Privacy policy
Introduction
The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) takes your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to provide the products and services you have requested from us. This policy sets out the way in which the IFE collects, uses and protects personal data.
1. Collection of data
During the course of its work the IFE collects personal data which identifies individuals. This personal data may include information such as name, title, date of birth, age, gender, addresses, organisation name, current and previous employment details, job title, telephone numbers, email addresses, membership number and grade, examination records, bank and payment details, education and training details, CPD information, application forms and assessment records, posts, images and comments on social media. And in the case of volunteers; details of performance and conduct relating to your volunteering role.
This personal data is collected by a variety of means, including via paper or electronic forms, face-to-face, by telephone, post, internet, social media, email and at events.
2. Use of data
Personal data held by the IFE may be accessed, retrieved and used by the IFE, trusted associates and suppliers in order to fulfil the IFE’s role.
(i) Members of the IFE
If you are a member of the IFE we will use your personal data to administer and manage your membership of the IFE. For example, for the purposes of assessing membership applications, allocating a membership grade, providing member benefits, internal administration of your membership, taking payments for fees related to your membership and for analytical purposes.
The IFE will share part or all of your personal data with IFE volunteers for the purpose of assessing an application. The IFE will also share all or part of your personal data with IFE branch committee members for the purposes of contacting you about professional developments and opportunities such as IFE membership, qualification, volunteering or CPD events.
The IFE awards professional registrations under licence for the Engineering Council. If an individual applies and is awarded Engineering Council registration under the IFE, the IFE will retain associated data that will also be shared with the Engineering Council.
The IFE’s membership benefits include the quarterly International Fire Professional and the e-newsletter which are used to keep members up to date with the latest news and events from the IFE and fire sector, as well as developments and professional opportunities that are relevant to your IFE membership. Member benefits also include occasional communications from the IFE and its representatives (volunteers and branches) about IFE products and services, including membership, qualifications, volunteering opportunities and CPD events. You can manage your communication preferences at any time and choose to stop receiving these benefits by logging into your MyIFE account.
If the IFE is approached, by phone, email or letter, to confirm whether memberships are active it is our policy to provide this information. We do this because it is in the public interest that we confirm legitimate claims to membership and expose fraudulent claims.
(ii) Candidates of the IFE
If you have applied to sit the IFE’s qualifications we will use your personal data to administer and manage your exam entry. For example, for the purposes of assessing applications, taking payments for examination fees and for analytical purposes.
The IFE will share part or all of your personal data with your selected examination centre. The IFE will not share your personal data with third parties unless the third party is acting on your behalf, you have provided authorisation in writing, there is a legal imperative to do so or there is a need to share this information with third parties the IFE works with, for example qualification regulators.
Please read the IFE’s Awarding Organisation Privacy Policy for further information.
(iii) Customers of the IFE
If you have registered for any IFE products or services including recognitions, Fire Risk Assessors or Auditors registrations, IFE events or have purchased items from our Online Shop, you will receive essential communications relating to the fulfilment of those products and services. When registering for these services, the IFE requests only the minimum information necessary to fulfil the service required. The IFE does not collate or hold financial information beyond the point where any fees due are processed and will not share your personal details with any third parties.
(iv) Volunteers
Whilst you apply for a voluntary role(s), or during your time as a volunteer, we will collect and hold data relevant to your application, and subsequent voluntary role(s) held. We only collect the minimum amount of information required so that we can assess your application, place you in a role, monitor your performance, identify training needs, monitor your conduct, communicate with you effectively and for statistical and analytical purposes. We may use this data alongside any other information we already hold about you, such as your membership information.
(v) Social media
If you interact with us on any social media channel we run (for example, like/comment/tag etc), we will use this information for the purposes of delivering services and support to you, to help investigate and resolve complaints, to monitor our social engagement and to monitor the use of the social media platforms that we use to ensure compliance with our own codes and guidance; with the terms and conditions of the platform providers and with other relevant laws and regulations. We may share posts you have already made public.
(vi) Complaints
We investigate complaints submitted by the public or other third parties. We use information we have, along with information provided by third parties, to conduct enquiries, investigations, and address complaints. Personal information may be shared with third parties when necessary for these investigations and disciplinary matters. The outcomes of disciplinary hearings may be made public.
