Privacy Policy
This policy explains what Churches Together in Luton does with personal information collected through this website, how long we keep it, and what you can ask us to do with it.
Who we are
Churches Together in Luton, referred to here as CTL, is an unincorporated association of churches working together across the town. We are the data controller for the information described in this policy.
Questions about this policy, or about information we hold about you, go to Sue Penn, Secretary, at mail@lutonchurchestogether.org.uk.
What we collect, and why
When you contact us
The contact form asks for your name and email address. It also asks, if you wish to give them, for a phone number, your church and your area of Luton, along with your message and how you would like us to reply. We use this to answer you and to pass your message to the right person. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to people who write to us. Enquiries are kept for 24 months, or less if you ask us to remove yours sooner.
When you ask for prayer
Prayer requests are read by a small prayer team drawn from churches across the town. They are never published on the site and are not passed to anyone outside that team. A prayer request often includes health, family circumstances or religious belief, which the law treats as special category data. We handle it on the basis of the explicit consent you give when you send the request. Prayer requests are deleted after 12 months.
When you sign up for the newsletter
We collect your first name, last name and email address. We also record the date, time and IP address of your signup and of your confirmation, because that is the record of your consent. The lawful basis is consent. You stay on the list until you unsubscribe, and we remove your details within 30 days of that, apart from a minimal record that you asked not to be contacted again.
When you have an account on the site
Church representatives, organisation contacts and volunteers have accounts so they can keep listings current. We hold the name, email address, role and any profile details entered. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in running the directory. Accounts are removed when the role ends.
Listings in the directory
Church and organisation entries are published so that people in Luton can find them. These are normally organisational contact details rather than personal ones. If an entry names you and you would rather it did not, tell us and we will change or remove it.
When you give
Donations are not open yet. When they are, we will collect your name, email address and the amount given, and if you claim Gift Aid, your home address and postcode as HMRC requires. Card details are entered on the secure pages of our payment provider and never reach this website. Gift Aid records are kept for seven years because HMRC requires it.
Technical information
Our web server keeps standard logs, including IP addresses and the pages requested. These keep the site secure and running, and are held only for a short period.
Who else handles it
- MailPoet, installed on this website, which manages the mailing list and sends our emails
- The email service that delivers messages sent from the site
- Our web hosting provider, which stores the website and its database
- Stripe, which will process donations once giving opens
We do not sell your information, and we do not pass it to anyone else for their own marketing. Where a provider handles data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, they do so under the safeguards the law requires.
Email tracking
Our newsletters record whether an email was opened and which links were clicked, so we can tell what people find useful. If you would rather we did not track your emails, tell us and we will switch it off for you.
Your rights
- Ask for a copy of what we hold about you
- Ask us to correct anything that is wrong
- Ask us to delete it
- Ask us to restrict what we do with it, or object to us using it
- Ask for it in a portable format
- Withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent
Write to Sue Penn at mail@lutonchurchestogether.org.uk and we will answer within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner. Their website is ico.org.uk and their helpline is 0303 123 1113.
Children
This website is written for a general audience and is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us their details, tell us and we will remove them.
Other websites
We link to churches, organisations and other sites across Luton. Once you follow a link you are on their website, and their own privacy policy applies. We are not responsible for how they handle your information.
Changes to this policy
We update this page when what we do changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.