Privacy Policy

The Charterhouse is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This privacy notice tells you how we collect and use your personal information. It explains the legal basis for this and the rights you have over the way your information is used.

The Charterhouse is the controller of the personal information we process unless otherwise stated.

This notice covers The Charterhouse and its subsidiary company (Carthusia Limited) in relation to the collection and use of the information you give us. We may change this notice from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on the website or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes.

If you have any questions about this notice or concerning your personal information please contact us by email at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.

What type of personal information we collect

The type and amount of information we collect depends on why you are providing it.

The information we collect when you make an enquiry or booking for a tour or an event (including venue hire bookings) includes your name, email address, postal address and phone number.

If you are a supporter, for example making a donation, volunteering or helping to fundraise – in addition to asking for your name and contact details (your email address, postal address and your phone number) we may also ask you for other data relating to your interaction with The Charterhouse.

To process payments for tours and events (including venue hire bookings) and the receipt of donations we collect bank and payment card data.

If you apply to be a Brother, seek to become a tenant, or make an application for a job, the information you are asked to provide is set out in the application form and is that necessary for the purposes of our considering the application.

How we collect information

We may collect information from you whenever you contact us or have any involvement with us, for example when you:

  • visit our website (see our Cookies policy below)
  • visit us at The Charterhouse
  • donate to us or fundraise for us
  • enquire about our activities
  • apply for our services (as a Brother), or a job, or are interested in becoming a tenant
  • sign up to receive news about our activities (including our monthly e-newsletter and Friends newsletter)
  • create or update a booking
  • post content onto our website/social media sites
  • volunteer for us in any capacity including becoming a Governor or committee member
  • attend a meeting with us and provide us with information, or take part in our events
  • contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or post
  • become a supplier to The Charterhouse or provide services as a contractor

Where we collect information from

We collect information:

(1) From you when you give it to us directly: You may provide your details when you ask us for information or make a booking or donation; apply to be a Brother, a member of staff or a volunteer; attend an event; join our Friends programme; or contact us for any other reason.

(2) When you give it to us indirectly: Your information may be shared with us by other people, or organisations such as fundraising sites like CAF. They should only do so in the way they have set out in their own Privacy Notice which you should check when you give your details.

(3) When you have given other organisations permission to share it: Your information may be provided to us by other organisations if you have given them your permission. This might for example be a charity working with us or might be when you buy a product or service from a third-party organisation. The information we receive from other organisations depends on your settings or the option responses you have given them.

(4) When you use our website: When you use our website information about you is recorded and stored. See the information about the use of cookies under that heading below.

(5) When it is in available on social media: Depending on your settings or the privacy policies applying for social media and messaging services you use, like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.

How we use your information

We will use your personal information in a number of ways which reflect the legal basis applying to processing of your data. These may include:

  • providing you with the information or services you have asked for
  • processing Brother, employment or other applications
  • processing donations you make, including processing for Gift Aid purposes
  • organising volunteering activity that you have told us you want to be involved in and in relation to any fundraising for us that you are involved in
  • sending you communications with your consent that may be of interest including marketing information about our services and activities, campaigns and appeals asking for donations and other fundraising activities and promotions for which we seek support
  • when necessary for carrying out obligations under any contract between us
  • seeking your views on the services or activities we carry out so that we can make improvements
  • maintaining our organisational records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
  • analysing the operation of our website and analysing your website behaviour to improve the website and its usefulness

Our legal basis for processing your information

The use of your information for the purposes set out above is lawful because one or more of the following applies:

  • Where you have provided information to us for the purposes of requesting information or requesting that we carry out a service for you, we will proceed on the basis that you have given consent to us to use the information for that purpose, based on the way that you provided the information to us. You may withdraw consent at any time by emailing us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN. This will not affect the lawfulness of the processing of your information prior to your withdrawal of consent being received and actioned.
  • It is necessary for us to hold and use your information so that we can carry out our obligations under a contract entered into with you or to take steps you ask us to prior to entering into a contract.
  • It is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.
  • Where the purpose of our processing is the provision of information or services to you, we may also rely on the fact that it is necessary for legitimate interests that we provide the information or service requested, and given that you have made the request, would presume that there is no prejudice to you in our fulfilling your request.
  • The provision of information to a third party to enable them to fulfil part of a request for assistance.
  • Processing necessary to protect the vital interests of a beneficiary or member of staff/volunteer or other individuals and
  • Processing necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the charity. If you want to contact us about your marketing preferences please contact gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.

How we keep your information safe

We understand the importance of the security of your personal information and take appropriate steps to safeguard it.

We always ensure only authorised persons have access to your information, which means only our staff and volunteers and contracted service providers, and that everyone who has access is appropriately trained to manage your information.

No data transmission over the internet can however be guaranteed to be 100% secure. So while we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online and you do this at your own risk.

Who has access to your information?