3. Data sharing
The owner of personal data held by the IFE will at all times be the IFE. As the data controller, the IFE takes all reasonable steps to ensure that personal data remains in a secure environment and will never sell personal data to third parties. The IFE works closely with other organisations to perform functions on our behalf in order to administer and manage our services. They are provided with the personal information that is necessary to perform the task and may not use it for any other purpose.
The IFE may share personal data with other organisations if it is required to do so by law.
4. Data processing
Personal data held by the IFE may be managed by trusted third party processors. This includes the personal data that relates to members, candidates, customers, volunteers and contacts on our database, which is provided by a UK-based third-party provider called Silverbear. Personal data is securely stored on a server hosted by Rackspace. To read Rackspace’s Privacy Policy click here and to read Silverbear’s Privacy Policy click here.
We use Pavilion Publishing to send the International Fire Professional, MailChimp to send the e-newsletter, Forfront to send email campaigns, Eventbrite to host the bookings for some of our events and Zoom to host webinars. View Pavilion Publishing’s Privacy Policy, Mailchimp's Privacy Policy, Forfront’s Privacy Policy here, Eventbrite's Privacy Policy and Zoom's Privacy Policy here.
For our annual Board of Trustee Director elections, we use third party supplier, UK Engage. View their Privacy Policy here.
For payments of the IFE’s products and services, the IFE uses Opayo (previously known as Sagepay). View Opayo's Privacy Policy here.
Our IFE branches are independent charities, associations or companies. We share data with our branches who process data on our behalf to facilitate member services or to facilitate volunteering applications that may be suited to branch roles. Where branches collect data directly from you, you should refer to the branch's own privacy policy.
5. Our website
The IFE uses Google Analytics cookies to track user interaction across its website which includes MyIFE. We use this data to determine the number of people using our website and to understand how they find and use our web pages and to see their journey through the website. Google Analytics records data such as your geographical location, device, internet browser and operating system but none of this information personally identifies you to the IFE. Google are a third-party data processor – please read their Privacy Policy here.
The IFE website also uses cookies to keep track of a visitor that has logged into the website so that they don’t have to log into subsequent pages they visit. Another cookie is collected that looks after data that is entered during sessions on the websites i.e. data that is entered into online forms. For further information about cookies please visit the ICO website here.
The IFE website may contain links to other websites of interest. Please note, these websites are not controlled or monitored by the IFE. These sites may independently send you cookies and collect data and information. The IFE is not responsible for and does not accept any liability for their actions or the content of their sites.
i) Online application forms
Application forms for all memberships, registrations, examinations, events, grants and other types of applications are available on the IFE website. The IFE takes your privacy seriously and treats all personal information in accordance with EU/UK data protection legislation. When completing the application form, the IFE requests the minimum information necessary to process your application. The information you provide in the application form will be used by the IFE and its representatives for administrative and membership purposes or as required by law. On completing the application, payment for the associated fee will be required via Opayo (previously know as Sagepay). No financial information is passed to the IFE. To view Opayo's Privacy Policy click here.
(ii) Contact us
Should you choose to contact us using the form on our Contact page, a copy of the content will automatically be emailed to the IFE’s main email account (info@ife.org.uk). The IFE does not retain this email unless it is required to do so in order to complete a requested action or it is required by law. When submitting this form, the system also automatically collates its content and stores it in the website database which is deleted every four weeks.
(iii) Case studies/podcasts
If you are approached by the IFE to take part in a career spotlight case study or podcast and wish to be involved, personal data will be collected including your name, professional title, post nominals, employer/organisation, email, phone number, career information as well as a photograph or video of yourself. The personal data we collect will be used to publish your case study/podcast on our website and will also be used in the IFE’s marketing materials and on our social media channels to promote the IFE. If you are an IFE registrant your case study information will also be shared with the Engineering Council for their marketing purposes. When you agree to be a case study/podcast subject you have consented to the IFE processing your data for the purposes set out above. You may withdraw consent to the IFE processing your personal data at any time by emailing marketing@ife.org.uk. However, it is important to note that any photos, videos or information we publish outside of the IFE may be in the public domain and therefore such material can be accessed, reproduced or altered beyond the control of IFE.
(iv) MyIFE
If you register on MyIFE the IFE will collect the minimum personal information that is required to create your account. Upon registering on MyIFE , you are giving consent for the IFE to contact you about its products and services. If you do not wish to receive communications from the IFE, please do not complete the registration of your account.
