The UK Garrison (incorporating Reel Icons and Rebel Command) is not required to register with the United Kingdom's Information Commissioner; the UK Garrison is a not-for-profit club and we only hold data to administer membership or for those who have close contact with the club or to whom we provide our services.  However, we do our best to comply and respect the rules and guidance set down by the Commission and take our responsibility to protect our members' data very seriously.

To this end, this document explains how the UK Garrison (and by extension its elected and appointed officers, staff and volunteers) will use the data that members, event organisers and the public provide to us.  We have divided this document into 5 sections that cover:

1. 1       What data do we ask for, when and why?
   1. 1.1        When you register
   2. 1.2        When you request to clear a costume.
   3. 1.3        When you request us to attend an event
   4. 1.4        When you contact us with a query.
2. 2       How do we use your data?.
   1. 2.1        As a member of the UK Garrison.
   2. 2.2        When you submit a costume for clearance.
   3. 2.3        When you ask the UK Garrison the attend an event.
   4. 2.4        When you contact the UK Garrison with a query.
3. 3       How long do we keep your data?.
   1. 3.1        Member's personal information.
   2. 3.2        Costume clearance information.
   3. 3.3        Event information.
   4. 3.4        Information relating to complaints.
   5. 3.5        Query information.
4. 4       How will we communicate with you?
5. 5       Sharing your information with others.

The UK Garrison's Web Team assume the effective role of the 'Data Controller' for the UK Garrison.  If you have any query about your data or how we use it, please contact the UK Garrison's Web Liaison Officer.  Our Web Team work along side our Captains of the Guard and Safeguarding Officer to protect our members.

Revision History

1        What data do we ask for, when and why?

1.1       When you register

The UK Garrison requests that you provide your name, date of birth and basic contact details (email address, address, postcode and a contact telephone number) to enable us to support you in your efforts to build and clear your costume and to troop with the club.  These details also enable us to fulfil our responsibilities under our safeguarding policy which protects our members and the club.

As a member you can add additional contact details (such as social network details) and further details about yourself to your profile if you wish.

The details you enter on the 'Profile' tab of your 'User Control Panel' will be visible on your profile page to all members of the forum, along with your name and 501^st ID (if applicable) from the 'Personal Information Tab'.

1.2       When you request to clear a costume

The UK Garrison requests that you provide us with a set of photographs of you in your costume in a set of specified poses.  These photos enable your GMLs to evaluate your costume and ensure it meets the high standards of the club.

In addition to the standard photo set for clearance, you can upload additional photos to cover specifics of your costume and action and a 'lids-off' photo showing your face if you wish.

1.3       When you request us to attend an event

The UK Garrison asks that you provide your name, company (if appropriate) and contact details so we can respond to your request.  In addition, we ask for the details of your event, its date, location and a general description so we can better support you and understand your needs.

1.4       When you contact us with a query

The UK Garrison asks that you provide your name and basic contact details to enable us to respond to your query.

2        How do we use your data?

2.1       As a member of the UK Garrison

We will only use your personal information to administer your membership and communicate with you regarding your costume, the club, its events and activities and other directly related information.  These communications will be made by or on behalf of the elected and appointed staff of the UK Garrison.  With the exception of critical communication or those confirming we have received a request that you have made, you may opt out of receiving communication from the club.  To choose what communication you would like to receive, please go to the 'Board preferences' tab on the User Control Panel.  Please be aware, that if you opt out, you may miss important information and announcements.

When appropriate and as part of your membership of the wider 501^st Legion, we will send the necessary information (including your name, the fact you have trooped within the last 12 months and the costume(s) you have cleared) to the 501^st Legion to ensure your membership is correctly recorded.  We may also report generalised information about the UK Garrisons activities (including trooping statistics, events attendance and charity funds) to the 501^st Legion.  This data will regard the club as a whole and will not identify individual members.  You can find details about the 501^st Legion's Data Protection and Privacy Policy by viewing thier Privacy Policy or by contacting the 501^st Legion.

When necessary, we will communicate some details (name and if necessary, contact address and date of birth) to the organiser of the event you have sign-up to troop at.  This is to ensure your access to the event and for specific event (such as hospital visits) your date of birth and contact address is needed for safeguarding and security purposes; in these cases, you will be informed of this need by the UK Garrison's Events Team as part of the sign-up information.

If the UK Garrison is being hosted by another 501^st or other costuming club to attend an event, we will communicate some details (name and if necessary, contact address and date of birth) to the hosting clubs to facilitate your attendance at the event, in a similar manner to the above.

We will never sell or trade your details to a third party.  We will only pass your details to authorised third parties (such as event organisers, hosting clubs and the 501^st Legion).

Access to your personal information is limited to the Command Staff, Events Team, Captains of the Guard, Safeguarding Officer and Treasury Staff

2.2       When you submit a costume for clearance

We will use the photos and information you provide in your submission, along with the details in your 'Work in Progress' thread and on your profile, to assess your costume against the CRL and communicate with you for any queries and the result of the clearance.

We will keep the photos and submission on record to use as part of the internal review for the GMLs and Armoury Team to help maintain the high standards of the UK Garrison. 

We would like to use some of your submission photos, along with your name (and 501^st ID where appropriate) to celebrate your newly cleared costume on our Website and Social Media.  You can opt in to this as part of the submission process.

