PRIVACY NOTICE

Quakers seek to be clear and transparent in the work that we do and in our recording and use of your personal information. We work to safeguard the information that we use and we follow Britain Yearly Meeting’s Data Protection policy which complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation in force from May 2018.

Attenders

Our Meetings for Worship are public. Anyone can attend without giving their name or any other personal details. Some Meetings keep a visitors' book which you may be invited to sign. This is voluntary, as is the information you enter. You should appreciate that what you have written may be seen by Friends and other visitors. On rare occasions, we might use the details you have entered to contact you. You can ask us to remove your entry in the visitors' book.

If you have attended Meeting for Worship for some time, you may wish to play a fuller part in the life of the Meeting by being formally recorded as an established Attender. You will normally do this by signing a form available from the clerk of your Meeting. This will include an option that your details be included in the published Book of Members and Attenders in Scotland. This Book is only circulated amongst Members and Attenders and is not made available outside Quakers.

We keep the same personal information on established Attenders as we do for those who have been formally admitted to membership of the Society of Friends and this is described in more detail below. This information is needed in order to enable the Society to function and serve its members and is described in the regulations as required by the 'legitimate interests' of the organisation. Some information may also fall into the category of information archived for historical and research purposes. Your entry in the published Book of Members and Attenders is, however, based on your consent, which may be withdrawn at any time.

Removing your data

You may at any time inform the Clerk of your Meeting that you no longer wish to be regarded as an established attender. Your details will be removed from current records, including our central database of Members and Attenders. Information about you may still be visible in records which have been retained for historical purposes such as minutes of local and area business meetings.

Information held on Members and established Attenders

The personal information which we hold is solely used to enable the Society of Friends to function and serve its members (including established Attenders). It will not generally be provided to anyone outside Britain Yearly Meeting (there are some specific exceptions described below).

Personal information about you may be found in any of the following:

• The computerised GM database listing all Members and established Attenders.
• The published Book of Members and Attenders (only if you have given written consent).
• Distribution lists for publications such as the Scottish Friends Newsletter / local newsletters.
• Lists of elders/overseers/committee members/rotas.
• List of names of Friends allocated to particular overseers.
• Lists of children's birthdays.
• Lists of attendees at local and area business meetings (name and Meeting only).
• Reports of visitors to applicants for membership.
• Minutes dealing with membership and appointments (including to outside bodies).
• Records of Quaker births, marriages and funerals.
• Records of clearance from Disclosure Scotland for those working with children.
• Records of library borrowings.
• Records of donations, gift aid and expense claims which may include bank account and sort code (all treated as confidential).
• Details of bursaries and other financial assistance provided (treated as confidential).
• Booking details in connection with conferences/gatherings/children's events organised by local and area meetings or general meeting (treated as confidential).
• Information recorded by overseers for pastoral care (treated as confidential).
• Records of safeguarding concerns (treated as confidential).
• Information about their experience/qualifications which Friends submit for the assistance of nominations committees (treated as confidential).

Information marked 'treated as confidential' will be restricted to those holding specific positions of responsibility or serving on particular committees such as Nominations.

If you agree to be appointed to represent Friends on an external organisation, your contact details may be passed to that body. Financial records are subject to external audit and gift aid claims are notified to the Inland Revenue. Booking details may be passed to an external conference centre or venue. Names of young people may be passed to organisers of events specifically for children (such as Shindig) so they can be invited to those events. Minutes of Quaker business meetings and financial accounts may be publicly accessible online (although sensitive personal information will be withheld).

Retention of information

Minutes of committee and business meetings are regarded as part of the historical record and will be kept permanently, as will records of births, marriages and funerals. Membership records will be retained permanently, including admissions, transfers and terminations. Financial accounts will be retained permanently, but detailed supporting information such as details of individual donations, expense claims etc will be destroyed after 6 years. Gift aid declarations will be kept for 6 years after your last donation. Records relating to safeguarding and Disclosure Scotland clearance will be kept for 75 years. Booking details for events will be kept for no more than 12 months unless consent has been given otherwise.

Other information, which is mainly related to day-to-day administration, will be updated as necessary and the superseded lists/records discarded.

Members wishing to terminate membership and have data removed 

For Members, the procedure to request termination of Membership is set out in Quaker Faith and Practice 11.29 - 11.35. Your personal information will be removed with the exception of references to you which form part of the historical record described above.  

Children

For children under 16, the parent or guardian may give consent for the child's name to be included in the family entry in the Book of Members and Attenders, if they so wish. If the family does not want an entry in the Book of Members and Attenders, it is desirable that the parent give consent for the child to be recorded as an established Attender, so that we can add their name to internal lists and send invitations to young people's events. 

Children who are Members or established Attenders may have the same personal information recorded as for adult Members and established Attenders.

The parent or guardian can at any time ask that their children under 16 be removed from the Book of Members and Attenders, or otherwise cease to be recorded as an established Attender, remembering that in Scotland a child age 12 and over is generally able to exercise rights as a data subject in their own right, including asking that their data no longer be held. In any case of conflict between the parent's wishes and those of the child, the Data Protection Officer should be consulted. 

Published Book of Members and Attenders

Inclusion in this is based on consent which, once given, will continue in force for up to 8 years unless you give written notice of withdrawal of consent. You cannot give consent on behalf of any other member of your family with the exception of children under 16. This means that if you want the name of your spouse or adult children to appear in the Book of Members and Attenders for information, they must give their individual consent to this. Consent forms will be available from the clerk of your Meeting when the next edition of the Book of Members and Attenders is being prepared. You can subsequently withdraw consent by contacting the GM Administrator.

Checking the data we hold on you.

If you want to check what personal data is held on you, you should apply to the Clerk of your local Meeting who will liaise as necessary with the AM Clerk and GM Administrator. You may ask for incorrect information to be corrected or you may object to particular information being recorded or processed. If we cannot agree, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, with whom we are registered.

Terminating membership or established attender status

If you want to terminate your membership, you should apply in writing to the Clerk of your Area Meeting. If you wish no longer to be regarded as an established Attender, you should notify the Clerk of your local Meeting in writing.

Data protection officer

The GM Administrator is the appointed Data Protection Officer for Quakers in Scotland. Email scotfriends [at] gmail.com

Date of this notice and updates

This privacy notice was first published on behalf of General Meeting Trustees in May 2018.  It was reviewed and minor revisions made in 2025. It will be updated as necessary when policies or circumstances change. The most recent version will always be available on www.quakerscotland.org

Last updated March 2025