St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Community Galway Privacy Notice 

 

This Privacy Policy explains our data processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal data is used. This Privacy Policy is reflective of our compliance with the European GDPR and the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018. 

Personal Data and Data Processing 

Personal data is any data that directly or indirectly identifies a living person, e.g. your name or image. Data processing is any activity undertaken with a living person’s personal data, e.g. using a PPS number to process payroll. 

Data Protection Principles 

We promise to follow the following data protection principles: 

• Processing is lawful, fair, transparent. Our Processing activities have lawful grounds. We always consider your rights as a Data Subject before Processing personal data. We will provide you with information regarding processing upon request. 

• Processing is limited to the purpose for which it was gathered.  

• Processing is carried out using the minimum amount of personal data required for any purpose. 

• We will not store your personal data for longer than needed. 

• We will do our best to ensure the accuracy of data. 

• We will do our best to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data. 

• We will use all reasonable means to avoid breaches of data. Where a data breach occurs, we will notify the relevant authority and follow their instructed next steps. 

Data subject’s rights: 

Those affected by this privacy policy have the following rights: 

• Right to access: the right to request, access and copy of the personal information that we hold on you. We may charge a reasonable fee for 2 or more personal data requests. A single copy of personal data will be charged at no cost. Any access requests will need to be requested in writing or email. Evidence of identification will be required as this makes sure that the personal information is not given to the wrong person. Information will be sent within 1 month of receipt of the written request. 

• Right to rectification: the right to have personal data rectified if it’s incorrect, out of date or incomplete. 

• Right to be forgotten: the right to withdraw consent given to process data and the right to request that we delete personal data from our System (subject to compliance with any legal obligations or unless the data is required for any legal claims). 

• The right to object to how we use the personal data received.  

How we process personal data 

We will only process your personal data in line with your role in our Parish or Diocese e.g. Parishioner, Employee, Eucharistic Minister. This information may include your name, address, email address, PPS number, phone number, etc. as provided by you. Only relevant members of staff will have access to your personal data, which will be stored securely at all times. 

Personal data is processed by us in the following ways: 

• Holding important Church records e.g Baptismal, Confirmation and Marriage Records. 

• To administer records held by us on members of the Church. 

• To routine management and administration of the catechism department. 

• To enable parents/guardians to be contacted in the case of emergency or to inform parents of their child’s educational progress or to inform parents of catechism school events etc.   

• To furnish, when requested by the parishioner (or their parents/guardians in the case of a student under 18 years) documentation/information/ references to other parishes/ institutions. 

• To fundraise and promote the interests of the parish 

• To manage our employees and volunteers 

• To manage rotas for altar servers, ministers of the Eucharist etc. 

• To maintain our accounts or records e.g. the processing of invoices, donations and tax rebates 

• To inform you of any news, events and activities conducted by St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Community Galway. 

• To share your details with Syro Malabar Catholic Church Dublin, Ireland & Dioceses so that they can keep you informed about news, activities and services that will be occurring in the Syro Malabar Catholic Church Dublin, Ireland & Dioceses and in which you may be interested. 

• Photographs and recorded images are taken to celebrate parish achievements, compile yearbooks/newsletters, publish on our website and social media, record events, and to keep a record of the history of the parish & catechism schools. 

Any personal data processed on our behalf by contracted third party service providers, e.g. accountants or solicitors for the purpose of supporting or enhancing the services we provide to you will be bound by the same privacy standards. We will carry out occasional or necessary audits of these third party processors to ensure these standards are maintained. We will not disclose personal data to any other third parties unless we have consent to do so.  

Your personal data will only be retained for as long as is necessary to meet statutory requirements and/or in line with the Diocesan Data Protection Handbook. Specifically, we retain donation declarations and associated paperwork for up to 6 years after the calendar year to which they relate and parish catechism registers permanently (baptisms, marriages, confirmations ,catechism and in some instances burials).  

We will disclose personal data if it is believed in good faith that we are required to disclose it in order to comply with any applicable law, a summons, a search warrant, a court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement. 

 

Data Protection Officer 

Darina Ryan-Pilkington, dpo@elphindiocese.ie. 

How to contact the appropriate authority: 

Should you feel that we have not addressed your complaint concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact: 

Data Protection Commission, 

21 Fitzwilliam Square South 
Dublin 2, D02 RD28 

+353 578 684 800, +353 761 104 800. 

Changes to this Privacy Policy  

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy. Published July 2020. 

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