We would like to use some of your submission photos, along with your name (and 501^st ID where appropriate), to create your UK Garrison 'Costume Card' which will be linked and shown on your profile and below your signature.  You can opt in to this as part of the submission process and also choose if your 'head shot' / 'lids off' photo is shown.  You can amend your preference from the list of cleared costumes on your 'My Costumes and Clearances' page.

For 501^st Legion costumes; we would like to use some of your submission photos, along with your name and 501^st ID, to create your 501^st Legion 'Costume Card' which we will send to the 501^st Legion to show on your profile page on the Legion website (you can get details of 501^st Legion's Data Protection and Privacy Policy by contacting the 501^st Legion.).  You can opt in to this as part of the submission process and also choose if your 'head shot' / 'lids off' photo is shown.  You can amend your preference from the list of cleared costumes on your 'My Costumes and Clearances' page.

Access to your clearance submission information is limited to Command Staff, GMLs, GWLs, Chief Armourers and Captains of the Guard.

2.3       When you ask the UK Garrison the attend an event

The information you provide via our website will be sent to our Event Co-Ordinates (ECs) (who lead our Events Team) and may also be sent to our Public Relations Team and Command Staff.  If we are able to put this event forward to our members to attend, the information about the event and your contact details may be passed to a member of the Events Team who covers the area of the UK for your event and will be stored in our Events Administration System.  Information you communicate with our Events Team and other staff or members of the UK Garrison may also be added to the records in our Events System to ensure we have the fullest and most accurate information available.

For events we are able to offer to our members, we will publish the general information about when and where the event is, along with the description and requests to our fully cleared members.  The contact details for the event organiser will be provided to the member running the event on each day (known as the Day Supervisor).

If your event is open to the public, we would like to publish our attendance at your event on our public website and Social Media.  This would include the name, date, time, location and description of the event, along with what groups of characters have been requested and if applicable, which charity will benefit.  This information is only shown for events which are open to the public. 

For non-public events and when consent is not given, the event will be listed on the appropriate day as a 'Private Event' with no details and just the county of the event for our members' reference. 

Should you wish us to not publish your event, you can choose this option when you submit your request.  It you wish to amend your choice, you can ask the Event Administrator or Coordinator assigned to your event.

Access to general information about your event, its date, time, description, location etc. is provided to our fully cleared members and, if agreed, the public via our public website.  Further, this information may be shared on our Social Media as appropriate when agreed.

Access to your contact and other non-public information controlled by our Events System and is limited to the Events Team and when necessary the Command Staff, PR Team, Web Team, Captains of the Guard and Safeguarding Officer.

2.4       When you contact the UK Garrison with a query

The information you provide via our website form, email or Social Media is made available to our PR Team in the first instance who will either answer your query of pass your query to the appropriate member of the UK Garrison Staff Team.

We will only use the information you provide to answer your question, unless it falls into one of the other types of query covered in this document or forms part of a complaint or disciplinary investigation.

Access to the information you provide for your query, unless covered elsewhere, will be limited to those who have a need to access it to answering your query.

3        How long do we keep your data?

3.1       Member's personal information

We will maintain your personal information for up to 6 months after you cease to be a member of the UK Garrison, please see section 5 of our Rules and Guidelines regarding cessation of membership.  At this time, your personal information will be deleted from our systems.

When a member's account is deleted, the member's event attendance is assigned to a generic 'former member' account to ensure we maintain an appropriate event attendance record for the club and to maintain the former members privacy.

3.2       Costume clearance information

We will maintain the details of your clearance submission while you are a member of the club.  We may then use the information as a source or reference, we will ensure that this information is appropriately anonymised to maintain the former members privacy.

3.3       Event information

We maintain a full record of our events and event requests for … years after the end of the financial year the event occurred within.  This is to facilitate our internal audit processes. 

We maintain a record of the occurrence of all events we attended, which included the event's name, date and location, as an ongoing record of the club's activity.

3.4       Information relating to complaints

We will maintain all information regarding a complaint or disciplinary investigation until the investigation is complete and any period for appeal has passed.  We will then maintain the facts and out comes of the investigation in line with our disciplinary procedure, please see section 9 of the UK Garrison Rules and Guidelines.  Following this, the information will be deleted and just the fact that a case existed and its outcome retained for further reference.

3.5       Query information

Provided that the information you provide in your query does not fall within another area already covered, we will maintain a copy of your query and our response for a period of 6 months following the last communication with you.

We may use the content of your query to form part of our FAQ or other website and published information to help others.  This will be fully anonymised and no reference or link made to the original person who raised the query.

4        How will we communicate with you?

We will send you emails either via our web systems or from individual members of staff that would be reasonably expected and directly relate to services or queries you ask of us.  For example, but not exclusively: confirmation of an event request, your sign-up to or withdrawal from an event; submission of a costume for clearance; confirmation of a query submitted via our website.

We may send general informational emails to various groups of our members to keep them informed of key information.  For example, but not exclusively: updated to the rules; election information; new club and 501^st merchandise.  You may choose if you wish to accept this type of 'general information email' on the 'Board preferences' tab within the 'User Control Panel' by setting the ' Administrators can e-mail me information:' option to yes or no appropriately.

5        Sharing your information with others

We will never sell or trade your personal information.

We will only pass your information onto others as specified above or where we have a legal obligation or when there is a duty of care circumstance.

Author: Tech Droid, UK Garrison.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.