Privacy and data protection
How Ghana Union Wolverhampton collects, uses, stores, shares and protects personal information.This notice applies to members, visitors, volunteers, committee members, administrators and people using our services.
This privacy notice explains what personal information we collect, why we use it, who may access it, how long we keep it and the rights individuals have.
Last updated: 3 July 2026
This Privacy Notice explains how Ghana Union Wolverhampton collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal information.
It applies to visitors, members, prospective members, volunteers, committee members, administrators, event participants, people submitting forms, and people using the member portal.
Ghana Union Wolverhampton, also referred to as “GHUW”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or “the union”, is a not-for-profit community organisation serving and representing the Ghanaian community in Wolverhampton and its environs.
For data protection purposes, Ghana Union Wolverhampton is the controller of the personal information it collects and uses for union purposes. This means we decide why and how personal information is used.
We handle personal information in line with applicable data protection law, including:
We may collect and use different types of personal information depending on how you interact with the union and the website.
When you submit a website form, we may collect:
Forms may include contact forms, membership registration forms, general enquiry forms, or other forms created by the union.
Dynamic forms may include text fields, email fields, telephone fields, text areas, select fields, checkbox fields, radio fields, and file upload fields.
For members and prospective members, we may collect and hold:
For union finance administration, we may collect and hold:
Finance records help the union administer dues, arrears, credit balances, contributions, welfare support, reporting, and accountability.
If you use the member portal, we may process:
The member authentication cookie currently used by the website is called ghuw_member_token.
We may collect and use communication information, including:
Production email may be sent using a third-party email service provider.
For people with admin, committee, volunteer, finance, moderator, contributor, or group leader responsibilities, we may process:
When you use the website, we may process technical information needed to provide and secure the website, such as:
This information is used to keep the website secure, diagnose problems, prevent abuse, and maintain reliable service.
We may collect personal information when:
We use personal information for the following purposes:
We only use personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so.
Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
We may rely on consent where you choose to submit information, upload a file, receive certain optional communications, or provide information for a specific voluntary purpose.
You may withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis, but this will not affect processing already carried out before withdrawal.
We may use personal information where it is necessary to administer membership, member accounts, dues, benefits, services, events, or other arrangements connected with being a member or applying to become a member.
We may use personal information where necessary to comply with legal, accounting, tax, regulatory, safeguarding, or governance obligations.
We may use personal information where it is necessary for the legitimate interests of the union or the community, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
This may include:
In rare cases, we may use personal information to protect someone’s life or safety, for example in an emergency.
Some information may be more sensitive under data protection law.
GHUW does not aim to collect sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for a specific union purpose. However, some information may be volunteered or become relevant through welfare support, bereavement support, accessibility needs, event arrangements, community support, or personal circumstances.
This may include information about health, family circumstances, religion, ethnicity, cultural background, or other sensitive matters.
Where we process special category information, we will do so only where there is a valid lawful basis and an additional condition under data protection law, such as explicit consent, substantial public interest, vital interests, or another lawful condition that applies.
When you submit a form through the website, the information is stored as a form submission.
Form submissions may be reviewed by authorised admins or moderators. They may be marked as new, in review, approved, declined, or closed.
For membership registration forms, approval may create or link a member record. Decline or approval emails may be sent using the contact details provided.
Urgent, complaint, or high-priority messages may be prioritised for review.
Membership records are used to:
Pending members are not treated as fully active members until approved. Active members may be eligible for membership groups, member accounts, and member services.
Inactive or archived records may be kept where needed for historical, financial, audit, governance, or dispute-resolution purposes.
Finance records are used to administer the union’s finances and maintain accountability.
This includes:
Finance information may be visible to authorised finance/admin users and, where relevant, to the individual member through the member portal.
The website uses cookies or similar technologies where necessary for login and security.
The member portal uses an authentication cookie called ghuw_member_token.
This cookie helps keep members logged in and protects member-only pages. If you block or delete necessary login cookies, the member portal may not work properly.
The CMS/admin system may also use authentication cookies for authorised administrators.
At present, the website should not use optional analytics, advertising, or tracking cookies unless those features are separately added and disclosed. If optional cookies are added in future, this notice should be updated and a suitable cookie consent process should be used where required.
Personal information is only accessible to people who need it for legitimate union purposes.
This may include:
Member account users may only see information linked to their own member record, except where additional authorised access is granted.
Group leaders may only access member information permitted by their role and access rules.
We do not sell personal information.
We may share personal information where necessary with:
Where possible, we will limit sharing to the information needed for the relevant purpose.
Some service providers may process or store data outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy arrangements, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms where required.
We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, governance, audit, dispute-resolution, and historical purposes.
Typical retention expectations are:
The union should review records periodically and delete, anonymise, or archive information that is no longer needed.
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information, including:
No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach, we will take appropriate steps to investigate, reduce harm, and notify affected individuals or the Information Commissioner’s Office where required.
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
Some rights are not absolute. For example, we may need to keep certain membership, finance, audit, legal, or governance records even if you ask for deletion.
Please tell us if your personal information changes, including your name, email address, phone number, membership details, or other important information.
Accurate records help us administer membership, dues, welfare support, events, and communication properly.
The website is intended mainly for adults, members, prospective members, and community users.
If we collect information about children or young people, for example in connection with family membership, events, youth activities, or welfare support, we will only collect what is necessary and will handle it carefully.
Where appropriate, information about children should be provided by a parent, guardian, or authorised adult.
We may contact members and people who have submitted enquiries about union matters, membership, events, meetings, welfare, dues, announcements, or community activities.
We will not sell your contact details to third parties.
Where communications are optional marketing rather than necessary membership or service communication, we will provide a way to opt out where required.
Our website may link to external websites or services.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party websites. You should read their privacy notices before submitting information to them.
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time.
When we update it, we may change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
Material changes may also be communicated through the website, member portal, email, meetings, or other appropriate channels.
If you have questions about this Privacy Notice or how your personal information is used, please contact Ghana Union Wolverhampton using the contact details provided on this website.
Ghana Union Wolverhampton Website: https://ghuw.org.uk Email: ghuwinfo@gmail.com Address: ℅ Old School Community & Social Enterprise Hub, The Old School, 73 Dudley Road, Wolverhampton - WV2 3BY
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your personal information has been handled.
