Introduction

The processing of your personal data is carried out by or on behalf of the Ramblers. The Ramblers Association is a registered charity in England & Wales No: 1093577, and in Scotland No: SC039799. We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner for the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands, data controller number Z7904496.

We respect your privacy and are committed to maintaining the security of your personal information. This policy outlines how and why we collect and use personal data. We want to ensure you are informed and in control of your data.

Please be assured that we will never sell your personal data, and will only ever share it with third parties for our own purposes (e.g. sending data to a printer for them to send renewal letters on our behalf), or to enable your participation in group walks.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your personal data, please contact us by email at dataprotection@ramblers.zendesk.com
 

What data we collect

We collect personal data provided by you. This includes information you give us when you join as a member, join us on a walk, take action to support our work or become a volunteer.

For example:

• we collect personal details (such as your name, address, date of birth, email address, telephone etc) when you get in touch with the Ramblers – such as when you join as a member, join a Ramblers group walk or a Ramblers Wellbeing Walk, campaign, donate, fundraise or become a volunteer 
• we collect financial information (payment information, gift aid eligibility etc) for example when you make a donation to an appeal or become a member
• we collect information about your interests and preferences, such as which campaigns you support, where you like to walk and how you would like us to contact you.

If you purchase a Ramblers gift membership for someone else, your details will also be recorded.

We might also collect information from other organisations, when you give permission or where your personal data is available publicly. 

For example, if you have moved house but forgotten to tell us, we may use the Post Office’s National Change of Address database to update our records. Other examples may include checking national databases so we know if someone has passed away, securing a new telephone number where the current number is out of date (known as telematching), adding your age to our records to help us more accurately target our communications, and using tools like MOSAIC which provides demographic information.

By using these sources of information, we can ensure that our communications get to you and that the information you receive from us is relevant.

Another example of this is where we may gather information about you is from publicly available sources (e.g. Companies House or the Electoral Register) to help us understand more about you and your ability to support us. We may also carry out wealth screening by trusted third-party partners. This is because we rely on donations from individuals and organisations to enable us to campaign to keep our countryside open, to preserve and improve the paths, tracks and trails we all love and fight for the things that matter most to walkers.  As a charity, the Ramblers carries out targeted fundraising activity to ensure that we are contacting you with the most appropriate communication. You always have the right to restrict the way we process your data – please contact our Supporter Care Team (details below) if you wish to do so.

 

How we use your information

We would like to use your personal details to tell you about the impact your make, and to inform you about our latest news and offers. We may also let you know about other ways you could help us, such as by donating or volunteering. 

We will always ask for your consent if we want to contact you by email or text message with marketing content – for example telling you about a local campaign; however, we do not normally ask for consent to telephone you or write to you if you are a supporter. This is because we want to keep in touch with you and tell you what we’ve achieved together. In order to achieve our mission, we need people like you to support us, so it is in our legitimate interests to contact you by post or telephone, provided of course that this does not breach your fundamental rights. By providing your telephone number and postal address we assume that you are happy to hear from us in this way.

If you are signed up to the Telephone Preference Service, we will only make such telephone calls to you where you have consented to receive them.

When you give us your details, we will always tell you what we are going to do with them. If we request your contact details for any reason, you will always have an option to not provide them or to opt out of contact. It is always your choice and you can change your mind at any time by contacting our Supporter Care Team (details below).

We may also use your data in order to:

• enter into, or perform, a contract with you, including managing volunteering activities
• comply with a legal duty
• to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person
• for our own (or a third party’s) lawful interests, provided your rights don’t override these.

 

Membership data

When you become a member, we will hold personal information about you to help administer your membership contract (for example, your name, address, email address, date of birth, payment and gift aid details).  Your contact details will be shared with local group membership secretaries and other identified volunteers in your local group and areas. This enables local volunteers to let you know about group walks and other local activities related to your Ramblers membership, to help you make the most of your membership.  Our Ramblers volunteers - including your local membership secretary – abide by the Ramblers privacy and data protection policies and your information will be treated confidentially.

Communications which are treated as part of the membership contract include:

• your welcome pack
• welcome telephone call and welcome communications by Ramblers offices and/or by your local group/area
• quarterly Walk magazine. Please be aware that the magazine includes advertisements, competitions and fundraising information
• your local walk programme including Ramblers social events information, member surveys and volunteer opportunities (no marketing messages), sent by email or post
• renewal communications such as letters, emails and calls by Ramblers offices or by your local group/area
• AGM notices from your local group or area

 

Ramblers Wellbeing Walks data

If you participate in the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks scheme your personal data (such as name, address, email address, telephone number) will be shared with local Wellbeing Walks Partners to manage participation in local walks. 

As part of the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks scheme we also collect special category data (sometimes referred to as “sensitive data”). This includes information related to health, religion, sexuality and ethnicity. Any data collected is provided by you and is optional. This data will always be anonymised. We share this aggregated anonymised data to individual local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partners so that they can report to funders, and evaluate the success of the group in line with the objectives of Ramblers Wellbeing Walks. We will also use this aggregated anonymised data ourselves to review the overall success of the Ramblers Wellbeing Walks scheme.

