Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
The Wychwoods Local History Society respects your privacy and is committed to handling personal information responsibly and securely.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we may collect, why we use it, how long we keep it, who we may share it with and the rights you have in relation to your information.
1. Who we are
The Wychwoods Local History Society is a voluntary local history society serving the Wychwood area of West Oxfordshire.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, the Wychwoods Local History Society is the controller of personal information that it collects and uses.
You can contact us through the Contact page on this website or by email at:
2. Information we may collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with the Society.
It may include:
- your name;
- postal address;
- email address;
- telephone or mobile number;
- membership details;
- payment or subscription information;
- correspondence you send to us;
- information you provide when making an enquiry;
- information supplied with photographs, documents, oral histories or other historical material;
- information you provide when contributing an article, recollection or other material to the Society;
- information relating to attendance at Society activities or events where this is necessary for their administration; and
- limited technical information generated when you use this website.
We aim only to collect information that is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.
3. How we use your information
We may use personal information to:
Manage Society membership
This includes:
- processing membership applications and renewals;
- maintaining membership records;
- recording subscriptions and payments;
- contacting members about their membership;
- providing information about meetings, events and Society activities; and
- administering the Society in accordance with its constitution.
Respond to enquiries
If you contact us, we may use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and to keep an appropriate record of our correspondence.
This may include historical or family-history enquiries.
Organise talks, events and other activities
We may use contact information where necessary to administer Society talks, meetings, visits, exhibitions or other activities.
Maintain the Society’s historical archive
The Society exists to research, record and preserve the history of the Wychwoods and surrounding area.
We may therefore receive, preserve and publish historical material containing information about identifiable individuals. This may include:
- photographs;
- names and biographical information;
- oral histories and recollections;
- historical documents;
- correspondence;
- research material; and
- information supplied by contributors or members of the public.
Where appropriate, material may form part of the Society’s permanent historical archive.
Publish historical and Society material
We may publish material through:
- this website;
- the Society’s photographic archive;
- articles and research;
- exhibitions;
- Society publications;
- newsletters or programmes; and
- other activities consistent with the Society’s historical and educational purposes.
Where material concerns living individuals, we will consider their privacy and the nature and context of the information before publication.
Operate and improve this website
We may use limited technical or statistical information to maintain the security and operation of the website and to understand how the website is being used.
More information is available in our Cookie Policy.
4. Our lawful bases for using personal information
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following.
Contract
We may need to use personal information in order to provide membership or another service that you have requested.
Legitimate interests
We may use personal information where this is reasonably necessary for the legitimate interests of the Society, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
Our legitimate interests may include:
- administering the Society;
- communicating with members;
- responding to enquiries;
- organising Society activities;
- maintaining appropriate administrative records;
- protecting and securing our website and records; and
- researching, preserving and making accessible the history of the Wychwoods.
Consent
In some circumstances we may ask for your consent before using your information.
Where we rely upon consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
Legal obligation
We may use or retain information where this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, including financial, accounting or regulatory requirements.
5. Historical and archival material
Some of the information held by the Society has long-term historical value.
The normal approach to deleting personal information after it is no longer needed for an administrative purpose may therefore not be appropriate for genuine archival material.
Historical photographs, publications, research records, oral histories and related material may be retained permanently where they form part of the Society’s historical archive.
We aim to distinguish between information retained because of its genuine historical value and ordinary administrative information that no longer needs to be kept.
If you believe information about you in the Society’s archive is inaccurate, inappropriate or raises a privacy concern, please contact us so that we can consider the matter.
6. Photographs and information about people
The Society’s photographic archive contains photographs documenting the people, places and activities of the Wychwoods over many years.
Photographs may be accompanied by names, dates, locations, descriptions and other contextual information.
Much of this material is historical and has been donated, collected or created over many decades.
If you are identifiable in a photograph or believe that information associated with a photograph is incorrect, please contact us. We will consider reasonable requests for corrections and any privacy concerns raised.
7. Where we obtain information
Most personal information is provided directly by you, for example when you:
- become a member;
- renew your membership;
- contact the Society;
- submit an article, photograph or other historical material; or
- communicate with a member of the Society’s committee.
Historical information may also come from:
- Society members and contributors;
- donated collections;
- historical documents and publications;
- publicly accessible archives and records;
- local organisations; and
- other legitimate historical or genealogical sources.
Where appropriate, we record information about the source or provenance of archive material.
8. Who we share information with
We do not sell personal information.
Personal information may be accessible to Society officers, committee members or volunteers where they need it to carry out their role.
We may also use trusted organisations that provide services on our behalf, such as:
- website hosting and technical support providers;
- email providers;
- online form providers;
- cloud storage or