Data Privacy Policy
Commencing in May 2018 the "General Data Protection Regulation" (GDPR) law gives people in the UK more rights regarding how information about them is stored and used.
1. Definitions
Personal data is information about a living individual which is capable of identifying that individual
Processing is anything done with the personal data, including how it is stored, managed, used, updated and kept secure
Data subject is the person about whom personal data is processed
Data controller is the person or organisation who determines the 'how and what' of data processing
2. Who We Are
Birmingham City Church (BCC) is the data controller described in this privacy notice.
That means we decide how your personal data is processed and for what purposes, and that we explain how we do that openly, clearly and fairly.
Birmingham City Church can be contacted by phone on 0121 236 2997 or by email at admin@bcc.life
The person designated as the data controller at BCC is the administrator, who can be contacted at admin@bcc.life.
3. How We Process Your Personal Data
BCC complies with its obligations under GDPR.
BCC does this by obtaining active consent from people about whom it holds information so that it can perform the following functions with the data:
Keep personal data up to date
Store and destroy personal data securely
Not collect or retain excessive amounts of data
Protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure
Make sure that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data
4. How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To achieve the objectives of the national constitution of the Elim Pentecostal Church and the local constitution of BCC
To enable us to provide spiritual, ministerial, professional and voluntary services for the benefit of the public
To permit us to provide pastoral care to people attending the church
To administer membership, attendance and participation records
To fundraise and promote the interests of BCC as a charity
To manage and administer the function of our office holders, employees and volunteers
To maintain the accounts and records that permit the effective purpose, mission, function and operation of the church
To operate our church database, email, web site, mobile app and social media platforms
To inform individuals of news, events, activities or services running at BCC
To deliver services that individuals have requested
To process financial donations and process gift aid applications
To process DBS checks as part of child protection compliance
To contact individuals in order to research their opinions of current services or of potential new services that may be offered
To protect our church property through the use of CCTV systems for the prevention of crime
To administer our church car park through the use of Parking Eye
5. The Legal Basis For Processing Your Data
There are two parts to the legal basis for BCC to process your data.
Article 6 specifies that the data subject is to provide their consent to this processing.
This consent gives BCC permission to meet the charitable objectives it has towards people (the data subjects)
Article 9 specifies that processing is carried out by a not-for-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim provided the processing relates only to members or former members (or those who have regular contact with it in connection with those purposes) and there is no disclosure to a third party without consent.
6. Sharing your personal data
Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential, and will not be shared with anyone outside BCC, other than the limited technical data that our service providers need in order to operate the app features you choose to use (see Section 11).
In the event that data about you is requested by someone else in BCC, we would only share that data with your prior consent.
In the event that data about you is requested by a third party, we would only share that data with your prior consent.
We also rely on trusted third-party providers to operate certain of our services, including our mobile app (see Section 11). Any information these providers receive is limited to what is needed to deliver that service and is governed by their own privacy policies. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it for third-party advertising or marketing.
7. How long we keep your personal data
We keep your personal data for no longer than is reasonably necessary, for a period of one year after your connection with BCC comes to an end.
One year is sufficient to allow BCC to:
Confirm to other churches making enquiries on your behalf that you attended BCC. Without retaining your data we will not be able to confirm this for you.
To confirm voluntary positions that you may have held at BCC for your reference purposes. Without retaining your data we will not be able to confirm this for you.
For the purposes of professional references that former members of BCC may wish to request. Without retaining your data we will not be able to confirm this for you.
8. Your rights and your personal data
Unless subject to an exemption under GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:
The right to request a copy of your personal data which BCC holds about you
The right to request that BCC corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date
The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for BCC to retain such data
The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time
The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing
The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office
9. Further processing
If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Protection Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice.
This will explain the new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions.
Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.
10. Contact Details
To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints please in the first instance contact the BCC Office at admin@bcc.life
You can also contact the Information Commissioners Office:
by phone 0303 123 1113
by email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/
by post at the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
11. Our Mobile App
Birmingham City Church offers a free mobile app for Apple and Android devices, giving you easy access to sermons, daily Bible readings, church news and online giving. We have designed the app to collect as little information about you as possible.
No account or sign-in. You do not need to create an account or give us any personal details (such as your name, email address or phone number) to use the app. We do not ask for, collect or store your identity through the app.
Information stored on your own device. Some information — such as your place in a Bible reading plan and recently viewed content — is saved only on your own phone or tablet so the app can work. It is not sent to us and is removed if you delete the app.
Push notifications. Our notification provider, Google Firebase, is built into the app and creates an anonymous installation identifier for your copy of the app when it first runs. If you choose to allow notifications, it also creates a device "token" so that we can send you occasional updates (for example, a new sermon or a service reminder). These identify your device, not you personally, and are used only to run the app and deliver notifications. You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.
Third-party content and services. To provide its features, the app displays or links to content from trusted third parties. When you use these features, those providers may process technical information (such as your device's IP address) under their own privacy policies:
YouTube (Google) — for watching sermon videos;
Mailchimp — for viewing our latest email news ("Latest from BCC");
ChurchSuite — for online giving. All giving and card payments are handled securely by ChurchSuite on their own platform; the app itself never sees, collects or stores your card or bank details;
Crossway (ESV) — for displaying Bible passages;
Google — for delivering notifications (Firebase) and for hosting our daily Bible reading plan (Google Sheets);
The Apple App Store and Google Play — which distribute the app and may collect their own usage and diagnostic data under their respective policies.
Links to other sites. The app contains links to our website and social media pages (such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube) and to Google Maps. These sites are not controlled by us and have their own privacy policies.
No tracking or advertising. The app contains no adverts and does not use advertising or analytics tracking, and we do not track your activity across other apps or websites. Some third-party pages shown inside the app (such as our "Latest from BCC" email news, which is provided by Mailchimp) may contain their own tracking; that is outside our control and is governed by their privacy policies.
Children. The app is intended for a general audience, is not directed at children, and does not knowingly collect personal data from children.
Legal basis. We rely on your consent for sending push notifications, which you give by allowing notifications on your device and which you can withdraw at any time. For the limited technical information (such as your device's IP address and app identifiers) that is processed when you open a feature that uses a third-party service, we rely on our legitimate interests in providing a functional, secure app and delivering the content you have asked to see.
12. Consent
We will either ask you to click a box online or tick a box in a hard-copy form which says: "I have read, understand and accept your Data Privacy Notice" you are giving active consent that (a) you have read this Data Protection Notice fully and that (b) you are consenting to BCC holding and processing your personal data for the purposes outlined in Section 4 above.
Last updated: July 2026