Privacy policy

This privacy notice explains

how we use your data
how you can control the way we use that data
what to do if you would like to change the way we use your data

Who we are

We are the Museum of the Home. We are an independent charitable company limited by guarantee set up as the Geffrye Museum Trust.

For the rest of this privacy policy we refer to ourselves as 'the Museum'.

Why do we need your information and whose data do we collect?

We are an internationally renowned museum about the home. We aim to enrich people’s lives and inspire an understanding of home and home life, both past and present. To do this well we need to know about the people who interact with us.

We hold data on people who do, or might do, the following:

visit the Museum;
buy tickets for and attend exhibitions and events;
take part in our programme of events and activities;
buy goods or services from us;
contribute items to the Museum's collections;
contribute to research on our collections and exhibitions;
work or volunteer at the Museum;
support the Museum financially and in other ways;
subscribe to our newsletters or sign-up to receive regular updates.

In limited cases we collect data on people who are under 18. Where we do this we will describe exactly the uses to which data will be put at the time of collection.

How we obtain your data

From you

The majority of the information we hold about you will have been provided directly by you when you have taken part in one of more of the activities outlined above.

From someone other than you

In some cases we may supplement the information you have given us with data from elsewhere. Examples include adding social, economic, financial or demographic data to our visitor or fundraising information, improving or correcting contact details or conducting appropriate due diligence to safeguard the assets and reputation of the Museum in the case of significant financial transactions.

Sources of data could include information gathered from a news article or online media (including social media), publicly available directories and similar information such as the telephone directory, Royal Mail’s National Change of Address database, Companies’ House and cultural sector audience segmentation data. We sometimes engage other organisations, such as Prospecting for Gold Ltd to help us identify people via wealth screening and other research who may be able to support us with a larger gift.

We may also obtain information about people entirely new to us. Examples include (but are not limited to):

if you book one of our events using a third party ticketing agency,
if you take part in a competition and agree to let us have your data, or
if an existing supporter, volunteer or contributor to the collection suggests we get in touch to see if you might be interested in becoming involved with us.

We also receive information from the independent registered charity, the Friends of the Geffrye, on their members.

What we do with your data

The core activities we carry out with your data enable us to:

send information to you about the Museum;
help manage and develop the Museum collections;
provide tickets for events requiring them;
administer donations;
administer membership scheme(s);
administer volunteering opportunities and programmes;
build financial and volunteer support for the Museum through various fundraising and marketing activities;
operate a Museum shop and image gallery;
promote the aims and objectives of the Museum through any other activities not specifically mentioned.

What information we collect

We collect the following classes of information:

Name(s) and address, email, phone number(s) and other relevant contact details and preferences;
Information on visiting patterns to the Museum and its exhibitions where known;
Use of social media relating to the Museum (e.g. following our Twitter feed);
Records of donations;
Records of volunteering;
Records of objects and associated information lent or given to the Museum;
Photographs, recordings (audio and video) and associated information lent or given to the Museum;
Information about our relationship with you, correspondence, meeting notes, attendance at events etc;
Occupation, skills and professional activity, network(s) and interests where relevant to our needs;
Age and family information where relevant to our needs;
Financial information and interest in philanthropy where relevant to our needs.

Profiling

Although we do not currently do this, we may in the future use your data to group together people who have behaved, or might behave in similar ways. For example, we might find that people who had been to certain exhibitions were likely to come to similar exhibitions. If this was the case then we might tag your record to remind us to include you in invitations to similar exhibitions or to assess the likelihood that you might come to another type of exhibition. We might carry out similar processes to help us organise our fundraising.

You have a specific right to ask us not to do this. If you would prefer us not to, then please contact us using any of the contact details below.

Protecting your data

We keep your data secure in our database with appropriate security mechanisms in place.

In principle we do not share your data with anyone else or any other organisation unless it is necessary for the purpose for which you have given us the data or described in this notice. Examples are given below:

We will provide information to HMRC to claim Gift Aid on donations since we have a legal obligation to provide this information;
We may share basic information on the attendees at an event or function or meeting with the host or another person who has a volunteer role in the Museum and who has signed a privacy agreement with us;
We may pass data to other organisations, known as Data Processors, to provide specific services to us. An example would be providing data to a mailing house in order to send a newsletter. A contract is always in place with a Data Processor, and they are not allowed to do anything with your data other than that which we have requested. In these cases we never lose legal control of your data;
Some information about items in the collection is made public in the Museum and elsewhere, including on the internet, as part of the interpretation of those items. If any of this information contains personal data then we will ensure, via an Archive Clearance Form, that we have consent to do this;
We provide anonymised statistical data to Arts Council England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Neither of these organisations receive any personal data.

Covid-19: NHS Test and Trace

The Museum is committed to ensuring the safety of its visitors, employees and contractors. As part of that commitment we are participating in NHS Test and Trace to assist the NHS in coordinating its response to local Covid-19 outbreaks. This means that we may share some of your personal data with NHS Test and Trace if we are requested to do so. For further information on how NHS Test and Trace processes your personal data once it has been collected, please see the NHS Test and Trace Privacy Policy.

Our responsibilities

The law requires us to tell you the legal basis upon which we process your data.

Some activities (for example sending you emails which promote the Museum’s interests) require your consent. If the law requires your consent to process data in a certain way then we will obtain it before carrying out that activity.

Other activities are carried out to fulfil a contract or agreement. Examples include the purchase of a ticket or service, or the deposit of an item in the collection. If a contract is in place then we will process your data based on that contract.

In some circumstances the law requires us to disclose information to another party. An example is the reclaim of tax on Gift Aid. If you give us permission to claim Gift Aid on a donation, then we are required to tell HMRC the name and postcode of the donor and the date(s) and amount(s) of any such donation.

Where our status as a Public Body permits us to process personal data, for example for the purpose of managing our collections, then this is also the legal basis for carrying out that processing.

In all other cases, and outside our public obligations, the law allows us to process your data if it is in our legitimate interest to do so. We may only do so if we can demonstrate a business need, and so long as your 'interests or your fundamental rights and freedoms are not overriding'. Practically speaking this means we carry out an exercise to check that we will not cause you harm by processing your data, that the processing is not overly intrusive and that we will only do so in a way which is described in this privacy notice.

How long do we keep your data?

We will keep data for as long as is needed to complete the task for which it was collected. Relationships between donors or volunteers and a museum are often long term ones, and so we expect to keep your data for as long as that relationship exists, or until we no longer need it. We keep data on those who lend or give us items for the collection for so long as the item remains in the collection.

Your rights

You have a variety of rights about the way we process your data. These are as follows:

Where our use of your data requires consent, you may withdraw this consent at any time.
Where we rely on our legitimate interest to process data, you may ask us to stop doing so.
You may request a copy of the data we hold about you.
If we are carrying out profiling, you may ask us not to do so.
You may change or stop the way in which we communicate with you or process data about you, and if it is not required for the purpose you provided it, then we will do so. Activities like processing Gift Aid donations, or holding a collection item that you have loaned or given us may mean we cannot entirely stop processing your data. However, we will always endeavour to comply with such a request.
If you are not satisfied with how we have processed your data then you can complain to the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, about the way in which we process your data, or if you wish to change the way we use your data, including how we communicate with you, then please contact us:

Data Protection Officer
Museum of the Home
136 Kingsland Road
London E2 8EA
data@museumofthehome.org.uk
020 7739 9893