If you are applying for membership of the IFE or if you are already a member, you will automatically receive a link to register a username and password for MyIFE once your membership is active. Once your account is created you will be able to manage your membership online including updating your details, managing your communication preferences, paying invoices online and viewing member only content.
For Affiliate Organisations, recognised training course providers and branches of the IFE, a primary contact will be assigned to each record. The primary contact will receive a link to register a username and password for MyIFE. Once an account is created, the primary contact will manage the organisation/branches MyIFE account.
MyIFE uses Google Analytics cookies to track user interaction. We use this data to determine the number of people using our website and to understand how they find and use our web pages and to see their journey through the website. Google Analytics records data such as your geographical location, device, internet browser and operating system but none of this information personally identifies you to the IFE. Google are a third-party data processor – please read their Privacy Policy here.
6. Lawful basis for processing personal data
We collect and process personal data where we are required to by law, because it's necessary to process your personal data to perform a task in the public interest or in someone’s vital interests, because a contract has been entered into with us, or in some cases it is necessary for the purposes of IFE’s legitimate interests. We may also seek consent to process personal data for example when to send marketing emails. Consent can withdraw at any time. Examples of our legitimate interests include responding to enquiries, supporting our members and customers or improving our service.
Where we rely on Legitimate Interests:
- To gain feedback from our members on their experience
We may use your personal data to seek feedback on the services you receive from us, helping us improve our offerings and enhance member satisfaction.
- To manage and support member relationships
We process your personal data to maintain accurate membership records and communicate with you regarding your membership, including responding to any queries or issues.
- To improve our services
We may rely on legitimate interests to review how our services are used, allowing us to make improvements that benefit members and ensure the smooth operation of our organisation.
7. How long we keep your data for
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. And in all cases, data may be retained for longer for research and archiving purposes or if it cannot be deleted for legal, regulatory, statistical or technical reasons. In these cases, steps will be taken to ensure that data is held securely and processing is restricted.
8. Data breaches
We will report any unlawful data breach of this website’s database or the IFE’s database to any and all relevant persons and authorities within 72 hours of the breach if it is apparent that personal data stored in an identifiable manner has been stolen.
9. Data controller
The data controller of this website is:
The Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE), a Scottish registered charity registered in Scotland No. 13267 (Scottish Charity Number 12694).
The registered office is:
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, 93 McDonald Road, Edinburgh and the trading address is: IFE House, 64-66 Cygnet Court, Timothy’s Bridge Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 9NW, United Kingdom.
10. Contact details
If you have any comments, questions or concerns about how the IFE handles personal data, or in relation to your personal data held by the IFE, please email dataprotection@ife.org.uk.
The office is open from Monday to Friday between 8.30am – 4.30pm. Where we have to seek assistance from elsewhere in order to respond to a query, we will advise that this is the case and provide an estimate as to when a reply will be provided.
11. Accessing, modifying or erasing your personal data
You have the right to access a copy of the personal data that we hold on you. To submit a subject access request please email dataprotection@ife.org.uk. Please note, where requests require significant administrative input or where further copies of previously requested information are required, the IFE reserves a right to charge a fee.
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please update your details on your MyIFE account. Alternatively, please email dataprotection@ife.org.uk.
Individuals may also request that their personal data is erased by emailing dataprotection@ife.org.uk.
In the case of lapsed or cancelled membership and/or registrations, the IFE will continue to hold information for a limited amount of time. This enables us to reinstate your lapsed membership and/or registration and also provide evidence of your membership and/or registration should this be required in the future. Your transaction history which will simply outline your paid fees will also be stored. We will not store your financial information. Should you wish to erase this information, the IFE will continue to hold your basic data including your name, date of birth, membership grade and dates of active membership or registration. Should you wish for the IFE to delete the basic information we hold on you, individuals should be aware that this action will mean that the IFE erases all electronic and hardcopy information and therefore will not be able to provide information or evidence on your past membership or registration status. Exam candidates should refer to the IFE’s Awarding Organisation Privacy Policy.
12. Changes to our privacy policy
From time to time this privacy policy may change in line with legislation or industry developments. We will not explicitly inform you of these changes and instead recommend that you check this page occasionally for any policy changes.