Last updated 10th July 2025

Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance Data Privacy Notice and Policies

For a downloadable version please click Data Privacy Notice. 

General Privacy Notice for Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance (BDBF)  

General Privacy Notice for Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance (BDBF) 

This privacy notice explains how the Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance protect and manage any personal data that you share with us and that we hold about you, including how we collect, process, protect and share that data. The BDBF is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations.

What information does the BDBF collect?

The BDBF collects and processes a range of information about you. This includes:

• Your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number
• Where they are relevant to our mission, or where you provide them to us, we may process demographic information such as gender, age, data of birth, marital status ,nationality, education/work histories, academic/professional qualifications, employment details, family composition and dependent
• Where you make donations or pay for activities, financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, payment card numbers, payment/transaction identifiers.  

The data we process is likely to constitute sensitive personal data because, as an organisation, the fact that we process your data at all may be suggestive of your religious beliefs.

The BDBF collects this information in a variety of ways. For example, data is collected through applications forms or CVs; obtained from your passport or other identity documents such as your driving licence; from forms completed buy you from correspondence with you; or through interviews or other meetings. 

In some cases, the BDBF collects personal data about you from third parties, such as information from criminal records checks permitted by law.

Data is stored in a range of different places but is primarily stored in cloud-based servers in line with our cyber security procedures, with some documents stored on paper. 

Why does the BDBF process personal data?

Most of our data is processed because it is necessary for our legitimate interests, or the legitimate interests of a third party (such as another organisation within the Church of England). Examples of this would be to deliver the Church’s mission to our community; our safeguarding work to protect children and adults at risk; to carry out charitable work and fundraising; and to administer parish, deanery, archdeaconry and diocesan records. We will always take into account your interests, rights and freedoms.

Some of our processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, for example the requirements of the Church Representation Rules include administering and publishing the electoral roll, and collating signing-in details to comply with Fire Regulations.

We may process data if it necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps to enter into a contract. Examples of this would be processing your data in connection with attendance on a training course, and to process information relating to professional contractors and suppliers.  

We may also seek your views or comments, and we may send you communications which you have requests and that may be of interest to you. These include information about activities, campaigns, and other fundraising activities.

As a religious organisation we are also permitted to process information about your religious beliefs to administer membership or contact details. 

Who has access to data?

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential. Your information will be shared internally and with our affiliated organisations where it is necessary for performance of the data controllers’ tasks, or where you first give us consent. It is likely that we will need to share your data with some, or all, of the following:

• The appropriate bodies of the Church of England, including the other data controllers within the Church of England
• Our agents, professional advisers and contractors. For example, we may ask a commercial provider to maintain our database software or seek advice from our lawyers
• Other clergy or lay persons nominated or licensed by the Bishops of the Blackburn Diocese to support the mission of the Diocese. For example, our clergy are supported by area deans and archdeacons who may provide confidential mentoring and pastoral support and undertake appraisals. Assistant or temporary ministers, including curates, deacons, licensed lay ministers, commissioned lay ministers, or persons with Bishop’s permissions may participate in our mission alongside our regular clergy. 
• Other persons or organisations within the Blackburn Diocese including the Diocesan Board of Education

Any electronic personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the EU will only be placed on systems complying with measures giving equivalent protection of personal rights either through international agreements or contracts approved by the European Union. Our website is also accessible from overseas so on occasion some personal data (for example on a contact detail page) may be accessed from overseas.

How does the BDBF protect data?

The BDBF takes the security of your data seriously. The BDBF has internal policies and controls in place to try to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by its employees, archdeacons and bishops in the performance of their duties. 

Where the BDBF engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions, are under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate technical and BDBF measures to ensure the security of data. 

Use of cookies

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Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

The BDBF uses Google Analytics to monitor user activity on www.bdeducation.org.uk, The information collected is used to enhance your website experience, by monitoring which pages are being visited we can make sure we continue to provide quality resources and content along with making sure they are in locations you can find them. DBE does not store personal information from Google Analytics. You can opt out at any time from analytic tracking from this, and any other website, by using the Google Browser Plug-In which you can download here. 

For how long does the BDBF keep data?

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so. We may keep some other records for an extended period of time. For example, it is current best practice to keep financial records for a minimum period of 7 years to support HMRC audits. In general, we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it. This means that we may delete it when it is no longer needed.

Your Rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• Access and obtain a copy of your data on request
• Require the BDBF to change incorrect or incomplete data
• Require the BDBF to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing. When we receive your request we will confirm whether the data has  been deleted or the reason why it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it for our legitimate interests and regulatory purposes)
• Object to the processing of your data where the BDBF is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing. Upon receiving the request, we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or we if we have legitimate grounds to continue to process your data. Even after you exercise your gith to object, we may continue to hold your data to comply with your other rights or to bring or defend legal claims
• Ask the BDBF to stop processing data for a period if the data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override the BDBF’s legitimate ground for processing data
• Request that we transfer some of your data to another controller

When exercising any of the rights listed above, in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identify for your security. In such cases we will need you to respond with proof of your identify before you can exercise these rights. There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same data may be subject to an administrative fee. 

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Data Controller. 

If you believe that the BDBF has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

Further Processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Policy, then we will provide a new policy explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out he relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing. 

Complaints

The DBF has a data protection complaints policy. Complaints can be made using the following form.

Data Controllers – Contact details for the Data Controller are as follows:

Stephen Whittaker

Blackburn Diocesan Board of Finance 

Clayton House

Walker Office Park

Blackburn

BB1 2QE 

Stephen.whittaker@blackburn.anglican.org