions, requests or concerns about how we handle your personal information, please contact us:

- Email:manchesteranc@gmail.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection.

- Website:ico.org.uk

- Helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, so please do reach out to us first.