Privacy and Cookie Policy

THE SHORT VERSION

The short version

We are a local Masonic lodge, not a business, and we are not interested in collecting more information than we need. Here is the whole thing in three lines.

WHO WE ARE

Who we are

Erlegh Lodge No. 9110 is a Masonic lodge in Berkshire, part of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Berkshire under the United Grand Lodge of England. This website is our public information site.

For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), Erlegh Lodge No. 9110 is the data controller for this website. The person responsible for data protection matters is the Lodge Secretary.

Our website address is: erleghlodge.org.

If you have any question about this policy, or about the information we hold, please email the Lodge Secretary at info@erleghlodge.org.

WHAT WE COLLECT

What we collect, and why

We keep this to a minimum. Information reaches us in two ways.

When you contact us

Our enquiry form asks for your name, your email address, an optional telephone number, and your message. We use these details only to read and reply to your enquiry, and to follow up if you ask us to. An email address lets us reply; the telephone number is optional.

Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in reading and replying to enquiries. If you ask about joining the lodge or attending an event, we may also use the information to take steps at your request before any arrangement is made. The consent box on the form confirms that you have read this notice; it does not sign you up to marketing.

When you browse the site

Like most websites, ours uses a small amount of technical information to keep the site secure and reliable. If you accept optional cookies, we also receive broad information about how the site is used. This does not tell us your name, email address or what you write in an enquiry.

COOKIES

Cookies and analytics

A cookie is a small file a website saves on your device. Our approach is simple: essential cookies keep the site working; everything else is optional.

Your choice

When you first visit, our banner lets you accept or reject optional cookies. Rejecting them does not stop you using the website. You can change your decision at any time by using the Cookie settings tab at the bottom of the page.

Where your browser sends a recognised Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal, we respect it.

Essential cookies

These keep the site secure, make basic features work and remember your cookie choice. Complianz stores that choice, normally for up to 12 months, so that we do not ask you on every page. Essential cookies are not used for advertising and do not require your consent.

Google Analytics

If you accept optional cookies, we use Google Analytics 4 through Site Kit by Google. It gives us broad information such as which pages are visited, how people reached the site, approximate location, browser and device type, and interactions such as link clicks or downloads. It does not give us your name, email address or the contents of an enquiry.

Google Analytics uses first-party cookies called _ga and _ga_<measurement-id>, which can last for up to two years, to distinguish browsers and sessions. Google may receive the page address, device and browser information, and an IP address at the point of collection. Google says the IP address is used to derive a general location and is then discarded before Analytics data is logged.

Site Kit’s consent mode prevents ordinary Google Analytics tracking for UK, EEA and Swiss visitors until they accept optional cookies. If you reject them, Analytics cookie data is not stored. We use the resulting reports only to understand and improve the website, not for advertising.

Burst Statistics

We also use Burst Statistics inside WordPress. It is configured without cookies and gives us simple local counts of visits and popular pages. Those statistics stay on our website rather than being sent to an outside analytics service.

Maps and videos

Some pages include Google Maps and videos hosted on YouTube. These are blocked until you accept optional cookies or choose to load the content. Once loaded, your browser connects to Google or YouTube, which may receive the page address and your IP address and may set its own cookies. Google’s privacy terms then apply.

Links to other websites

If you follow a link to another website or social media service, that service’s own privacy and cookie rules apply. We do not control cookies set after you leave our site.

KEEPING AND SHARING

Keeping and sharing your information

How long we keep it

We keep enquiry messages only for as long as we need them to deal with your enquiry and any follow-up, and we delete them once they are no longer needed. If you go on to join the lodge, your details are then held under separate membership arrangements, which we would explain to you at the time.

Cookie choices are normally remembered for up to 12 months. Google Analytics cookies can last for up to two years. We keep Analytics information only for as long as it remains useful for comparing and improving website performance, using the retention controls available in Google Analytics. Routine technical and security logs may be retained by our hosting provider for limited operational periods.

Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information to anyone, and we do not use it for advertising.

A few trusted providers help us run the site: Bluehost hosts the website and email; Google provides Analytics, maps and YouTube; Complianz remembers your cookie choice; and Burst stores simple local statistics. Google receives Analytics information only after you accept optional cookies, and receives information from maps or videos only when that content is loaded.

Some providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens, we rely on the provider’s applicable transfer safeguards, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections. We will otherwise disclose information only where the law requires it.

YOUR RIGHTS

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law lets you ask us to:

• send you a copy of the information we hold about you;
• correct anything that is wrong;
• delete your information;
• stop, limit or object to how we use it;
• provide it in a portable format, where that right applies; and
• act on your withdrawal of consent at any time.

To do any of these, please email the Lodge Secretary at info@erleghlodge.org. We will normally reply within one month. To change your optional cookie choice, use the Cookie settings tab at the bottom of the page.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so that we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.