Privacy statement

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) takes the responsibility of handling your personal data seriously. The Orchestra respects your privacy and we are committed to ensuring proper use of personal data and that only relevant information is processed according to your wishes.

We use the personal information held about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, any replacement laws and the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What does ‘your personal data’ really mean?

Your personal data may include:

• Your name and title
• Contact information, such as your address, email and telephone number
• Payment details
• Background personal information, if you provide this to us, for example when applying to work with us or giving us a donation
• Information about gender, date of birth or age, ethnicity, religion, medical information, disability and sexual preference (sensitive personal data) which we may collect for diversity monitoring and diversity reporting to our principal donor, Arts Council England
• Photographic, audio or film images, which we use for promotional purposes or recording community and education project outcomes

How do we collect your data?

You provide personal details when you interact with us. For example, when you register with the RPO to receive relevant information, Friends packages, CDs/downloads, or you have kindly donated financially to help support the Orchestra, take part in a community or education project or apply to work with us.
We may also receive your information from a friend, family member or current supporter. We will provide you with access to our privacy policy, or ask the person who provided us with your information to do so.

What cookies do we use? 

You can view the full list of cookies used on the RPO website on our Cookies webpage. You can also update your consent to cookies at anytime via this page. 

Why do we process your data and what do we use it for?

Our aim when processing your data is to use it only in ways that you would reasonably expect and to provide you with the best possible service.

We may process your personal data because we need to fulfil a contract with you:

• Process donations you have generously given
• Fulfil ticket requests
• Supply CD/audio downloads
• Pay you for a performance or other service

We may process your personal data because it is in our legitimate interests to do so:

• To understand your interests and to make communications
• To conduct due diligence on major donors
• For market research, specific only to the RPO
• To invite potential supporters to special events or to join a supporter group
• To notify you of participatory workshops and record if you attend

We may also ask for your consent to process your personal data:

• To monitor diversity
• To provide you with information about products, services and fundraising activities
• To notify you of live performances

You can tell us how you would like to hear from us and the information that you want to receive at any time. Contact details can be viewed below.

We will always ask for parental or a carer's consent to process a child’s data. Young people aged 16–18 may give consent themselves for us to process their image data.

Do we share your information?

We will not share any personal details with any other third parties without your agreement, unless required in order to fulfil our contract with you, or allowed by law.

Instances where we may share your personal information with selected third parties include:

• Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you, including the RPO’s Box Office Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system Spektrix, our Email Service Provider DotDigital, our website management company Ten4 and a venue where an event you are attending is taking place.
• Advertisers and social media sites for the purposes of data analytics and targeted advertising.

Is your data in safe hands?

If you have provided your data online or purchased a ticket then your personal details will be securely held on the RPO’s CRM and Ticketing System.

If you have provided your data on paper or by telephone, it will be transferred onto the RPO’s CRM system and all paper records will be shredded and securely disposed of.

Is your data used by the RPO for fundraising?

The RPO is a charity registered in England and Wales (Registered charity number 244533). We raise money to support the artistic programmes of the Orchestra, to make access to performances widely available and to enable projects in community, health and education settings.

We communicate to donors and potential donors about fundraising appeals, special events and joining supporter groups. As a charity, we have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for these communications. We will only email these invitations to support the RPO if you have given us permission to do so. We may use background information you have previously given us, to enable us to make our communications and invitations tailored to your interest

You may also opt-in to receive information and invitations related to our supporter groups and fundraising by registering on our website and indicating which information you would prefer to receive. Alternatively, by contacting the Development Team by emailing supportus@rpo.co.uk. 

How long do we keep your personal data?

We retain personal data only for as long as is needed. This can be for up to seven years after your engagement with us or for longer for historical, analysis or research purposes or to enable us to answer your enquiries.

What are your rights?

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• The right to access the data that we hold about you
• The right to require us to correct inaccuracies
• The right to request us to stop processing your personal data or to restrict it
• The right to require us to erase your personal data
• The right to withdraw consent
• The right to request a copy of personal information held about you in a reasonable format for the purposes of sharing it with another data controller
• The right not to be subject to automated decision-making or profiling
• The right to lodge a complaint with the RPO, the Information Commissioner's Office or the Fundraising Regulator
• There are some exceptions to the above rights, and the RPO may be entitled to refuse requests if exceptions apply.

Contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy, the information that we hold about you, or general data protection queries. You can also change your information preferences:

• The Data Protection Officer, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 15 Rutherford Way, Wembley Park, London, HA9 0BP, United Kingdom
• Email data@rpo.co.uk
• Telephone the Data Protection Officer, 020 7608 8800