Privacy Policy

This privacy notice tells you about the information we collect from you when you register to use our website, or when you purchase one or more of our products via our website. It also tells you about the information we collect from you when you or your organisation make a donation. In collecting this information, we are acting as a data controller and, by law, we are required to provide you with information about us, about why and how we use your data, and about the rights you have over your data.

We strive to be as transparent as possible about how and why we use your personal details. We are committed to complying with the requirements of the UK Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003, and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.

Who are we?

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) is a registered charity (no. 209425) that provides informed, independent and practical legal ideas for a global community. We are located at Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5JP. You can contact us by post at the above address, by email at info@biicl.org  or by telephone on +44 (0)207 862 5151.

We are registered as data controllers with the Information Commissioners' Office under the Data Protection Act 1998 registration number Z8167581.

What personal data do we collect?

When you register to use our website, or when you or your organisation make a donation to BIICL, we may ask you for the following personal information:

• title
  
• first and last name
• postal address including postcode
• contact telephone number
  
• organisation/employer
  
• occupation
  
• email address
• website
• bank or credit card details (paper donation form only)

Only your name, postal address, occupation, and email address are required for registration to the website.

If you donate online to the Institute, purchase membership or a publication, or attend an event, we may ask for:

• your legal interest areas - this can be used to personalise the information we send to you;
• whether you are a UK tax payer - for Gift Aid declarations; and
• your dietary requirements for events.

 YYou can review and update all of your personal data at any time on our website at: www.biicl.org/account/login , or by contacting us (see WWho are we?).

When you purchase anything online, we will refer you to a third party to process payment (see What do we do with your information?). BIICL does not gather or process any online electronic payment details, though we do keep a record of payments received for invoicing purposes.

In order to enable you to keep browsing efficiently, and to ensure that any information you enter is remembered, we may use "session cookies" on this web site. For example, these cookies allow you to complete more than one form on the site without re-entering your details and to change your personal details easily. They remain in the cookie file in your browser during the session but are erased when you close your browser. For more information about cookies including how to set your browser to reject cookies please see www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/  for more information.

Why do we collect personal data?

We will use your information to process and record payments and donations, acknowledge donations, claim Gift Aid on donations, deliver your goods, and fulfil our contracts with you. We will also send you receipts via email. We also collect your data in order to comply with the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 and follow the recommendations of the official regulator of charities, the Charity Commission, which require us to identify and verify the identity of supporters who make major gifts so we can assess any risks associated with accepting their donations. In these cases there is a lawful basis for holding your personal data: either so that we can fulfil our obligations under the contract we have entered into with you; or so that we can process your donation and comply with charity law.

We may ask you if you would like to 'opt in' or subscribe to receive more information about the Institute on an ongoing basis, at which point we may contact you with relevant information about our ongoing activities.

As well relying on a lawful basis, we may also process your personal information where there is a 'legitimate interest'. Here, processing your information will help us to achieve our vision of developing and advancing the understanding of international and comparative law in the UK and around the world, and promoting the rule of law in national and international affairs.

Whenever we rely on a 'legitimate interest' to process your personal information, we take into account your privacy rights and interests, and we will not process your personal information where we feel that there is an imbalance or when you have requested that we do not do so. As part of our donor relationship management, we would rely on legitimate interest to send you information about our projects and events, and to let you know how you can support us in the future. Our aim is to communicate with you in a way that helps you to see the value and impact of your support.

If you would rather not receive information about our work and our fundraising in the form of e-newsletters, for example, please contact us (see Who are we?). You can also opt-out of our newsletters and emails at any time.

We may also wish to include your name or your organisation's name in a list of donors, possibly with an indication of the level of your donation, for example on our website or in our annual report. If you prefer to remain anonymous, please let us know (see Who are we?).

What do we do with your information?

Your information is stored in our central database which is located in the UK. We will only use your information within BIICL for the purposes for which it was obtained.