  • Our staff and volunteers as necessary for the work they carry out
  • Third parties who provide services for us, for example collecting or processing data, sending mailings and processing payments or donations. We select our third-party service providers with care. We provide these third parties with the information that is necessary to provide the service and we will have an agreement in place that requires them to operate with the same care over data protection as we do.
  • Third parties if we run an event in conjunction with them. We will let you know how your data is used when you register for any event.
  • Analytics and search engine providers that help us to improve our website and its use.

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the UK, to third-party IT suppliers. We’ll take all reasonably necessary steps to make sure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy notice, to ensure your personal information is handled with the same protections that we apply ourselves.

We’ll only transfer your data to a recipient outside the UK where we’re permitted to do so by law, for instance: where the transfer is based on standard data protection clauses adopted or approved by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office; where the transfer is to a territory that is deemed ‘adequate’ by the UK; or where the recipient is subject to an approved certification mechanism and the personal information is subject to appropriate safeguards.

We may also disclose your personal information if we are required to do so under any legal obligation and may use external data for the purposes of fraud prevention and credit risk reduction, or where doing so would not infringe your rights, but is necessary and in the public interest.

Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.

Keeping your information up to date

We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change. You can do so by contacting us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.

Visitors to The Charterhouse

We may ask visitors to sign in and out at The Charterhouse reception and may ask them to show a form of ID. The ID is for verification purposes only; we don’t record this information. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) operates across The Charterhouse estate for security purposes. The information is viewed by us on a live feed as well as being recorded. Recorded images are retained for up to 30 days. The purpose for processing this information is for security and safety reasons.

Cookie policy and our use of “cookies”

“Cookies” are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enable the server to collect information from the browser. They are stored on your hard drive to allow our website to recognise you when you visit. In addition to the information which you supply to us, information and data may be automatically collected through the use of cookies. Cookies are small text files employed on our website to recognise repeat users and allow us to observe behaviour and compile aggregate data in order to improve the site for you. For example, cookies will tell us whether you viewed the site with sound or with text on your last visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of unique and return visitors to our site. Some of our associated companies may themselves use cookies on their own websites. We have no access to, or control of these cookies, should this occur.

Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies. A persistent cookie consists of a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, which will be stored by the browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date (unless deleted by the user before the expiry date). A session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

The law states that we can store cookies on your machine if they are essential to the operation of the site, but that for all others we need your permission to do so. The list below explains the cookies we use and why:

  • Cookie description: Google Analytics
    Name: ga, _gid, _gat
    Purpose: These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use
    our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us
    improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous
    form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have
    come to the site from and the pages they visited.
  • Cookie description:New Relic
    Name: __cfduid
    Purpose:This cookie is used to collect information about visitor’s experience of the site in terms of performance. This helps us to monitor that our systems are working quickly and effectively, and to identify any problematic areas. Visit the New Relic website.

Google Analytics sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and volumes of usage. This is to ensure that the service is available when you want it and is fast.

For further details on the cookies set by Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Code website. Cookies used: _ga, _gid, _gat.

Opting out of cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies from us or any other website, you should be able to turn cookies off on your web browser: please follow your browser provider’s instruction in order to do so. Unfortunately, we cannot accept liability for any malfunctioning of your PC or its installed web browser as a result of any attempt to turn off cookies.

To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Links to other websites

Where we provide links to websites of other organisations, this privacy notice does not cover how that organisation processes personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy notices on the other websites you visit.

Children’s Information

We appreciate that our supporters are of all ages. Where appropriate we will ask for consent from a parent or guardian to collect information about children (under 16s).

How long we keep your information for

We will hold your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity. By way of example, we hold records of donations you make for at least six years so we can fulfil our statutory obligations for tax purposes.

Where we rely on your consent to contact you for direct marketing purposes, we will treat your consent as lasting only for as long as it is reasonable to do so. We may periodically ask you to renew your consent.

If you ask us to stop contacting you with marketing or fundraising materials, we will keep a record of your contact details and limited information needed to ensure we comply with your request.

Your rights

You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This is called the right of access and is also known as making a subject access request. When making a request it is helpful to us if you include “subject access request” in the subject line or header, provide your name and contact details and the personal information you require. We may need to request further information to validate your identity before we can send you any data that we may hold.  To make a request contact us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.

You also have the following rights:

  • the right to request rectification of information that is inaccurate or out of date;
  • the right to erasure of your information (known as the “right to be forgotten”);
  • the right to restrict the way in which we are dealing with and using your information; and
  • the right to request that your information be provided to you in a format that is secure and suitable for re-use (known as the “right to portability”);
  • rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling including profiling for marketing purposes.

All of these rights are subject to certain safeguards and limits and exemptions. To exercise any of these rights, you should contact us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or write to us at The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.

If you are not happy with the way in which we have processed or dealt with your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Their address is:

First Contact Team
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This notice may be changed from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on our website or contact you directly with the information.

Do please check this notice each time you consider giving your personal information to us.

 1 December 2025