Introduction and general terms

The PCWHF is committed to protecting your personal information when you are using our services and resources. We want all interactions with the PCWHF to be safe environments for our members, non-members, as well as for other organisations and members of the public that interact with us. This Privacy and accompanying Cookies Policy relates to our use of any personal information we collect from you via the PCWHF’s websites.

This policy also applies to our use of any personal information you provide to the PCWHF, including by phone, SMS, email, in letters and other correspondence, and in person.

In order to provide you with our full range of services and benefits, we sometimes need to collect information about you.

This Privacy Policy, and accompanying Cookies Policy, explains the following:

• what information the PCWHF may collect about you
• how the PCWHF will use information we collect about you
• when the PCWHF may use your details to contact you
• whether the PCWHF will disclose your details to anyone else
• your choices regarding the personal information you provide to us
• the use of cookies on the PCWHF’s websites and how you can remove cookies.

The PCWHF is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) May 2018. These laws are referred to collectively in this Privacy and accompanying Cookies Policy as the “data protection laws”. Our website companies take measures to secure personal data and provide resilience against online malicious attacks that can occur.

The PCWHF’s websites contain hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. These third-party websites have their own privacy policies, and are also likely to use cookies, and we therefore urge you to review them. They will govern the use of personal information you submit when visiting these websites, which may also be collected by cookies. The PCWHF does not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third-party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.

What information will the PCWHF collect about me?

How will the PCWHF use the information it collects about me? 

For members
The PCWHF will use your personal information for a number of purposes, including the following:

• Storing information against your membership record in order to use the information to alert you to, and provide you with information, services and resources from the PCWHF.
• Sharing your details securely with third party data processors contracted to deliver the PCWHF member services, such as printers and mailing houses.
• If you opt to have your name and practice details listed on the PCWHF’s member directory, this can be viewed by other members.
• As a PCWHF event delegate, if you give your permission, your name and contact information will be shared with event sponsors and other delegates.

When will the PCWHF contact me?

For full members
The PCWHF will contact you about your membership renewal annually, by email. We may also contact you by email, post, text and phone to remind you if you have not paid.

The PCWHF will contact you by email, with the PCWHF ebulletin

The PCWHF will send you the quarterly magazine.

For non-paid members
The PCWHF will contact you about new resources and services produced by the PCWHF.

The PCWHF will also contact you about the opportunity to upgrade or renew to a full-membership.

Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?
Yes, by the PCWHF in relation to The PCWHF member resources and services only and, if provided, in accordance with your stated preferences. We will never pass your personal and contact details to third parties for marketing purposes unless you have specifically opted-in as a delegate to receive information from the sponsors of the PCWHF conferences and regional events.

Will the PCWHF share my personal information with anyone else?
We will keep your information within the PCWHF, except when we require third party providers of the PCWHF services to have it to fulfil member services, so for example:

How long will the PCWHF keep my personal information?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in individual privacy statements that are made available to members at the point of every interaction with the PCWHF when members are required to give your details. The PCWHF also applies a Data Retention policy that details the purposes the data held is used for, the security arrangements under which it is held, and the period the data is retained.

If you ask us to delete your information, then that is done as quickly as possible, within normal working hours. All other information retained, would be demographic and, for analysis purposes and from which an individual would not be personally identifiable.

Can I delete my data?

You can always ask us to delete your data held by the PCWHF by emailing membership@pcwhf.co.uk.

Can I find out what personal information the PCWHF holds about me?

Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to request a copy of the personal information the PCWHF holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. (We require you to prove your identity with two pieces of approved identification). We will use reasonable efforts consistent with our legal duty to supply, correct or delete personal information about you on our files. Please address requests and questions about this or any other question about this Privacy and Cookies Policy via membership@pcwhf.co.uk or call 020 7766 4350.

For any other questions regarding the PCWHF’s use of your personal data, please email membership@pcwhf.co.uk  or call 01462 476120

The PCWHF’s web browser cookies:

What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is sent to your computer, tablet or mobile phone (all referred to here as a “device”) web browser from a website’s computer and is stored on your device’s hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your web browser if your browser’s preferences allow it. Many websites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows. Similar technologies are also often used within emails to understand whether the email has been read or if any links have been clicked. If you continue without changing your settings, we’ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the PCWHF’s websites. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time.

On the PCWHF’s websites, cookies record information about your online preferences and allow us to tailor our websites to your interests. During the course of any visit to a PCWHF website, the pages you see, along with a cookie, are downloaded to your device. Many websites do this, because cookies enable website publishers to do useful things like finding out whether the device (and probably its user) has visited the website before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.

How does the PCWHF use cookies?
Information supplied by cookies can help us to understand the profile of our visitors and help us to provide you with a better user experience. It also helps us to provide a more personalised experience. For example, if on a previous visit you went to our education pages, we might find this out from your cookie and highlight educational information on your second and subsequent visits. The PCWHF uses this type of information to help improve the services it provides to its users.

You can opt out of cookies and find out more about the cookies we use on the cookies settings that appear at the bottom of the page when you first visit the PCWHF website.

Controlling and deleting cookies
Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit http://www.aboutcookies.org which gives step-by-step guidance on how to control and delete cookies for your browser type. You can then adjust your browser settings to your preferred level of protection. www.allaboutcookies.org is also a useful website.

Changes to the PCWHF’s Privacy and Cookies

This Privacy and accompanying Cookies Policy may be updated from time to time, so you may wish to check it each time you submit personal information to the PCWHF. The date of the most recent revisions will appear on this page. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use The PCWHF’s websites to submit personal information to the PCWHF.

If you any questions or comments about this privacy policy, please contact: membership@pcwhf.co.uk