On registration for Ramblers Wellbeing Walks you also have the opportunity to receive marketing communications from the Ramblers as well as your local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partner. You can choose to opt out at any time.

 

Volunteering data

If you volunteer with the Ramblers, in addition to the data we hold on you as a member or supporter (if applicable), we will also hold information related to your volunteering activity with the Ramblers. This will include (but is not restricted to):

• volunteer roles (including start and end dates, group/area/scheme, reason for leaving)
• your Volunteer Manager
• your training record
• communications with us about your volunteering
• volunteering activity undertaken
• personal details and contact information
• your date of birth or year of birth and birth day
• your next of kin details
• recognitions for your volunteering
• a log of your actions (e.g. when you’ve logged in, what you’ve downloaded) in Assemble, our volunteer management system
• extra information, if provided by you (optionally), including: self-written biography, links to websites/blogs, profile picture, skills/interests, and special requirements/accessibility information.

Ramblers staff members have access to this data in order to manage your volunteering, to contact you in respect to your volunteering and to support you in your role.

Volunteers who hold the Volunteer Manager role will have access to basic personal details and information about your volunteering. 

This includes:

• a volunteer’s contact details, for contacting as needed 
• volunteer role information and birthday, restricted to the date and month and used for volunteer recognition or to acknowledge this special occasion
• volunteer training record
• recognitions
• accessibility information (if provided by volunteer)
• biography (if provided)
• profile picture (if provided).

Volunteer Managers do not have access to dates of birth.

 

Social media

If you are a social media user, dependent on your settings, we will use social media tools as part of our relationship with you. This may mean you receive targeted content, or we may ask the social media platform to use your profile to identify people similar to you, so we can find more people who may wish to support the Ramblers.

You may also receive targeted adverts on webpages you visit, dependent on your interactions with us, for example if you have visited our membership join form.

You can read more about our use of social media and web advertising.

 

Ramblers app 

When you use the Ramblers app, your personal data (such as name and email address) will be used to verify your membership of the Ramblers. Your name may also be used by your group to complete a 'Walk Register', which is a log of the walks you have attended.  This will help us plan our membership propositions and help the groups plan more popular walks. 

The Ramblers is committed to protecting your data and your right to privacy. Personal data collected on the walk register is automatically deleted from the user's handset, upon submission to the Ramblers. The data is also tracked through to the Insight Hub (The Ramblers business intelligence platform), where it is displayed to your local group volunteers and anonymised for all other groups.  You may 'opt-out' from appearing on walk registers by contacting the Ramblers supporter care team. 

The Ramblers app uses various analytics software to anonymously track your usage of the app, so we can see which pages are most popular.

 

Administration

We collect and use personal data for administrative purposes in order to help us carry out our work.

This includes:

• receiving membership subscriptions and donations (e.g. direct debits or gift-aid instructions; direct debit confirmations or other payment confirmations)
• maintaining contact databases of our volunteers, members, walkers and supporters, their interests and contact permissions
• performing our obligations to fulfil membership contracts
• fulfilling orders (placed online, over the telephone or in person), or for other services 
• helping us respect your choices and preferences. For example, if you ask us not to send you information about our charitable work which includes marketing information, we’ll keep a record of this so that we know not to contact you again
• management of our group walks programmes, events and Ramblers Wellbeing Walks programme
• management of your volunteering with us, through our volunteer website and other systems.

Sometimes we will need to contact you, regardless of any contact preferences you may have specified. This will only ever be for essential communications in order to fulfil our promises to you as a member, walker, volunteer or buyer of goods or services from the Ramblers. This contact may also come from your local Ramblers group or local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partner (for example to let you know a walk has been cancelled due to very bad weather).

If you are registered as a Ramblers volunteer or a Ramblers Wellbeing Walks volunteer, you will also receive regular volunteer updates about our work in relation to your role as a volunteer.

 

Disclosing and sharing data

We will never sell your personal data.

We may share personal data with suppliers who provide us with services. For example, in order to process your membership renewal reminder, your name and address will be shared with our selected fulfilment house, who will print and post your membership renewal invitation on our behalf. We may share your data with SMS providers to keep you updated about any events/awards you have signed up to. This will also be shared with the relevant Out There Award instructors (those partnered with the Ramblers to deliver such events). However, these activities will be carried out under a contract which imposes strict requirements on our supplier to keep your information confidential and secure.

If you are part of a Ramblers Wellbeing Walks scheme, when you register you will be informed that your personal data will be shared with your local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partner so they can manage your participation in the walks. In addition, if you provide special category data, this will be anonymised and shared in aggregated format with your local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partner.

 

Marketing (including fundraising)

We use personal data to communicate with you to promote the work we do as a charity. This includes keeping you up to date with our news, campaigns, events and fundraising activities.

