Hexham Photographic Society (hereinafter referred to as "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your personal information is handled responsibly. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your data when you interact with our website, https://www.hexhamphotographic.org/ and affiliated services.


1. Information We Collect
We may collect the following types of information:

  • Personal Information: Such as your name, email address, postal address and phone number when joining the society via the membership form, or when signing up for email communications or accessing membership services.
  • Non-Personal Information: Such as browser type, device information, and browsing activity for analytics.
    Permission to obtain and retain personal data from members who are children or vulnerable individuals must be countersigned by the parent or legal guardian as outlined in the Child, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy.

2. How We Use Your Information
We use your information to:

  • Administer membership of the society.
  • Communicate society updates, events, newsletters via the website and Mailchimp.
  • Manage member access and interaction through e-voice.org.uk.
  • Improve website functionality and user experience.
  • Coordinate club entry of external photography competitions.
  • When entering internal or external competitions or exhibitions or awards, HPS reserve the right to publish the member name, the image and the image title.

3. Data Sharing
Your personal information is shared with:

  • Mailchimp: To deliver email communications securely and efficiently.
  • Voice Online Communities (e-voice.org.uk): To provide membership website services.
  • NCPF / PAGB: For external competitions / awards of photographic merit.
  • We do not sell or trade your personal data. Data sharing with 3rd parties is limited to the minimum required for operational purposes and legal obligations.
  • The only people with access to this data are members of our Committee and will only be used to contact members in relation to Society activities.


4. Cookies and Analytics
Our website may use cookies and analytics tools to:

  • Enhance your browsing experience.
  • Gather anonymized insights to optimize content and navigation.
  • You can adjust cookie settings through your browser preferences.


5. Third-Party Services
We use third-party platforms such as Mailchimp and Voice Online Communities (e-voice.org.uk) for specific operations. In addition, we are affiliated with the NCPF and PAGB, who we work with on activities such as external competitions and awards of photographic merit. These services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review:


6. Data Security
We take measures to protect your data from unauthorized access or misuse. While no offline, or online system is completely secure, we aim to uphold industry standards for data protection.


7. Data Retention
We may retain historical archives for example, but not limited to, records of meetings, competition results, awards and other event results. Personal data will be held for each individual during the period of their membership. General business records will normally be held for a minimum of eight years.

8. Your Rights
You can:

  • Request access to the personal data we hold.
  • Ask for corrections or deletions of your data, subject to legal constraints.
  • Opt-out of email communications via Mailchimp at any time.
  • If you are registered on www.hexhamphotographic.org you can choose to leave the Society website within your Voice Online Communities account page or delete your account on Voice Online Communities entirely.

9. Contact Us
For questions or concerns about your privacy, please contact us at: secretary@hexhamphotographic.org

10. Policy Updates
This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically. Changes will be posted on this page with the updated revision date.