MOC Ltd. Data Protection Policy

This document was presented to the October 2000 NEC meeting where it was approved unanimously and adopted as Club policy.  It is amended with some small revisions in November 2005 taking account of the Limited Company status and some Club Officer changes.

The original Data Protection Act came into force in 1984. It was intended to protect members of the public from exploitation by companies and organisations which held information about them on computers. The new Act, which came into force in March 2000, extends the protection to information which is held on paper as well as on computer. It also requires those who hold the information to follow a series of data protection principles covering the processing of data. The principles of this are set out below, and for each one there is an explanation of how MOC Limited complies with the requirement.

1.  Fair and Lawful Processing

Data is processed only for the purpose of running the Company and the Club.

2.  Processed for limited purposes Data is processed in order to provide members with regular issues of Kabinews, to allow us to send out subscription reminders, and to provide committee members and area group organisers with the addresses and (when provided) telephone numbers of members. We may, with your permission, make address and telephone lists available to other members (see section 6). The Company promises not to provide, sell, or publish via the internet, address lists to anyone outside the Company.

3.  Adequate, relevant and not excessive We ask only for your name and address; you can give your telephone number, e-mail address, vehicle and other details if you choose. However, if you do not specifically exclude it, we may pass on details of your vehicle(s) to Data base compilers working with or on behalf of the Club / Company. At present, Data is compiled by Mike Kensdale and The Messerschmitt Foundation of Great Britain, Pebworth, Worcestershire.

4.  Accurate information

You have the opportunity, when you receive each mailing, to check that your address details are correct and let us know if not. We use the renewal form as an opportunity to check that these details are correct. You have the right to ask for details of the information which the Club / Company holds on you. The Club / Company has the right to charge up to ?10 for providing this information; we intend to charge ?5. All enquiries shall be directed to The Membership Secretary.

5.  Not kept longer than necessary Once a member has resigned we would normally keep records for 5 years. When we are notified of a member?s death we would keep the records for 5 years in case partners or relatives asked for help in disposing of the member?s vehicles, components or records. We need this information to enable us to analyse statistics on lapsed membership.

6.  Processed in accordance with your rights Your rights include the enjoyment of privacy and the knowledge that we will not use the information for any purpose which you have not authorised. Clearly we need your address for the reasons set out in section 2, but if you prefer it not to be made available more widely, you can exercise that choice when filling in your membership renewal form, or by writing to the Membership Secretary. If you do not restrict the circulation of your address we may make it, and your telephone number (when provided) available to any member on request. We may also publish the addresses of new members and those who have changed address and include it in membership lists for area organisers.

7.  Secure

Currently the membership list is held on a computer at Glynn Jones?s home.The computer is not linked to any other network so the data cannot be stolen from it by a hacker.  Back up information is also kept there. There are further membership lists held on computers in the custody of Helga Bonner, Wynford Jones, Derek Cole and David Wherral. Again, none are connected to a network. Wynford Jones?s computer is used to check the eligibility of members for the despatch of parts. It may also contain data on members? purchases including credit card details.

8.  Not transferred outside the European Union

As explained, under ?Secure? the data is held in the UK on a computer which is not linked to any network. The only exception to this is that overseas members may request, and be given, names and addresses of UK members and vice versa. As set out in section 6, we will only provide your address if you have given permission for us to do so.

Under the 1999 Act we must ask all members whether they object to their personal data being held by the Club / Company. However, you should appreciate that it is essential for the data to be held on computer so that address labels can be rapidly printed and the monthly mailings sent out with the minimum of delay.  You can, as explained in section 2 above, ask that your address is not published more widely.  Club members write directly to the Board of Directors and members of the committee for various reasons.  Each member of the Board and committee members therefore, holds a copy of the complete address list. This is also used to check addresses when a member?s handwriting is unclear and is particularly important for Partsmart ordering.  If you have any issues with any of the above, please contact me. However, I hope this will not be necessary as these notes are written in the spirit of the Act and attempt to make our policies clear with explanations for the reasons behind them.