As a charity, we rely on donations and support to continue our work. From time to time, we will contact members and supporters to let them know about our fundraising campaigns. This might be about an appeal, a competition we’re running, or to suggest ways you can raise funds (e.g. a sponsored event or activity, or buying a product if the Ramblers will receive some of the proceeds).

You can unsubscribe from receiving marketing communications at any time.

Marketing includes news and information about:

• our charity and our role in educating the public about walking
• volunteering opportunities, to help you get involved
• appeals and fundraising (including donations, legacies,competitions, etc.) to support our work 
• products, services and offers (our own, and occasionally those of carefully selected third parties which may interest you).

We also collect information about how you respond to our communications. This helps us identify things you are interested in, and may affect how we communicate with you in the future.

 

Special category data

If you participate in Ramblers Wellbeing Walks, you may provide special category data – for example data related to your health. We use this data to understand how walking benefits you, and to provide our funders with anonymous statistics. This is also shared in anonymised and aggregated format with your local Ramblers Wellbeing Walks Partner. Any special category data you provide (which is optional) will always be anonymised.

Special category health data may also be collected as part of any accident reporting on a Ramblers Wellbeing Walk or other organised event.  This information may be shared with our insurance company in line with our legal and insurance obligations.

Special category data may also be collected as part of our diversity monitoring activities. We anonymise and use this data to understand the diversity of our volunteers and supporters.
When special category data is collected we will take extra care to ensure your privacy rights are protected.

 

Information we generate

We conduct research and analysis on the information we hold, which can in turn generate personal data. For example, by analysing your interests and involvement with our work, we are able to build a profile which helps us understand which of our communications are likely to interest you. Please see below under ‘Research and profiling’ for more information about how we use information for profiling and targeted marketing.

 

Research and profiling

We evaluate, categorise and profile personal data to help us tailor materials, services and communications and to help prevent you receiving unwanted communications

This also helps us understand our supporters, improve our organisation and carry out research connected to our charitable aims.

 

Internal research and analysis

We carry out research and analysis on our supporters, members and volunteers, to determine the success of campaigns and appeals, better understand behaviour and responses and identify patterns and trends. This helps inform our approach and makes the Ramblers a stronger and more effective organisation. Understanding our supporters, their interests, and what they care about, also helps us provide a better experience.

 

Analysis and grouping

We analyse our supporter data to identify common characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including behaviour and demographic information

By grouping people together based on common characteristics, we can ensure you receive the communications, products, and information which are most important to you. This helps ensure you receive relevant information, and means we aren’t wasting resources on contacting you with information which isn’t of interest. We also may use publicly available resources such as MOSAIC to append demographic information. 

 

Profiling to help us understand our supporters

We profile supporters in terms of financial and practical support. For example, we keep track of the amount, frequency and value of each person’s support. This information helps us to ensure communications are relevant and timely.

If, based on information that you have provided (such as geographical location, demographics, or previous donations), it appears an individual might be willing and able to provide more support, we may contact you to see if you wish to do so.

 

Anonymised data

We may aggregate and anonymise personal data so that it can no longer be linked to any particular person. This information is used for a variety of purposes, such as recruiting new supporters, research, to identify trends or patterns within our existing supporter base, and to demonstrate the impact of our work. This information helps inform our actions and improve our campaigns, products, services and materials.

 

Young People

We will not accept donations or orders for goods or services from persons aged less than 18 years of age.
 

Cookies

Our website uses local storage (such as cookies) to provide you with the best possible experience and to allow you to make use of certain functionality (such as being able to shop online). A cookie is a small text file stored on your computer when you visit our website. Please read our information on cookies to find out how cookies are being used on our website, how they affect you and how you can manage them.

 

Complaints

If you are unhappy about how we have used your data, you can complain to the Ramblers directly by contacting our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@ramblers.zendesk.com

If you are not happy with our response, or you believe that your data protection or privacy rights have been infringed, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates and enforces data protection law in the UK. Details of how to do this can be found at www.ico.org.uk

 

Your rights and getting in touch

You have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal data that we hold about you (your right to access)
• request that we delete personal data held on you, where we no longer have any legal reason to retain it (your right to be forgotten)
• change how you hear from us, opt out of marketing communications, and opt out of us holding your personal data if we have no legitimate reasons to do so (your right to object)
• ask us to restrict processing of data – which means that we would need to secure and retain your data for our benefit but not otherwise use it (your right to restrict processing)
• ask us to supply you with some of the personal data we hold about you in a machine-readable format to another organisation (your right to data portability)
• ask us to correct inaccurate personal data, or complete it if it is incomplete (your right to rectification)

If you would like to change your preferences, just get in touch with our Supporter Care Team on the details below:

Email ramblers@ramblers.zendesk.com, visit ramblers.org.uk/my-account or call 020 3961 3300.

 

Notification of changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time. Notice of any change will be posted on our website and will be deemed effective upon publication.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 12/06/2024