City of David Cambridge respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit our website, contact us, attend or register for church activities, submit forms, request prayer, make donations, purchase merchandise or otherwise interact with City of David Cambridge.
It also explains the rights available to you under UK data protection law.
1. Who we are
The Redeemed Christian Church of God City of David Cambridge (“City of David Cambridge”, “COD Cambridge”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a registered charity in England and Wales.
Registered charity number: 1185438
Our contact details are:
City of David Cambridge
Unit 1, Lion Estate
8 Coldhams Road
Cambridge
CB1 3EW
United Kingdom
Telephone: 01223 415417
Email: info@rccgcambridge.org.uk
For the purposes of UK data protection law, City of David Cambridge is the data controller for personal information covered by this Privacy Policy unless stated otherwise.
2. Information we may collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
- Identity information, such as your name.
- Contact information, including email address and telephone number.
- Information you provide through website forms, including Plan Your Visit, contact, ministry, event, volunteering and other enquiry forms.
- Prayer requests and information voluntarily included in those requests.
- Event registration and attendance information.
- Merchandise information, including products selected, sizes, quantities, order value, payment status and collection information.
- Donation and Gift Aid information where applicable.
- Communication preferences.
- Information relating to children or young people where this is necessary for a church activity and appropriately provided by a parent, guardian or authorised person.
- Technical information such as IP address, device type, browser information, referring pages and website interaction data.
- Cookie and analytics information where applicable and permitted by your cookie choices.
We aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for the purpose for which it is requested.
3. How we collect your information
We may collect information:
- directly from you when you complete a form;
- when you contact us by email, telephone or another communication channel;
- when you register for or participate in church activities;
- when you make a donation;
- when you purchase or register an interest in merchandise;
- when you submit a prayer request;
- automatically when you use our website, through necessary website technologies and, where permitted, analytics or similar technologies; and
- from another person where appropriate and lawful, for example where a parent or guardian provides information relating to a child.
Where information is optional, we will aim to make this clear.
4. Why we use your information
We use personal information only where we have a lawful reason to do so.
Our lawful bases
Depending on the circumstances, these lawful bases may include:
- Contract – where processing is necessary to take steps at your request or to fulfil an agreement with you, such as processing a merchandise purchase.
- Legal obligation – where we must process or retain information to meet legal, accounting, tax, safeguarding or regulatory obligations.
- Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for the legitimate operation, administration, security and ministry activities of City of David Cambridge and those interests do not override your rights and interests.
- Consent – where we ask for and receive your permission for a particular use of your information.
What we use your information for
We may use your information to:
- respond to enquiries;
- help you plan a visit;
- administer church events, ministries and activities;
- communicate information relating to something you have requested;
- process merchandise orders and arrange collection;
- process donations and Gift Aid where applicable;
- respond to and administer prayer requests;
- manage volunteers and ministry participation where applicable;
- maintain the safety and security of our website and systems;
- understand and improve our website and services;
- maintain appropriate records; and
- send communications where we are legally permitted to do so.
5. Prayer requests and sensitive information
Prayer requests can sometimes contain sensitive information about you or another person, including information relating to health, personal circumstances or religious beliefs.
Some of this information may be considered “special category data” under UK data protection law.
Please only include information that is reasonably necessary for your prayer request and avoid sharing sensitive information about another identifiable person unless it is appropriate for you to do so.
Where special category personal information is processed, City of David Cambridge will identify an appropriate lawful condition for that processing under UK data protection law.
Where a prayer request is intended for public display on the City of David Cambridge Prayer Wall, we will distinguish this from a private prayer request.
Where required, we will obtain clear permission before publishing personal or sensitive information publicly. Users should also be provided with appropriate options to submit prayer requests anonymously or without displaying their full identity where this functionality is offered.
A prayer request submitted privately to the church or prayer team will not automatically be treated as permission to publish that request publicly.
6. Merchandise orders and payments
When you order or register an interest in City of David Cambridge merchandise, we may collect:
- your name;
- email address;
- telephone number;
- merchandise selections;
- size and quantity information;
- order total;
- payment status; and
- information required to arrange collection.
We use this information to manage your order, confirm payment, communicate with you about your purchase and arrange collection.
Online merchandise payments may be processed by PayPal. When you choose PayPal, payment information required to complete the transaction is processed by PayPal in accordance with PayPal’s own privacy practices.
City of David Cambridge does not receive or store your complete payment card details when payment is processed by PayPal.
Transaction and accounting information may be retained where required to meet financial, accounting, tax or legal obligations.
7. Donations and Gift Aid
When you make a donation, we may process information necessary to administer that donation.
Where you make a Gift Aid declaration, we may also collect information required by HM Revenue & Customs, which can include your name and home address.
Gift Aid declarations and associated records are retained for the period required by applicable tax and charity law.
Payment providers used for online donations may process payment information under their own privacy policies.
