At IMPS Stafford Scale Modeling Club, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal data is handled in a safe and responsible manner. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you visit our website and interact with our services.

This policy applies to all members, visitors, and users of our website. Please read this privacy policy carefully.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Personal Information

We may collect the following types of personal information:

  • Contact details (such as name, email address, postal address, and telephone number)
  • Membership details (including membership status and payment information)
  • Profile information (such as username and password)
  • Content you post on our forums or community sections (including comments, photos, and messages)
  • Communications you send us (including emails and forum messages)

1.2 Technical Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain information, including:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system
  • Referring website
  • Pages you visit on our website
  • Time and date of your visit
  • Time spent on pages

2. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information through various methods:

  • When you register for an account or membership
  • When you fill out forms on our website
  • When you post content on our forums or community sections
  • When you communicate with us directly
  • Through cookies and similar technologies
  • When you participate in club events or activities

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • To administer your membership
  • To provide the services and features you request
  • To improve our website and services
  • To communicate with you about club activities, events, and updates
  • To respond to your inquiries and provide support
  • To ensure the security and proper functioning of our website
  • To comply with legal obligations

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

  • Consent: Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose
  • Contract: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you (such as your membership agreement)
  • Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, provided your rights and interests do not override those interests
  • Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit our website.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Essential cookies: These are necessary for the website to function properly
  • Functional cookies: These help us remember your preferences and settings
  • Analytical/performance cookies: These allow us to recognize and count visitors and see how they move around our website

You can control cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling certain cookies may limit your ability to use some features of our website.

6. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We may share your personal information with the following third parties:

  • IMPS UK (The International Plastic Modellers' Society UK) for the purposes of national membership administration
  • Service providers who help us operate our website and provide our services (such as hosting providers, payment processors, and email service providers)
  • Event partners when necessary for organizing club events
  • Law enforcement or other governmental authorities when required by law

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

7. Data Security

We have implemented appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. We limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need to know.

While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

For membership data, we typically retain your information for the duration of your membership plus a period of up to 2 years after your membership ends, for administrative purposes and in case you wish to rejoin.

For website usage data, we retain information for up to 26 months.

9. Your Rights

Under UK data protection laws, you have the following rights:

  • Right to be informed about how we use your personal data
  • Right of access to your personal data and to certain supplementary information
  • Right to rectification of inaccurate personal data
  • Right to erasure (or 'right to be forgotten') in certain circumstances
  • Right to restrict processing in certain circumstances
  • Right to data portability, allowing you to obtain and reuse your personal data
  • Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing
  • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the "Contact Us" section.

10. Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us, and we will delete such information from our records.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questionsabout this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at: privacy@imps-stafford.co.uk

13. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response to your concern or believe that we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues:

Information Commissioner's Office
Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Last Updated: February 24, 2025