The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives individuals rights and protection in how their personal data is used by organisations.
Parishes must comply with its requirements, just like any other charity or organisation.
The legislation can be complicated and every church is required to have some basic documentation recording how you will collect data about church members and others – and what you will do with that data. However, once some simple processes have been set up, in most cases this will not be too much of a headache.
Our short video (4m 43s) explains just the basics about this complex essential to church administration and is aimed particularly at church leaders and PCC members.
Helpful Guidance
- The Church of England has produced a number of helpful articles on the Parish Resources website. GDPR resources
- There is a helpful and concise downloadable guide to the legislation specifically for churches by ChurchDesk.
- Particularly helpful at giving an overview of GDPR for parishes is the FAQ produced by Parish Resources
- Filming and photography in churches – consent and GDPR – from the Church of England site.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a dedicated advice line to help small organisations with data protection law. The phone service is aimed at people running small businesses or charities and recognises the particular problems they face understanding the legal apsects. ICO GDPR
Our Data Protection Policy
Under the GDPR legislation the Sheffield Diocesan Board of Finance is a designated Data Controller and, as such, is required to provide privacy notices for job applicants, employees, office holders, churchwardens, PCC officers and volunteers, as well as a general privacy notice to cover the wider functions of the Board of Finance. These notices are available below.
Other notices and guidance will be added as required from time to time.
In alignment with legislation, we have developed a Data Protection Policy and a Data Breach guidance note, copies of which can also be downloaded below.
These documents relate to how we collect, process and share personal data of individuals with whom we engage on a day-to-day basis.