Privacy Policy

The NSA Privacy Policy outlines what to expect when NSA collects and uses any personal information through any of its activities. Please read this notice carefully and, if you’d like further clarification, contact NSA on 01684 892661 or enquiries@nationalsheep.org.uk.

The NSA promise

NSA is committed to respecting your privacy and ensuring the personal information you have entrusted to the association is held securely. This policy has been written in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the advice and guidance as set out on the website of the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The UK GDPR is your right to privacy and gives you control over the personal information that organisations hold about you.

How NSA collects personal information

NSA may collect personal information in one of two ways.

1. Directly from you when you: subscribe as a member (all membership grades outlined in the NSA Register of Members); attend an NSA event, be in in person or online; participate in our wider interest group; make a donation; request a membership pack, over the phone or via the website; contact us with an enquiry by telephone, email or social media; submit information via enquiry forms on this website; enter into a contract for our products and services; complete a survey, if not anonymous; enter into a prize draw or other competition; apply to be part of an NSA Next Generation activity, including the NSA Next Generation Ambassador programme; request to receive an NSA newsletter or subscribe to NSA alerts; act as an NSA officeholder and/or NSA committee member; host an NSA event; apply for a job to join our team; are contracted as an NSA service provider; pay to be a sponsor, corporate supporter or affiliated body; apply to be an exhibitor, trader or vendor at our events; register to sell at an NSA ram sale; apply for NSA lists, such as the lambing list and job/work experience lists; or make a P&O booking via NSA.
2. From other sources: information made available publicly by the Charity Commission, Companies House or information that has been published in newspapers and articles; or information shared from commercial organisations when hosting joint events and/or campaigns, including from auctioneers who sell at NSA ram sales. Information will be UK GDPR compliant data.

Personal data

• NSA only provides business-to-business products and services.
• When you enquire about NSA membership, services or wider interest group, we will collect information from you to enable us to respond to your enquiry. This may include your name, company name, position within the business, livestock numbers, business and/or personal address, a contact email address, a contact telephone number, and your Gift Aid status. This information will be held securely on the NSA database and any information that identifies you as an individual will be treated as personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR. We also collect other information you supply that is relevant to your enquiry and may maintain records of your contact with us.
• When you enquire about NSA membership, services or wider interest group, both your information the individual you are enquiring about may need to be collected – for example, if you buy an NSA membership as a gift for someone else.
• When you apply for a job with us, we will collect information from your application such as your name, address, email address and another other personal data you have supplied within your completed NSA application form and/or own CV.

UK GDPR gives additional protection to data collected from children. The only scenario where NSA collects data from under 16-year-olds is if they wish to be an NSA member. Where a date of birth is provided on an NSA membership application form indicating the applicant is under 16, NSA will request consent from a parent or guardian. This will be verbal consent if an NSA staff member is present when the application form is being completed; it will be assumed where the parent/ guardian is the payer on an online application form; it will be actively sought in any other scenario.

Sensitive personal data

Information considered to be sensitive under UK GDPR (data about religious beliefs, health issues, race or ethnic origin) is not standardly collected by NSA. The few exceptions are:-

• Individuals who stay away from home for an NSA activity (for example, an NSA Next Generation Ambassador session) are asked to disclose any relevant health issues and/or disabilities. This information is used solely in relation to that NSA activity and not shared within the NSA network or externally.
• Individuals who attend a catered NSA event are asked for their dietary requirements. This information is used solely in relation to that NSA event and not kept on the NSA database. Only relevant information (e.g. a name and dietary requirement) is shared externally.
• Information on health issues of NSA staff members is held in confidential staff files and only shared where necessary to ensure the safety/wellbeing of that staff member. 

NSA always treats sensitive personal data we process with greater care and processes the information in accordance with UK GDPR.

Why NSA collects your personal information

• NSA may use your contact details to respond to any enquiry you have made, provide membership services, assist with requests for advice, to deliver events and competitions, to provide a product and/or service, to invite you to take part in NSA research activities or to keep you informed of updates to our products and services. The lawful basis of contract applies to our processing and use of your personal data for these purposes. As a charity committed to the aims of sheep farmers and the sheep industry, NSA will act on your behalf to further the legitimate interests of both our members and those who participate in our wider interest group. This means we will contact you in connection with your membership and for the purposes of advancing the aims of our members and participants in the wider interest group relating to sheep and sheep farming.
• If you apply for a job within our company, we will use the personal information you have supplied to enable us to be able to contact you to progress your application, which falls under the lawful basis of contract, as you would be taking initial steps to enter into a possible employment contract. If you become an employee, NSA will collect and process information for the purpose of the ongoing administration of your employment and meeting our legal obligations regarding employees. This information will be processed and used under the lawful bases of both contract and legal obligation. If you do not become an employee, your information will be deleted six months after the post you applied for is filled, unless you indicated on your application form that you would like NSA to contact you about future employment recommendations.

