Privacy

Confor, the Confederation of Forest Industries, is a UK-wide not-for-profit membership organisation representing the private forestry and wood processing sector. 

Confor takes data security extremely seriously and has a data protection policy in place to ensure its data is secure and used within the law. This Privacy Policy details the types of information collected and recorded by Confor and how we use it.

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us:

Confor Ltd

Argyle House
3 Lady Lawson Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9DR

0131 240 1410
info@confor.org.uk

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

We are a Data Controller of your information.

Confor’s legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the Personal Information we collect and the specific context in which we collect the information:

• We need to perform a contract with you.
• You have given us permission to do so.
• Processing your personal information is in our legitimate business interests.
• We need to comply with the law.

Confor will retain your personal information for only as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), you have certain data protection rights. If you wish to be informed what Personal Information we hold about you, and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us.

In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

• The right to access, update or to delete the information we have on you.
• The right of rectification.
• The right to object.
• The right of restriction.
• The right to data portability.
• The right to withdraw consent.

Online Privacy Policy Only

This privacy policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they share and/or collect on confor.org.uk. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its Terms and Conditions.

What types of information we hold 

Website usage details (confor.org.uk visitors)

The following information is currently collected indirectly:

• Log Files:
  • Our website (confor.org.uk) follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this as a part of hosting services' analytics.
  • The information collected by log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
  • The purpose of this information is for analysing trends, administering the site, tracking users' movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.
• Cookies and Web Beacons:
  • Our website uses ‘cookies'. These cookies are used to store information including visitors' preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited.
  • The information is used to optimize the users' experience by customising our web page content based on visitors' browser type and/or other information.
  • You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options.

Personal and contact details (Members and Subscribers)

• Members:
  • Members’ data is used to administer membership and deliver benefits such as editorial and communications subscriptions, invitations to events, and participation in advocacy activities.
  • Our members are a mixture of individuals and companies. For each member, we hold contact details and information relevant to membership of Confor. For individuals employed by member companies, we hold e-mail addresses and names.
  • We hold information regarding registration/attendance at company meetings or at events hosted by the company.
  • We will hold summary details of communications, queries or complaints.
  • We hold bank details for members who pay by direct debit, but do not hold any other financial information such as credit card details. 
• Magazine and Event Subscribers:
  • For non-members we hold postal addresses, e-mail addresses and names where marketing permission has been given.

How we get the information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

• To apply for a job
• To become an employee of the Company
• To become a Director of the Company
• To become a member of the Company
• To subscribe to services from the Company (magazine, events etc.)
• To supply goods or services to the Company

We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

• HMRC regarding tax codes and PAYE related details
• Referees for recruitment purposes

Under GDPR, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

1. Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting the Company Secretary.
2. We have a contractual obligation.
3. We have a legal obligation.

What we do with the information we have

We use the information that you have given us in order to:

• Communicate with you.
• Fulfil our statutory and contractual obligations to you.
• Manage and improve our services to you as members of Confor.
• Promote our services to you.

We will not share this information with others.

How we store your information 

Your information is securely stored as:

• A member’s database with support from a contracted third party (Subscriber CRM).
• A digital communications mailing list administered by a third party (Mailchimp), for those specifically subscribed to receive such communications from Confor.
• Financial software with support from a contracted third party (Xero) and with our accountants.
• On secure IT systems managed by the company with support from a contracted third party (Diagknows).
• In paper form in locked cabinets on our office premises. Note, this is largely for archival purposes as much is now stored online. 

Confor's Privacy Policy does not apply to other services or websites. Thus, we advise you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-parties for more detailed information.

We keep:

• Contractual and financial information for 10 years.
• Membership information for ceased members for up to three years, or until such a time as possible renewal has been fully reviewed. Removal from our database can be requested at any time by contacting members@confor.org.uk.

We dispose of information by deleting electronic files, by in-house shredding, or through contracted secure disposal of paper files. Phones and hard disks are disposed of securely.

How to complain

You are entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

0303 123 1113
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)