1. Who we are and how we handle your data
1.1 Úna Gan a Gúna: Irish Women’s Oral History Collective exists to:
Ensure that the memories of Irish women from the 1930s onwards are heard and are recorded and kept as a part of Irish history and the histories of Irish people travelling out and across the world. This will be achieved through recording and preserving oral histories and, in the process, bringing different generations of women together to share past experiences: good times and sad times, learning from each other, passing on our stories.
To recruit and train volunteers to gather oral histories and undertake other tasks relevant to the project to provide them with an opportunity to give something back to the community, build existing experience and knowledge or develop new skills.
1.2 Our supporters, volunteers and interviewees are important to use and we take our responsibility to process your data transparently, safely, lawfully and securely very seriously. This document provides information about how we use and protect your data.
1.3 Úna Gan a Gúna is a registered charity with a board of trustees in place.
1.4 Úna Gan a Gúna is the data controller. This means it decides how your personal data is processed and for what purpose.
1.5 Any data you provide will be processed in accordance with UK data protection law including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2. What data do we collect and how do we use it?
2.1. The type and amount of data we collect and use depends on why you have provided it.
2.2. We will only collect, store, and use your personal data:
Where this is necessary to fulfil legal obligations that apply to us.
Where it is necessary to fulfil our legitimate interests related to running our daily operations, as long as these are in line with applicable law and your legal rights and freedoms.
Where you have consented to this for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
Supporters
2.3 If you support us, for example by signing up to an event, making a financial contribution, signing up to Gift Aid, and/or signing up to receive updates and news, we will usually collect your name, contact details, whether you would like to be contacted, and how we would do so. If appropriate, we may also ask to collect your date of birth, financial details, Gift Aid eligibility, and reasons for support.
2.4 We collect this data so that we can keep you up to date with information you have requested or may be interested in; to ask for more support; to run our events; to fulfil our legal responsibilities for financial and Gift Aid reporting.
Volunteers
2.5 If you volunteer with us or enquire about volunteering opportunities, we will usually collect the following data: your name; date of birth; contact details; employment status; bank details; access requirements; past volunteering or employment experience; what voluntary position you are interested in; what skills and experience, relevant to the volunteering role, you have, and what skills/experience you wish to gain by volunteering with us. We will also collect data about your volunteering experience at the end of your work with us.
2.6 We collect this data so that we can contact you about volunteering opportunities that come up; ensure the safety of our volunteers, staff, and members of the public; refund your expenses; monitor and evaluate our work.
Oral history narrators
2.7 We record the memories and experiences of Irish women living in Ireland or women with Irish connections from anywhere in the world to preserve them for future generations and for historical and other research.
2.8 We may carry out pre-interview background interviews or ask for written responses to prepare for the oral history.
2.9 We will record your oral history interview (usually audio only but we may use video) and your contact details. We will produce a summary and transcript of the interview alongside the audio files which are deposited in the Birkbeck, University of London archive.
2.10 We share this information with Birkbeck, University of London for the purposes of archiving the oral histories (known as ‘archiving purposes in the public interest).
2.11 With your permission, we will also use your oral history for specific purposes (publication on our website, use in exhibitions, research, publications and for educational purposes).
2.12 Alongside your oral history recording, you may provide written or printed artifacts such as letters or diaries and photographs for deposit in the archive. These will be documented on the transcript and are included in the recording agreement.
2.13 We will ask you to sign an oral history participation agreement (pre-interview) and a recording agreement (to sign off the terms under which your interview will be stored, preserved and used).
3. Sharing your data
3.1 We will not share your data with other individuals or organisations except in the following circumstances.
When you contribute an oral history:
We share your details, provided in the oral history participation agreement (pre-interview) and a recording agreement, as proof of your consent with Birkbeck, University of London with whom we archive your oral history (and any associated artefacts) for permanent preservation and public access.
The recording agreement provides you with the opportunity to specify the conditions of deposit.
4. Keeping your data safe and up to date
4.1 Úna Gan a Gúna complies with its obligations under GDPR by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data. Access to your data is regularly reviewed and only accessible to the relevant staff and volunteers.
5. How we use your data
5.1 Legal purposes, for example as evidence of your ownership and consent, when depositing your oral history and/or tangible historical material with Birkbeck.
5.2 Administrative purposes, for example, to manage our volunteers, maintain our accounts and records, administer our supporters’ records, and process Gift Aid applications.
5.3 Exhibitions or public engagement events.
5.4 Educational purposes including lectures and presentations.
5.5 Collection management purposes, for example, to catalogue your oral history and/or associated artefacts.
5.6 Fundraising and promotion, for example, to inform you, by email or post, about news, events, and activities run by Úna Gan a Gúna.
6. The legal basis for our use of your personal data
The legal bases for processing personal data are set out in the GDPR. The legal bases for our use of your personal data are:
6.1 Legal obligation where the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations), for example, processing Gift Aid.
6.2 Legitimate interests where the processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests. This applies for example to information collected to manage oral histories.
6.3 Consent where the individual has given clear consent for us to process their personal data for a specific purpose, for example, newsletter distribution lists.
6.4 In addition, Article 9 of the GDPR applies to processing special categories of personal data, for example, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data concerning health. Because of the nature of our collection, all our oral histories, and most of our other material, will contain special category data. Article 9, paragraph 2 (j) states that we may process the special data categories where processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes. For the processing of special category data for archival purposes, we rely on Section 4(a) of Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 – ‘necessary for archiving purposes…in the public interest’.
7. Your rights and your personal data
7.1 We will only collect the data that we need to carry out the purposes listed in this document.
Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
7.2 The right to request a copy of your personal data which Úna Gan a Gúna holds about you. Individuals cannot be granted access to or be given a copy of data about themselves where doing so would unreasonably disclose the personal data of another person, for example, if it is contained in someone else’s interview which remains confidential and closed to public access.
7.3 The right to request that Úna Gan a Gúna corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date (data collected for archiving purposes does not have to be kept up to date).
7.4 The right to request your personal data be erased where it is no longer necessary for Úna Gan a Gúna to retain such data. The right is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances.
7.5 Where consent is the legal basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw your consent and have your personal data erased at any time.
7.6 The right to erasure does not apply if the processing is necessary for ‘archiving purposes in the public interest’ and ‘scientific research and historical research’ where erasure is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of that processing (Article 89 of GDPR). So, requests to amend or delete archived oral history interviews and/or written life stories can be declined. Thus, the so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ (‘erasure’) does not in practice apply to oral history material and written reminiscences.
7.7 The right, where there is a dispute about the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request that a restriction is placed on further processing.
7.8 The right to make a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, if you are unhappy with the way that we handled your personal data. You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office on 0303 123 1113 or via the website.
Autumn 2021 v1.0