8. Events, visits, ministries and website forms
When you use forms such as Plan Your Visit, event registration, contact, ministry or volunteering forms, we use the information you provide to respond to your request and administer the relevant church activity.
Submitting an enquiry or registration does not automatically mean that you have agreed to receive unrelated marketing communications.
Where a form contains an optional communication or marketing preference, this will be presented separately where appropriate.
9. Email, text and other communications
We may send service or administrative communications that relate directly to an interaction you have had with us.
Examples include:
- confirmation of a form submission;
- event information;
- merchandise order confirmations;
- payment or collection updates; and
- responses to an enquiry or prayer request.
These operational communications are different from general marketing.
For newsletters, fundraising messages, event promotions and other direct marketing communications, we will only contact you where permitted by applicable data protection and electronic communications law.
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.
Where the charitable purposes soft opt-in or another lawful exception applies, we will provide an appropriate opportunity to opt out when your contact details are collected and in subsequent marketing communications.
You can ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option provided or by contacting info@rccgcambridge.org.uk. Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending necessary service or transactional communications relating to something you have requested.
10. Cookies and website technologies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.
Some cookies are necessary for the website to function correctly and cannot reasonably be disabled through our consent controls.
Other cookies, including certain analytics, preference or marketing technologies, are used only in accordance with applicable law and the choices available through our cookie consent system. Visitors can manage cookie preferences using the website’s cookie controls.
For further information, please see our Cookie Policy.
11. Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information.
We may share personal information with trusted organisations or service providers where this is necessary to operate the church, website or services.
These may include:
- website hosting and technology providers;
- website form and content-management providers;
- payment processors, including PayPal;
- email and communication providers;
- analytics and cookie-management providers where enabled;
- financial, accounting or professional advisers;
- relevant RCCG or ministry bodies where sharing is necessary and lawful;
- governmental, regulatory or law-enforcement authorities where required by law; and
- other suppliers acting on our behalf.
Where a provider processes personal information on our behalf, we take reasonable steps to use providers that offer appropriate data-protection and security safeguards.
12. International data transfers
Some of the technology and service providers used by City of David Cambridge may process information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take steps to ensure that an appropriate level of protection or lawful transfer safeguard applies as required by UK data protection law.
13. How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet applicable legal, accounting, safeguarding and regulatory obligations.
Retention periods therefore vary depending on the type of information.
For example:
- Enquiries and form submissions are retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to respond to and administer the relevant request.
- Prayer requests are retained only for as long as necessary for the ministry purpose for which they were submitted, subject to any appropriate safeguarding or legal requirements.
- Merchandise order and transaction records may be retained for the period necessary for order administration and applicable financial or accounting requirements.
- Accounting records may need to be retained for at least six years where required by charity or tax law.
- Gift Aid records are retained for the period required by HM Revenue & Customs.
- Marketing information is retained until you opt out, withdraw consent where applicable, or it is no longer reasonably required.
We periodically review the information we hold and delete or anonymise information that is no longer required unless continued retention is required or permitted by law.
14. How we protect your information
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.
Access to personal information should be limited to people who reasonably need it for their role or ministry responsibility.
No method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take the protection of personal information seriously and review appropriate safeguards as necessary.
If a personal-data breach occurs, we will assess it and make notifications to affected individuals and/or the Information Commissioner’s Office where required by applicable law.
15. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis being used, you may have rights including:
- the right to be informed about how your personal information is used;
- the right to request access to personal information we hold about you;
- the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- the right to ask us to erase personal information in certain circumstances;
- the right to ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
- the right to object to certain processing;
- the right to data portability where applicable;
- the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
- rights relating to certain automated decision-making and profiling, where applicable.
These rights are not absolute and may depend on the circumstances.
To exercise a data protection right, contact info@rccgcambridge.org.uk.
We may need to verify your identity before acting on certain requests.
16. Children and young people
As a church, some of our activities involve children and young people.
Where we need to collect personal information relating to a child, we aim to collect only information reasonably necessary for the relevant church activity and to involve a parent, guardian or authorised adult where appropriate.
Information relating to children and young people is handled with particular care and in accordance with applicable data-protection and safeguarding responsibilities.
17. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to websites and services operated by other organisations.
This Privacy Policy does not control how those third parties process personal information.
We encourage you to review the privacy information provided by the relevant third party before providing personal information to them.
18. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, services, legal requirements or how we process personal information.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date displayed at the top of this page.
Where a change materially affects how we use personal information and further notification or consent is legally required, we will take appropriate steps.
19. Contact us and make a complaint
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise a data-protection right or have concerns about how your information has been handled, please contact us first.
Privacy Contact
City of David Cambridge
Unit 1, Lion Estate
8 Coldhams Road
Cambridge
CB1 3EW
United Kingdom
Telephone: 01223 415417
Email: info@rccgcambridge.org.uk
Making a complaint
You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK’s data protection regulator:
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Website: https://ico.org.uk/