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Group Membership - Privacy Notice

1st Harpenden Scout Group

This Data Privacy Notice/Policy describes the categories of personal data 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group process and for what purposes. 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group are committed to collecting and using such data fairly and in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), the regulations set by the European Union, and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), the UK law that encompasses the GDPR.

This Privacy Notice/Policy applies to members, parents/guardians of youth members, volunteers, employees, contractors, suppliers, supporters, donors and members of the public who will make contact with 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group.

1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group are a registered charity with the Charity Commission for England & Wales; charity number 3025292. The Data Controller for 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group is the Executive Committee who are appointed at an Annual General Meeting and are Charity Trustees. The Chair of the Charity Trustees is Karen West, Karenorford@hotmail.com. From this point on 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group will be referred to as 'we'.

Being a small charity, we are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

The data we may process

The majority of the personal information we hold, is provided to us directly by you or by the parents or legal guardians of youth members verbally or in paper form, digital form, via our online membership system Compass or via our online system Online Scout Manager (OSM). In the case of adult members and volunteers, data may also be provided by third parties, such as the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Where a member is under the age of 18, this information will only be obtained from a parent or guardian and cannot be provided by the young person.

We may collect the following personal information:

  • Personal contact details such as name, title, address, telephone numbers and personal email address - so that we can contact you.
  • Date of birth - so that we can ensure young people are allocated to the appropriate Section for their age and that adults are old enough to take on an appointment with Scouting.
  • Gender - so that we can address individuals correctly and accommodate for any specific needs.
  • Emergency contact information - so that we are able to contact someone in the event of an emergency.
  • Health records - so that we can make suitable arrangements based on members medical needs. For example, date of last tetanus jab, dietary requirements or special needs information that might be relevant (such as, for a child attending an event which includes a snack, we would collect information on food allergies). We may also collect Doctor contact information to use in the unlikely event that a child needs hospital treatment and we are unable to contact the parent/guardian immediately.
  • Information for specific camp events may be collected prior to the event, for example (i) whether child can swim 50 metres or (ii) (for air rifle shooting) whether a child over 10 has a conviction or (iii) passport information for trips outside the UK.
  • Information from parents regarding their willingness to help with the Group, whether as a volunteer leader, helper or trustee
  • Photographs or videos of members taking part in scouting activities
  • The only financial data we hold is to record subscription payments, Tax status information (so that we are able to collect gift aid from HMRC where donations are made), whether each individual has signed up for the Gift Aid scheme and (if a person wants to apply for the reduced subscription rate) whether they are in receipt of certain benefits.
  • Government identification numbers e.g. national insurance, driving licence, passport - to be able to process volunteer criminal record checks.
  • Training records - so that members can track their progression through the Scout programme or adult training scheme.
  • Race or ethnic origin - so that we can make suitable arrangements based on members cultural needs.
  • If you are willing to provide it, information relevant to the child and/or parent's religious beliefs and disabilities
  • Criminal records checks - to ensure Scouting is a safe space for young people and adults.


The lawful basis we process your data by

We comply with our obligations under the GDPR and DPA 2018 by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.

In most cases the lawful basis for processing will be through the performance of a contract for personal data of our adult volunteers and legitimate interest for personal data of our youth members. Sensitive (special category) data for both adult volunteers and our youth members will mostly align to the lawful basis of legitimate activities of an association. Explicit consent is requested from parents/guardians to take photographs of our members. If we ask for your consent, you may take it back at any time (though if an image has been published, it may be impossible to prevent its continued circulation).

On occasion we may use legitimate interest to process photographs where it is not practical to gather and maintain consent such as large-scale events. On such occasions we will make it clear that this activity will take place and give individuals the opportunity to exercise their data subject rights.

Every year we collect information about ethnicity and disability for the Scout census. This information is immediately anonymised and not stored in a way that allows us to identify you. Please give this information only if you are happy for it be used in this way. 

In some cases, we may need to share or otherwise use information to protect your child's vital interests or the vital interests of someone else, without obtaining your consent.

We use personal data for the following purposes:

  • to support our work with young people and to run weekly Beaver, Cubs and Scout meetings together with camps or other events
  • to provide information about Scout meetings, activities, training courses and events to our members and other volunteers in 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group
  • to provide a voluntary service for the benefit of the public in a particular geographical area as specified in our constitution
  • to administer membership records
  • to fundraise and promote the interests of Scouting. Photographs or videos of members taking part in activities may be put on display, used on websites, social media or submitted to local newspapers or Group, District or County newsletters. No information identifying any child on photographs or videos will be published without specific permission. Lists of names of members may be published on our website and social media to promote the interests of Scouting or to celebrate achievement.
  • to manage our volunteers, for example the cleaning rota and hut maintenance sessions
  • to maintain our own accounts and records (including the processing of gift aid applications)
  • to inform you of news, events, activities and services being run or attended by 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group
  • to ensure and evidence your suitability if volunteering for a role in Scouting
  • to contact your next of kin in the event of an emergency
  • to ensure you have and maintain the correct qualifications and skills.

We use personal sensitive (special) data for the following purposes:

  • for the protection of a person's health and safety whilst in the care of 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group
  • to respect a person's religious beliefs with regards to activities, food and holidays
  • for equal opportunity monitoring and reporting.

Our usual means of communicating with parents is by e-mail and WhatsApp. If you have given us an e-mail address and mobile telephone number, we will use these to communicate with you, unless you request otherwise.