We keep copies of paper donation forms (which may include debit or credit card details or bank account details that you have provided). We use these for the purpose of processing your donation, claiming Gift Aid (where applicable), and sending you relevant communications.

Your credit card details are not held or processed by us when using our online payment services. We use third-party payment processors to process your online transactions: Worldpay and PayPal for events bookings, membership credit/debit card purchases, and publication purchases; Gocardless for direct debit membership payments; and Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), and Enthuse for donations. These organisations are all based in the UK/EU and are certified to the EU-US Privacy Shield (which requires effective safeguards for your information). They will send us confirmation of your payment which we can use to send you a confirmation email, invoice or thank you letter. We then use this information to process your online transaction.

If you are a hard-copy subscriber to the International and Comparative Law Quarterly (ICLQ), we will share your name and address with Cambridge University Press only for the purpose of delivering your books.

When you subscribe to receive emails from us we may provide you with information about our organisation that you request or which we may reasonably feel would interest you, and where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes. For example, we may want to invite you to attend events that we feel may be of interest to you, or to contact you about donating to BIICL or other types of charitable funding.

We may need to send your email address to third-party organisations to process our mailing lists and send out our email communications.

We may be required to share your name and dietary requirements with external events venues to ensure delegate lists and menus are accurate.

We do not use the information you provide to make any automated decisions that might affect you.

BIICL will not share or sell your personal data to any third party for its own marketing purposes and you will not receive marketing from any other companies, charities or other organisations as a result of giving your details to us.

How long do we keep your information for?

For purchases made online, we keep your electronic data to fulfil our contractual obligation to you. We keep a paper copy of your order for seven years after purchases. Your personal information associated with the order will then be destroyed.

If you have subscribed to our newsletter and emails, all of your electronic contact information will be kept in our secure database until such time as you wish us to delete it or 'forget' you.

If you or your organisation has made a donation, all of your contact information will be kept in our secure database until such time as you wish us to delete it or 'forget' you.

We will keep a record of donations subject to Gift Aid for at least seven years to comply with HMRC rules.

If you have indicated that you wish to leave BIICL a legacy, we may keep data you provide indefinitely, so as to carry out legacy administration and communicate effectively with the families of people leaving us legacies. This also enables us to identify and analyse the source of legacy income we receive.

If you have applied for a role at BIICL and were unsuccessful, we will keep your personal data for 12 months after the recruitment process has finished and then it will be deleted.

Researching our donors and potential supporters

We undertake in-house research into our donors and other potential supporters and may also engage third party organisations to do so on our behalf. We use data already provided directly to us alongside information from other publicly available sources such as charity and corporate websites, annual reviews, public social media accounts, newspaper and magazine articles, the electoral register, land records, Who's Who publications and Companies House records. We may estimate supporters' or potential supporters' gift capacity, based on their visible assets, history of charitable giving and their ongoing engagement with BIICL. We only use reputable sources, where someone would expect their information may be read by the public. We avoid any data that we believe have not been lawfully or ethically obtained, and we do not use information sources which have not been made public.

This research enables us to build a fuller picture of our supporters and to tailor our communications to those most likely to be interested in them including, for example, invitations to particular events or links to new research and publications.

If you do not wish for us to use your data in this way, please contact us to let us know your preferences (see details in the Who are we? section).

Your rights over your information

By law, you can ask us what information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate. For this purpose you can login to our website with your email address and password (created by you when you first register) and see what personal information we hold. To access your information please visit: www.biicl.org/account/login . Alternatively, you can contact us directly (see Who are we?).

You can also ask us to provide you with a copy of the information we hold and to stop using your information for a period of time if you believe we are not doing so lawfully.

To submit a request by email, post or telephone, please use the contact information provided above (see Who are we?).

Your right to complain

If you have a complaint about our use of your information, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office via their website at www.ico.org/ concerns or write to them at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF