Privacy Notice and Data Protection Policy

Registered name: DITCHLEY FOUNDATION(THE)

We are the controller of your personal data. For more information on controllers and their responsibilities please see our guidance on data protection principles, definitions, and key terms.

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

• Contact details
• What information we collect, use, and why
• Lawful bases and data protection rights
• Where we get personal information from
• How long we keep information
• Who we share information with
• How to complain

Contact details

Post - Ditchley Foundation Ltd, Lions Court, Ditchley Park, Enstone, CHIPPING NORTON, Oxfordshire, OX7 4ER, GB

Telephone - +44 (0)1608 677346

Email - [email protected]

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following information to receive donations or funding and organise fundraising activities:

• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Payment or banking details
• Donation history
• Gifts in wills

We collect or use the following personal information for research or archiving purposes:

• Names and contact details
• Recorded images, such as photos or videos

We collect or use the following personal information to engage with people regarding their attendance at upcoming events and discussions:

• Names and contact details
• Gender
• Addresses
• Date of birth
• Photographs or video recordings
• Service use history
• Dietary information (including allergies and health conditions)
• Information about care needs (including disabilities, home conditions, dietary requirements and general care provisions)
• Records of meetings and decisions
• Payment details (including card or bank information for transfers and direct debits)
• Records of consent, where appropriate

Lawful bases and data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

• Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. Read more about the right of access.
• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. Read more about the right to rectification.
• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. Read more about the right to erasure.
• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. Read more about the right to restriction of processing.
• Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. Read more about the right to object to processing.
• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. Read more about the right to data portability.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Read more about the right to withdraw consent.

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to receive donations or funding and organise fundraising activities are:

• Consent - we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests – we’re collecting or using your information because it benefits you, our organisation or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to portability. Our legitimate interests are:
  • We process personal data under the lawful basis of legitimate interests to identify and engage individuals who may be interested in supporting Ditchley’s mission through donations or funding. This includes researching publicly available information to assess alignment with our values and programmes, and to ensure that any outreach is relevant, respectful, and appropriately targeted. This processing is necessary to sustain our work and maintain our independence from commercial or political interests. We do not use intrusive methods, and once a donation is made, we rely on consent to process any further personal data. We believe the benefits of this processing—supporting democratic dialogue and long-term societal impact—outweigh any potential risks, and we take care to respect individuals’ rights and expectations at all times.

For more information on our use of legitimate interests as a lawful basis you can contact us using the contact details set out above.

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for research or archiving purposes are:

• Legitimate interests – we’re collecting or using your information because it benefits you, our organisation or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to portability. Our legitimate interests are:
  • Ditchley processes personal data under the lawful basis of legitimate interests to support our mission of fostering meaningful dialogue and building new common ground across divides. We collect and retain personal information to identify and invite individuals to participate in our events and discussions, document attendance and the key themes and insights shared, and maintain records that support long-term reflection, relationship-building, and future engagement. This processing is necessary to ensure the relevance and diversity of our convenings and to preserve the value of the ideas and connections formed. We do not process data for commercial or political purposes, and we apply safeguards to protect individuals’ privacy, including secure storage and limited access. We believe the societal benefits of this work—strengthening democratic dialogue and fostering inclusive collaboration—outweigh any potential risks, and we take care to ensure that individuals’ rights and freedoms are respected at all times and that data is used in ways they would reasonably expect. For questions or to exercise your data rights, please get in touch with us using the details provided in this notice.

For more information on our use of legitimate interests as a lawful basis you can contact us using the contact details set out above.

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to engage with people regarding their attendance at upcoming events and discussions are:

• Legitimate interests – we’re collecting or using your information because it benefits you, our organisation or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to portability. Our legitimate interests are:
  • We process personal data under the lawful basis of legitimate interests to manage participation in Ditchley events, including collecting information such as dietary requirements, access needs, and travel details to ensure a safe, inclusive, and well-organised experience for all attendees. This processing is necessary to communicate effectively with participants, provide appropriate accommodations and hospitality, and coordinate logistics in a way that respects individual needs and preferences. We apply appropriate safeguards to protect this information, including secure storage and limited access, and the data is used solely for the purpose of facilitating attendance. We believe the benefits of this processing—ensuring comfort, accessibility, and meaningful participation—outweigh any potential risks, and we take care not to use personal data in ways that individuals would not reasonably expect. For questions or to exercise your data rights, please get in touch with us using the details provided in this notice.

For more information on our use of legitimate interests as a lawful basis you can contact us using the contact details set out above.

Where we get personal information from

• Directly from you
• Schools, colleges, universities or other education organisations
• Publicly available sources

How long we keep information

As a convening organisation, our aim is to build and maintain a lasting network of individuals and organisations interested in our events.

We retain your contact details (such as your name, job title, organisation, and email address) for as long as we consider you a relevant contact for our events and networking activities. This allows us to keep you informed about future events that may be of interest to you.

We view this as an ongoing professional relationship. We periodically review our contact lists to ensure the data is up-to-date and still relevant.

You are in control of your data at all times. If you no longer wish to hear from us, you can request the removal of your details from our lists by contacting us at <[email protected]>. Upon such a request, your data will be securely deleted from our active systems.

Who we share information with

Others we share personal information with

• Relevant regulatory authorities
• External auditors or inspectors

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Last updated

1st October 2025