Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 2023
Who we are
The Food Museum Ltd is a company limited by guarantee (01819676) and a registered charity (293033), trading as the Food Museum. We also have a subsidiary company, the Stowmarket Museum Trading Company Limited (02802185), which is wholly owned by The Food Museum Ltd. The phrases ‘Food Museum’ and ‘museum’ used in this policy refer to both of these registered entities
Our address is Crowe Street, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 1DL.
The personal data we collect
The data we collect is generally limited to contact details (name, postal address, email address and phone number), but may also include:
- your title, gender and date of birth
- family and spouse/partner details, relationships to other donors and/or members
- current interests and activities
- past purchases, visits to the museum and event attendance
- contact preferences
- consent
- gift information, including Direct Debit bank details where applicable
- Gift Aid status
- details of correspondence sent to you, or received from you
- donor status and wealth assessment information
- employment information and professional activities
- where relevant, media coverage
- any other information provided by you
- CCTV recordings
We also collect information about the diversity of our users, workforce and visitors which allow us to monitor our performance and determine whether we are reaching a broad spectrum of the community. This information is always anonymised when we present it.
For volunteers and long-term programme participants, we collect next-of-kin and medical details.
What we use data for
We use data for the following purposes:
- Mailings relating to news, events, membership, fundraising, products and the museum’s general activities
- Research, including wealth screening from publicly-available resources to determine whether a particular appeal is likely to reflect your interests.
- For market research purposes, e.g. sending you surveys
- To work out how effectively we are reaching the whole community and how diverse our audiences are.
- To monitor the effectiveness of our communications, including email tracking (which records when an e-newsletter is opened and/or how many links are clicked within it).
- Data screening and cleansing, to check if we have accurate contact details for you.
- To record consent, e.g. consent to use a photo of you in our marketing.
- For the purposes of enhancing security, including monitoring and recording CCTV across our site.
- Collections data, to enhance the understanding and educational value of our collection with information pertaining to its former use, ownership or history, including donor details. This information is part of our public catalogue. Donating an object or information to the museum comes with an expectation that relevant information (information which enhances understanding of an object or document) will be made publicly accessible.
Opting out
You can opt out of any or all of our communications simply by contacting contact@foodmuseum.org.uk or calling us on 01449 612229.
How we update and research data
We review our records periodically to ensure your data is accurate. We may consult a range of sources in order undertake these checks, such as BT, Royal Mail, publicly-available sources such as newspaper articles, company, club and charity websites, and information you have made publicly available via social media. We may segment the information we hold about you in our database based on the relationship we have with you – e.g. member, former member.
Data sharing
The Food Museum Ltd and Stowmarket Museum Trading Company Limited share a single database. We will not share your data with any other organisation, except where required to for legal reasons and financial reporting (e.g. Gift Aid) or if an external organisation or partner is acting as a contracted data processor carrying out work on our behalf or as part of a partnership. We may occasionally send you information on behalf of other charities or about events or products which we think may be of interest to you.
Data security
We store your data on our secure server and, occasionally, in hard copy form. Staff and volunteers who have access to your data are trained in data protection and have signed a code of conduct which covers confidentiality in data handling. Sensitive data (e.g. data about disability, health, offending history) is restricted. Where we appoint an external party to undertake research or screening of information or form a partnership (e.g. to co-deliver an event), any such arrangements will be subject to a formal agreement between the Museum of East Anglian Life and that organisation, to protect the security of your data.
We collect some information using third parties, including using third party applications, such as Vennersys Venpos, the Audience Agency, Just Giving and MailChimp.
Seeing the data we hold about you
You can submit a ‘Subject Access Request’ to see the data we hold about you. This should be sent to contact@foodmuseum.org.uk or addressed to ‘Data Controller, The Food Museum, Crowe Street, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 1DL’. We will try to respond to any requests within 28 days. To make a Subject Access Request you will need to provide proof of identity such as a copy of your passport, birth certificate or driving licence before your request can be processed.
Cookies on our website
In order to make our website easier to use and improve our service, we sometimes place small amounts of information on your computer. These are known as cookies and they are used by most major websites. You can find out more about our use of cookies here.
Updates to this policy
We regularly review our privacy policy and may make changes from time to time. The latest updates will be posted to this location.