Marketing permissions

NSA shares news about how your support is influencing the sheep industry through NSA activity. As part of the membership package, we will be sending you information about our work, news, campaigns and events via the NSA Weekly Email Update, Sheep Farmer magazine and text messages. From time to time, we may contact you about other interesting news and updates relating to NSA which includes those in the wider interest group. NSA is committed to respecting your choice to receive marketing communication. Direct business-to-business marketing communications from third parties will only be sent to contact methods that identify you as an individual if you have given your consent, and we seek to refresh that consent at appropriate intervals. You can update your permissions and contact preferences at any time by contacting NSA on 01684 892661 or emailing enquiries@nationalsheep.org.uk. Please quote your membership number and/or postcode and your updated preferences, which will be added to our database. 

Who NSA shares your information with

NSA operates from NSA Head Office, based in Malvern, Worcestershire, but functions as nine regional areas within the organisation. Information may be shared within regional officeholders, but only where it is necessary to fulfil the benefits of the membership package and NSA organisational aims. NSA is committed to ensuring all regional officeholders have adequate levels of data protection safeguards in place when processing your personal information. Any personal data NSA collects is stored securely within our organisation. It is password protected on the NSA server, database or accounts software, with two-factor authorisation employed wherever possible, and is accessed only by appropriate NSA employees and used only for the purposes explained above. NSA may share your personal information with trusted third parties where it is necessary to provide products you have requested from us, such as to post Sheep Farmer magazine or other benefits of the membership package. Information may also be shared where third parties are contracted to develop or maintain our systems. NSA monitors information security compliance and has written contracts in place that obligate partners and third party providers to process personal information only on NSA’s instructions and in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws. 

How long NSA keeps your data

NSA will only keep your personal information for as long as is required and in accordance with statutory requirements. NSA has systems in place to regularly review and delete data it no longer as permission to hold. Examples includes:-

• Information about members is kept and regularly updated throughout an active membership; it is deleted seven years after a member cancels.
• Information about staff members and self-employed contractors is kept and regularly updated while an individual in under contract; it is deleted seven years after a contract is terminated.
• Job applications, expressions of interest and tender responses that are unsuccessful are deleted six months after a job or contract has been awarded to someone else.
• Information held within financial records, such as individuals/companies who supply or received services are kept and regularly updated for as long as an individual/company has a relationship with NSA; it is deleted seven years after services cease to be supplied or received.
• Information about individuals in the NSA wider interest group is reviewed once every 12 months (typically on 1st November); information is deleted three years after an individual last makes contact with NSA, or sooner if they request it (see below).

Personal data processed under consent and used for direct marketing purposes will be kept for as long as you consent to its processing. NSA seeks to refresh your consent at appropriate intervals, to ensure you are still happy to receive marketing communications from us.

Your information rights and choices

You have the right to: request in writing and securely obtain copies of the personal information NSA holds about you; correct or update your personal information processed by NSA; and request NSA to stop using your personal information for marketing purposes or for any other purpose where there is no legal requirement for continued processing. Please contact NSA in writing to do this, via post or by emailing enquiries@nationalsheep.org.uk.  

Data retention on your behalf

When personal data is retained, NSA is the ‘Controller’ of that data. You have given NSA consent to act for you in providing our membership services, including contacting you for renewal. NSA is proud to be at the forefront of the sheep industry and to be the leading organisation committed to the wider interests of this community and its livestock. NSA may contact you as part of its wider interest group, in order to pursue its aims. NSA treats all personal data as confidential information and processes that data in accordance with and ancillary to our contract with you. We can act upon other reasonable written instructions provided by you, unless by law we are required to act without such instructions. Where appropriate, there may also be legitimate reasons for maintaining personal data as part of the wider interest group to enable NSA to further the aims of our organisation on your behalf. NSA will keep your data as long as necessary to fulfil the aims as set out above.

Data processing on your behalf

NSA may process data on your behalf. NSA aims to ensure any data processing carried out by our contractors is secure under the law. NSA will assist in the notification of personal data breaches, as well as assisting you with subject access rights in connection with our contractors.

Reporting concerns or compliments

If you wish to raise a concern about handling of your personal information by NSA or compliment what you think we have done well, please contact us by phone, email or in writing. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about how NSA manages your data.

Changes to this privacy notice

NSA reviews this privacy notice at appropriate intervals and, where necessary, updates its privacy information. If there are any significant changes in the way NSA processes personal information, NSA will provide a prominent notice on its website and/or send you a notification.