Privacy and Data Security
About the statement
The M25 Consortium is committed to protecting your privacy and data security. This statement contains information about how your data is collected and used by the M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries. It forms part of our Privacy and Data Security Policy. If you would like to read the full policy document or have any queries please send an email to the M25 Consortium’s Operations Manager.
Introduction
The M25 Consortium is committed to protecting your privacy. The information you share with us means you will be able to use the services we offer. We only collect the information that is necessary to carry out our activities, provide the particular service you have requested and to keep you informed. This statement gives you details on when we collect your personal data and how we use it.
Collection of information
We may obtain personal information from you when you do one of the following:
- enquire about our activities by email or telephone
- make an online booking request to attend one of our events
- register a user account on our website
- join one of our Committees, Task and Finish Groups or Networks
- complete a proxy form for a General Meeting
- make use of the Access25 scheme
- take part in a survey
We may also receive information about you from your employer or education provider on your behalf.
In each case, we only gather as much information as is necessary to provide our services and activities. But in general we collect the following personal information:
name, employer name, email address, job title, postal address, telephone number, and special physical or dietary requirements.
There may at times be a request for special category data to inform the work of the Consortium to the benefit of our members. Involvement in this type of data collection will be optional and any data collected will be done so anonymously. The purpose of collecting the data and the details on how it will be used will be specified on a case-by-case basis.
How do we use this information?
We may use your personal information to provide you with the services or information you have requested, e.g. to book your place at an event or to enable communication between the Consortium and yourself. We may also use it for administration purposes, e.g. to maintain our membership records, to raise invoices and process payments.
We may need to share your information with our service providers, associated organisations and agents for these purposes, for example speakers at events and mailing list providers. You are advised to consult the data protection policies of these third parties for further information.
Do we use ‘cookies’?
Yes, but in a very limited way. The cookies on this website (www.m25lib.org.uk) are essential cookies that are integral to our WordPress website and without which the website would not work
We do not use cookies to store or remember your personal information or the pages you visit on our website.
How do we protect personal information?
We take appropriate measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used and to fulfil our legal obligations. The Consortium’s website has an SSL certificate to secure its communications. The Consortium does use third party providers for certain functions, e.g. Jiscmail for the provision of mailing lists, and suppliers of website hosting.
The Consortium will responsibly dispose of IT equipment that is no longer required, ensuring all data is removed.
Third Party services
The Consortium uses third party services to assist in the delivery of some of our services (e.g. JISCmail and Google Forms). When you interact with these sites you may provide information about yourself to those third parties. The Consortium is not responsible for how they collect, use and share your information. We encourage you to review the privacy statements of the websites you choose to link to from the Consortium’s site, so that you can understand how these websites collect, use and share your information.
Updating your personal information
The Consortium will endeavour to ensure that the personal data held about you is accurate and kept up to date. Should you wish us to update or delete your personal information held by us, please contact us.
Will we disclose the information we collect to outside parties?
As indicated above, we may pass your information to our service providers, agents and associated organisations but only in connection with M25 Consortium activities.
We will not use or disclose sensitive personal information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations, without your explicit consent.
We may need to disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on the M25 Consortium or (b) protect and defend the rights or property of the Consortium; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the M25 Consortium, or the public.
Your consent
By providing us with your personal data, including sensitive personal data, you consent to the collection and use of any information you provide in accordance with the above purposes and this privacy statement.
Right of access
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected.
Changes
If your personal details change, please help us to keep your information up to date by notifying us at the above email address.
We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement. If we do so, we will post notice of the change on our website and your continued use of the Consortium’s website and services will be deemed acceptance of such changes.
Concerns and complaints
If you have any concerns about the way that we have handled your personal data please email the M25 support staff team as we would like to have the opportunity to resolve your concerns: m25libadmin@london.ac.uk
If you are still unhappy, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (an independent body set up to advise on information rights for the UK) about the way in which we process your personal data.
This statement forms part of our Privacy and Data Security Policy and was updated in 2024/25 and then ratified by Members at the AGM April 2025. It will be reviewed by April 2029.