Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how the Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society (the Society) uses and protects any information that you give when you use this website. The Society is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
The Society may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 22nd May 2018.

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

Your name
Your postal address and, optionally, your telephone number
For memberships created online, or for all e-Memberships, we require your e-mail address, otherwise it is optional
If you choose to pay your subscription by Direct Debit, then we collect and retain your account details.

We only collect information pertaining to a user's membership of the Society. We do not collect any information from non-members.
You can review and edit the information that we hold by logging in to your membership account at our website, and clicking on My Details.

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to manage memberships of the Society, and in particular for the following reasons:

Internal record-keeping to manage Society memberships
To allow us to send Society membership literature to your postal address
To process your Society membership subscription
We may occasionally send e-mails, to Society members only, concerning your Society membership and using the e-mail address which you have provided. You may elect to unsubscribe from these emails.
We may occasionally send promotional e-mails, to Society members only, about relevant events in your local area, using the e-mail address which you have provided. You may elect to unsubscribe from these emails.
For many years we stored a member's maiden name as part of their record, but only when voluntarily provided. Originally, we planned to use this information to assist members' research. However, due to increasing privacy concerns, we have never published this information. We no longer collect this data and all existing records have been removed.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
The security measures we use include, but are not limited to:

We do not retain any payment card details on file.
Bank account details, necessary for the administration of Direct Debits, are stored using AES 128 bit encryption.
We are working towards full encryption of our membership database.
Early Society Journals often contained personal details, in the form of Membership List extracts. The digital copies of these Journals, published online (members only access), have these sections redacted wherever possible.
Ancestor Charts, a cornerstone of our members' research, do, by definition, contain some personal details. Currently, these charts are available for personal inspection, by members, in our library and members may order photocopies. We are holding off publishing these online, pending a review of the privacy aspects.

How we use cookies

This website only uses cookies that are necessary for us to track your logged-in status. If you disable cookies, our website may not function correctly. We do not store user information in cookies. We do not use third-party cookies.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites; and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

We will use your personal information only for the purpose of administering your Society membership. We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to any third parties. You can review and edit the information that we hold by logging in to your membership account at our website, and clicking on My Details. Or, you may request details of personal information which we hold about you under EU General Data Protection Regulations. If you would like a copy of the information held on you, please write to: The Secretary, Aberdeen and NE Scotland Family History Society, 158-164 King Street, Aberdeen AB24 5BD.
If you believe that any information we hold on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to us at the above address (or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible). We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
If you cease your membership, we archive your details. We do this, because in many cases, members rejoin after a period, and prefer to retain the same membership number. Our Ancestor Charts are also indexed by membership number, so we need to retain the membership details for associated charts. If you cease your membership, you may request that we permanently delete your membership record. To do this please write to us or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you wish to contact us about Data Protection issues, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..