The Éire Philatelic Association Privacy Policy

Who we are?

We are an incorporated nonprofit association, tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. We offer paid memberships to the public who share in interest in Irish Philately, in exchange for which they can participate in certain stamp auctions which we offer from time to time, and also contact other members through our online directory, which is accessible online to members only.

What information do we collect?

We collect personal information in order to process an application form by asking the applicant to complete our online application form, or downloading and printing out our traditional membership form and completing it, and sending it to the Secretary and Treasurer of the Association. This includes the applicant’s name, address, other philatelic affiliations, whether he or she wishes to have their home address published in the Association’s journal.

As part of this process, we collect no personal data from third parties. As part of the application process, we seek no sensitive or financial information, as none is needed to be  collected.

The Association  gathers two types of information about users:

1. Information that users provide through optional, voluntary submissions. These are voluntary submissions which may include requests to receive our  quarterly journal, participate in our quarterly auction , to participate in our message boards or forums, to email another member, meeting notices or participation in polls and surveys.

2. Information the Association gathers through aggregated tracking information is derived mainly by tallying page views throughout our site, using Analytics tools. This information allows us to better tailor our content to readers’ needs. Under no circumstances does our Association  divulge any information about an individual user to a third party.

How do we use personal information?

We use your personal information for account set up and administration in conjunction with your membership. We will also  contact you to inform you about our Association’s activities and events, as part of the Association’s overall activities. We do that one of two ways, either by standard surface mail or electronic mail (email). The  Association prefers to contact members by email, but will contact members who do not provide an email address by surface mail.

You will also have a user account on the website, through which you can log in to the site and have access to certain “members only” content. Your name will be included in an online directory of all members, with a special form that permits you to contact another member of the organization. The “members only” section of the site also permits a member to bookmark content posted on the website, for further reading or reference. This content can then be easily accessed by the member on his or her user profile..

This membership also permits you to participate in our periodic auctions of Irish stamps, which are announced and listed on our website. Bids are made by email or may also be made by standard surface mail.

What legal basis do we have for processing your personal data?

We hold your information with your consent, and also in a contractual sense, as a condition of membership, so that we may contact you about membership renewals, Association news and events, and other matters related to the management, administration and internal promotion of  our Association to its members. You can rescind this consent at any time, by contacting the Association Secretary by either electronic mail or standard surface mail.

When do we share personal data?

Under no circumstances will we share your personal data with any third parties or vendors. Your personal information will solely be used for purposes of contacting you in the course of the Association’s activities and business.

Where do we store and process personal data?

Your membership data is stored in two places. When a member of the public applies for membership online, a copy of the record is stored in the administrative pages of the website. The website is hosted by an American-based hosting company called InMotion Hosting, and the servers are located within the territory of the United States of America.

The website uses an SSL certificate to ensure that all data entered into forms on the website is encrypted when sent from the browser to the server for storage in the website’s database.

Hard copy applications are generally mailed by first class United States mail or, if originating outside the territory of the United States of America, then by air mail from the originating country. The applicant decides the method of sending the application by surface mail. Once received, applications are stored in a standard hard copy filing system.

Whether your application is made online or using a hard copy form,  the Treasurer will add your information to a simple Excel spreadsheet on a desktop computer . The desktop computer is protected with appropriate commercial anti-virus / anti-malware software,  and the Treasurer has sole, password protected access to this desktop computer. Copies of the spreadsheet are shared with the Secretary when needed. The computer of the Secretary is also protected in the same manner as the Treasurer’s computer.

The application records within the administrative pages of the website are periodically downloaded to a computer over the internet as a backup record, and then deleted from the website. The timing and frequency of that operation is determined by the Secretary or the Treasurer.

How do we secure personal data?

The Association website has a Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) certificate installed which encrypts data entered into any form when the individual entering data the form completes it and submits it. This includes the application forms, as well as all contact forms, and user login forms.

The server on which online applications are stored are are protected against unauthorized access by the hosting company,  InMotion Hosting, that provides the hosting space on which the website resides.

All computers in which data is stored are both password protected and protected by appropriate commercial anti-malware applications. Data is shared between officers of the Association  via secure applications like Dropbox, Google Drive, and the like.

How long do we keep your personal data for?

We will keep your personal information in our system for as long as you are a member of our Association. Should you cancel or not renew your membership, your information will be deleted from our spreadsheet in the standard way for applications such as Microsoft Excel, or other, similar spreadsheet applications.

Your rights in relation to personal data

If you are a resident of a country within the European Union, you have certain rights under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Under GDPR, You have a right to ask us for information we hold about you. Please email customer services or data privacy including the subject line, “Subject Access Request”, so that we can respond as promptly as possible.

You also have the right to ask for us to update, delete or stop processing information we hold about you. However, please note that there are circumstances in which complete erasure of your information or ceasing to process your information will not be possible for operational, legal and business reasons.

In this case we may need to retain some of your details securely in order to facilitate this request by, for example, keeping you on a “do not contact” or suppression list. This will be the only purpose for which your data will be used if this is the case.

If you have an account on our website, you may log in to the website. Immediately after log in, you will arrive at your user profile page. Underneath your name on the user profile page, you will see several horizontal tabs. One tab is entitled “All my data”, and the other “My data requests”. You may use these tabs to review all the data that the Association has for you which is stored on the Association’s website, and also to request a copy of said date, or request it’s removal.

Please note that we will associate a request for removal of your data from our records as a desire to cancel your membership, insofar as it will be impossible to properly administer your membership absent this information.

Use of automated decision-making and profiling

The Association engages in no profiling of information collected by either applicants or members or automated decision-making regarding the applicant’s or member’s personal data.

How to contact us?

In addition to the tabs available on your user profile on our website, you may also contact form on the website.

Use of cookies and other technologies

To improve your experience on our site, we may use ‘cookies’. Cookies are an industry standard and most major websites use them. A cookie is a small text file that our site may place on your computer as a tool to remember your preferences. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

Our website uses Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers in the United States. Google Analytics does not identify individual users or associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and web page usage.

Linking to other websites / third party content

As a part of our editorial policy, we do link to other philatelic websites which specialize in Irish philately. These links are offered for convenience purposes only, and should not be construed as an endorsement of those sites. The Association takes no responsibility for the content or other information contained on those sites.