Our retention periods

Whilst we hold personal information we will take appropriate steps to maintain its security. We will need to keep some medical information at all times, in case it is needed during a weekly meeting. Other information may only need to be collected and kept for a particular event. Information that was collected for the purposes of a specific camp or other event will be deleted promptly after the event has finished (within a few days at most). After a child has left the Group, we will keep his or her information for a short time.

The Scout Association's Data Protection Policy can be found here and the Data Privacy Notice here.


Sharing your information

Young people and other data subjects

We will normally only share personal information with adult volunteers holding an appointment in the 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group.

We will share the personal data of parents/guardians of youth members with other parents/guardians of youth members for the purposes of running the Group such as the cleaning rota, hut maintenance, group-led activities and WhatsApp groups for communications about sessions and activities.

We will share the personal data of youth members and their parents/guardians with The Scout Association Headquarters for the purpose of managing safeguarding cases. The privacy and security notice for The Scout Association can be found here. The sharing of this data will be via the Online Scout Manager platform (OSM) which is used by 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group to manage youth membership. The privacy and security notice for OSM can be found here. OSM is a Membership Management tool operated by a third party processor. We have a contract with OSM to ensure adequate safeguards are in place around data security. They process the information entirely to our instructions.

Adult volunteers

We will normally only share personal information with adult volunteers holding appropriate appointments within the line management structure of The Scout Association for the 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group as well as with The Scout Association Headquarters as data controllers in common.

All data subjects

We will however share your personal information with others outside of 1st Harpenden (Methodist) Scout Group where we need to meet a legal obligation. This may include The Scout Association and its insurance subsidiary (Unity Insurance Services), local authority services and law enforcement. We will only share your personal information to the extent needed for those purposes.

We will only share your data with third parties outside of the organisation where there is a legitimate reason to do so, for example, we may need to give information to the organisers of a camp or other event that your child is taking part in. Or we may need to give it doctors or the emergency services in the event of an incident.

We may transfer or share your data with other Scout Groups, Explorer Units or the Harpenden & Wheathampstead District where there is a legitimate reason to do so. For example, a Scout moving on from 1st Harpenden to an Explorer Unit.

We will never sell your personal information to any third party.

Sometimes we may nominate a member for national awards, (such as Scouting awards or Duke of Edinburgh awards) such nominations would require us to provide contact details to that organisation.

Where personal data is shared with third parties we will seek assurances that your personal data will be kept confidential and that the third party fully complies with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), the regulations set by the European Union, and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), the UK law that encompasses the GDPR.


How we store your personal data

We generally store personal information in the following ways:

Compass - is the online membership system of The Scout Association, this system is used for the collection and storage of adult volunteer personal data.

Online Scout Manager - is the online membership system of Online Youth Manager, this system is used for the collection and storage of youth member personal data. Please see here for more information: https://www.onlinescoutmanager.co.uk/security.html

Our website - sometimes photographs and lists of names are published. Names can be entered onto our website for the purposes of our waiting list. We may also store information such as minutes of meetings which may contain personal information such as names, telephone numbers and email addresses.

DropBox - we use DropBox to store information such as minutes of meetings which may contain personal information such as names, telephone numbers and email addresses. Please see here for more information: https://www.dropbox.com/privacy

Google -we may use Google Workspace applications, such as Google Drive, Google Forms, Google Sites, Google Docs and Google Sheets to process information about events and activities. Please see here for more information: https://policies.google.com/privacy

In addition adult volunteers will hold some personal data on local spreadsheets/databases.

Printed records and data held while attending events - paper is sometimes used to capture and retain some data for example:

  • Gift Aid administration
  • Event registration
  • Health and contact records forms (for events)
  • Events coordination with event organisers
  • Passport information for overseas trips

Paper records for events are used rather than relying on secure digital systems, as often the events are held where internet and digital access will not be available. We will minimise the use of paper to only what is required for the event.


Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Protection Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.


How we provide this privacy notice

A link to this website page is provided to those whose data is being processed by us. A printed version is also available on request.


Your rights

As a Data Subject, you have the right to object to how we process your personal information. You also have the right to access, correct, sometimes delete and restrict the personal information we use. In addition, you have a right to complain to us and to the Information Commissioner's Office (www.ico.org.uk).

Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR and DPA 2018, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

  • The right to be informed - you have a right to know how your data will be used by us.
  • The right to access your personal data - you can ask us to share with you the data we have about you. This is a Data Subject Access Request.
  • The right to rectification - this just means you can update your data if it's inaccurate or if something is missing. Adult members will be able to edit and update some information directly on The Scout Association's Compass membership system.
  • The right to erasure - this means that you have the right to request that we delete any personal data we have about you. There are some exceptions, for example, some information will be held by The Scout Association for legal reasons.
  • The right to restrict processing - if you think that we are not processing your data in line with this privacy notice then you have the right to restrict any further use of that data until the issue is resolved.
  • The right to data portability - this means that if you ask us we will have to share your data with you in a way that can be read digitally - such as a pdf. This makes it easier to share information with others.
  • The right to object - you can object to the ways your data is being used.
  • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling - this protects you in cases where decision are being made about you based entirely on automated processes rather than a human input, it's highly unlikely that this will be used by us.


Website Cookies

Forms related cookies

When you submit data through a form such as those found on our contact pages or comment forms, cookies may be set to remember you your user details for future correspondence.


Who to contact

If you have any queries relating to this Privacy Notice or our use of your personal data, please contact us our Group Scout Leader, Andy Wrentmore, on gsl@1stharpendenscouts.org.uk



Version number and date of the last review
Version 2.3 - 13th March 2021


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