Privacy Notice

Harwich Museum Privacy Notice
Last updated: 21/09/2025
At Harwich Museum, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and share your personal data when you interact with us, whether as a visitor, a volunteer, a donor, or a user of our website and services.
Please read this Privacy Notice carefully to understand how we collect and process your personal data. By using our services or providing your data to us, you consent to the practices described in this notice.
1. Who We Are
Harwich Museum is located at Anglia House, Main Road, Harwich, Essex. We are responsible for collecting and processing your personal data.
For any questions related to privacy or data protection, please contact us at:
Harwich Museum Data Protection Officer (DPO) Email: contact@harwichmuseum.co.uk Phone: 01255 317330 Address: Anglia House, Main Road, Harwich, Essex, CO12 3FN
2. Information We Collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal data:

Personal Identification Information: Name, email address, phone number, postal address, date of birth.

Visitor Data: Information about your visit, including the date, time, and duration of your visit to Harwich Museum, and your interaction with our exhibitions or events.

Transaction Data: Information related to any donations, ticket purchases, or merchandise bought from us.

Communications: Records of correspondence between you and us (e.g., emails, feedback, and inquiries).

Online Data: When you visit our website, we may collect data related to your browsing behaviour, such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited through cookies (as detailed in our Cookie Policy).
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal data for the following purposes:

Visitor and Event Management: To process your ticket purchases, event bookings, and ensure a seamless museum visit experience.

Donations and Fundraising: To process donations and provide receipts, updates, and reports about your support of Harwich Museum.

Communication: To keep you informed about our upcoming events, exhibitions, and activities, and to respond to inquiries or feedback

Marketing: To send you newsletters, promotional materials, and information about our services, with your consent where required. You can opt-out of these communications at any time.

Compliance: To comply with legal obligations, including accounting, tax purposes, or legal investigations.
We will only process your personal data for the purposes stated above, and we will not process it in a way that is incompatible with these purposes.
4. Legal Basis for Processing Your Data
We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent (e.g., subscribing to newsletters or marketing materials).

Contractual Necessity: Where processing is necessary to fulfil a contract with you (e.g., processing ticket purchases or event registrations).

Legitimate Interests: Where we have a legitimate interest in using your data, provided this interest is not overridden by your rights and freedoms (e.g., sending information on upcoming events to museum visitors).

Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations.
5. Sharing Your Data
We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. However, we may share your personal data with trusted third parties who perform services on our behalf, including:

Payment Processors: For processing donations and ticket purchases.

Event Organizers: When managing events or exhibitions in collaboration with external partners.

Legal Authorities: Where required by law or in the event of a legal dispute.
We ensure that these third parties comply with data protection laws and handle your data securely.
6. Data Retention
We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected or to comply with legal requirements. Once your data is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it.
7. Your Rights
Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right to Rectification: You can request corrections to any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold about you.

Right to Erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal data under certain conditions.

Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

Right to Object: You can object to the processing of your data where we are processing it based on legitimate interests.

Right to Data Portability: You can request to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your data based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@harwichmuseum.co.uk or 01255 317330.
8. Security of Your Data
We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data.
9. International Transfers
Your personal data may be processed outside the UK if we use service providers located in other countries. In such cases, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with UK data protection laws.
10. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies on our website to enhance user experience, analyse website traffic, and for marketing purposes. For more details, please refer to our Cookie Policy.
11. Updates to this Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the updated Privacy Notice on our website, and the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent revision.
12. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at:
Harwich Museum Data Protection Officer (DPO) Email: contact@harwichmuseum.co.uk Phone: 01255 317330 Address: Anglia House, Main Road, Harwich, Essex
This Privacy Notice ensures that Harwich Museum remains compliant with data protection laws while maintaining transparency with visitors, staff, and volunteers about how their personal data is used and protected.