This website (“the website”) exists to provide Buddhist practitioners and the general public with information and online resources. The design team is committed to protecting the privacy rights of those who use our website.

Purpose & Types of Information Collected

Website Visitor Information

The website does not collect personal information (i.e. an individual’s name, address or phone number) without your consent. When you visit the website, the server automatically collects a limited amount of information via the use of “cookies.” (Cookies are temporary Internet files that are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website.) Information collected includes your IP address, the name of your Internet service provider, information concerning your browser and operating system, pages visited, length of time of webpages and geographical information. Website visitor information is collected in aggregate form and is not identifiable to an individual visitor. This information is used in connection with the operation and security of the site and to perform statistical analysis of user trends and interests which supports efforts to make the site more useful to visitors.

Website Analytics and Security

The website uses Webalizer and Awstats, services which gather technical data for statistical use. We use reports provided by these services to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage. We also protect the website against malicious and accidental interference using various third-party software tools and techniques. User data is anonymous and aggregated. By using this website, you consent to the processing of your data by these services for the purposes set out above.

Personal Information

The website does not collect personal information (including e.g. an individual’s name, address or phone number) without your consent. Some functionality of this website may require the provision of personal information (for example, completion of contact forms, feedback comments or event calendar entries), however visitors can choose to opt out of such actions. Simply put, we do not collect personal information that identifies an individual unless you voluntarily choose to provide such information.

For individuals participating in Buddhist services, study meetings and other activities we may collect information as a requirement to fulfill our services or to provide public records of events, guidance or discussion papers. We retain this information to provide useful resources for the Buddhist community. This includes information which is voluntarily provided (whether by digital or other collection tools) and/or acquired from public sources, particularly published academic papers. If you require more information on this policy, please contact the IT team as below.

Security & Disclosure of Information

Securing Personal Information

In cases where personal information is voluntarily submitted, we will take reasonable steps to protect any personal information you choose to share with us in a controlled, secure environment. Web forms that request personal and/or sensitive information are built with a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) which enables the secure encrypted transmission of this data.

Disclosure of Information

Any personal information that you provide online will be secured in a password-protected database and will only be accessible to authorized staff unless specifically otherwise stated (for example, event calendar service descriptions).

Personal information voluntarily submitted through the website is only shared with authorized staff and designated volunteers; all such individuals must understand and adhere to our privacy policies.

We do not sell or rent any personal information obtained through our website with any other organization or business. In a few limited cases, in the course of regular operations, we may need to provide a third-party entity with basic personal information in order that they may fulfill their contractual obligations. In such cases, only required information is provided and the contracted third-party must provide a GPRD-compatible privacy policy or adhere to the Chaplaincy’s privacy policy. An example of such a situation would be the provision of delegate name and address information as part of conference or event registration, e.g. Interfaith Network seminars, or for site security service login permissions.

Private website pages

Beyond the public website, we may from time to time also support password-protected pages for staff information. Any sensitive information will be secured behind a personal login and/or encrypted both in transit (SSL) and on file.

Links to Other Sites

The website includes links to other organizations’ websites. While we aim to link only to secure sites with appropriate content, please note that the IT team is not responsible or liable for any external websites. These will have their own Privacy policies and protocols.

If you add content to the website

If you contribute content to a site that we host (such as a comment, wiki modification, or file upload) Open Rights Group collects information including your name, username, email address, and IP address.

We publish this information on the website that you contribute to. We retain this information for at least as long as the content is available. These details will not be shared with third parties, except where necessary such as to provide a defence from defamation claims.

If you email a mailing list we host

Emails sent to any sgi-sws.org.uk-hosted email mailing lists are retained for reference purposes.

If you contact us by phone, email or in writing

If you exchange emails or other electronic communications with our volunteers, our systems will record details of those conversations. When you you contact us, we sometimes need to keep a record of the communication we have with you to operate, manage and develop our facilities.

Opting Out

At any time, should you wish to review or have deleted, personal information that you submitted on the website, please contact the IT co-ordinator using the website contact form.

Contact Information

For more information relating to our website privacy statement, please contact the IT co-ordinator using the website contact form.