Our privacy policy.
This privacy policy covers the way in which the congregation of the English Reformed Church Amsterdam will use and disclose personal information that members, employees, volunteers, donors and other associates may provide to us.
Personal information includes any information that identifies you personally, such as your name, address, email address or telephone number. Personal data collected by a church is considered sensitive data, since it gives information about the religious beliefs of an individual.
The congregation recognizes the importance of your privacy and personal information and we have therefore outlined below how the congregation collects, uses, discloses and protects this information. In the United Kingdom, the Church of Scotland is registered with the Information Commissioner and in the Netherlands it is registered with De Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens through the umbrella registration of the Protestante Kerk Nederland (PKN). Since our congregation is based in the Netherlands, we follow Dutch laws regarding data protection. If this leads to a conflict, Dutch law takes precedence over British law.
The English Reformed Church Amsterdam strives to comply fully with data protection law.
How we collect information.
The congregation receives and stores personal information provided by members, adherents, regular visitors, employees, volunteers, donors and other associates. This information can be supplied to us:
in writing or via email, by telephone conversation or on our website (e.g. when an individual is becoming a member); or
by otherwise associating with the congregation or its organizations (e.g. by enquiring about our work, activities, employment and volunteering opportunities); or
when donating money to the congregation or its organizations.
If a member of the congregation wishes to review their data, they can always contact the Scriba via email or letter. Contact details can be found below.
How we use information.
We may use the information we collect in the following ways:
in connection with membership records, for pastoral care purposes or in relation to your participation in our activities;
in order to fulfill individual employment contracts with our employees (e.g. personnel administration) or for agreements with volunteers;
in order to communicate with you (e.g. by letter, email or telephone), for example, to provide information relating to our work or new developments;
in order to further our charitable aims (e.g. for fundraising activities);
for internal administration, such as for accounting purposes.
Disclosure of information.
The congregation may require the sharing of personal information held for a number of reasons including to provide pastoral or other assistance, process donations or carry out any other contractual obligations. These data may be disclosed to:
the relevant Presbytery;
employees and/or volunteers including the charity trustees/office bearers
The congregation does not permit these parties to use such information for any other purpose other than the foregoing.
The congregation may also need to disclose your information if required to do so by law, according to the applicable legal procedure(s).
The English Reformed Church Amsterdam follows general rules to minimize, anonymize and protect data with security measures such as passwords and encryption where necessary.
Your consent.
By providing us with your personal data you consent to the collection and use of these specific data in accordance with the above purposes and this privacy statement. The consent can always be revoked. You can do this by contacting the Scriba by email or letter.
Removal of data.
Personal data will be removed from the membership list within one month after ending membership by resignation or transferral to another congregation.
Storage and security of personal information.
The congregation via its office bearers and employees will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that personal information is held in a secure and confidential environment and when the information is no longer needed it will be destroyed or permanently rendered anonymous.
If you believe that any information we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete,
please write via letter or email as soon as possible to the Scriba.
Any information found to be incorrect will be corrected as quickly as possible.
English Reformed Church
Attention: Scriba
Begijnhof 48
1012WV AMSTERDAM