Privacy Policy

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a registered Arts Charity (number 506276) that processes data for purposes necessary to fulfil its aims and charitable objectives.

This privacy statement outlines how we process data for our:

  • Ticket buyers, online users, members and donors
  • Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles
  • Other volunteers and participants
  • Suppliers, industry contacts and customers
  • Job applicants

Our promise to you is that we will use any personal information we collect about you in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). We aim to be clear when we handle your data, and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect.

For the purpose of the UK GDPR the data controller is City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, CSBO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham, B1 2LF (ICO registration Z5724328).

Personal data for these purposes means any information relating to an identified or identifiable person.

This statement covers the following areas:

  • Data collection
  • Use of Data
  • Sharing data with third parties
  • How to update your data
  • Data integrity and security
  • Your Rights
  • Who to contact

Data collection

We may collect personal data from you when you buy a ticket via B:Music, join or renew a membership with the CBSO, ask us to send you information, make a donation, pledge a legacy, attend an event, visit our premises, volunteer or participate in a project or group, supply goods/services to us, pay us for goods/services or apply for a job. The ways in which we collect data from you are listed below:

Ticket buyers, online users, members and donors

We may collect or store the following information from you when you buy a ticket or other item from us, use our website, join a membership scheme, make a donation, attend a concert or event, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

  • Name
  • Postal Address
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Email address
  • Billing / payment information
  • Ticketing, membership and/or donation history
  • Communications preferences
  • Access requirements
  • Allergies and dietary requirements
  • Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website or in person
  • Photographs and/or video footage of audiences
  • CCTV footage for the security of property and individuals
  • Sensitive information - this includes health information (if you provide us with this) such as access needs or allergies.
  • Online information

We keep a record of the communications we send you, and we may track whether you receive or open electronic communications so that we can ensure we are sending you the most relevant information.

We use social media to provide updates on our activities, to promote events and projects or to communicate with you about the activities in which you are involved. We may tailor adverts on social media and elsewhere online relevant to your interests. Depending on your own privacy settings with each social media provider, you can control the CBSO’s permission to access information via social media platforms.

Data from third parties

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third party sources, for example:

  • As the CBSO is the resident orchestra of Symphony Hall, when you book your ticket for a CBSO concert via B:Music’s Box Office your data is passed to us in order for us to provide you with information as outlined above
  • If you are bought a CBSO product (such as book, online concert or membership) as a gift, your contact details will be supplied to us so that we can send you your gift.
  • If we engage external suppliers for photography and video capture
  • Publicly available information, such as information found in places such as Companies House, your biography on your work website or information that has been published in articles/ newspapers.
  • From our board members or other volunteers, for example if they invite you to a concert or event
  • From an organisation which funds or works in partnership with the CBSO, for example if you meet with us or attend an event as a representative of the organisation
Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles

We may collect or store the following information from you when you choose to participate in one of our activities, or apply to join one of our ensembles, attend a concert or event, visit our website or premises, or contact us with an enquiry.

  • Name of participant (and parent where required)
  • Postal Address
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Email address
  • Billing / payment information
  • Communications preferences
  • Access requirements
  • Allergies and dietary requirements
  • Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website or in person
  • Musical experience or career information
  • Photographs and/or video footage of participants
  • CCTV footage for the security of property and individuals
  • Sensitive information - this includes health information (if you provide us with this information) such as access needs or allergies.

Data from third parties

We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third party sources, for example:

  • Music teachers and referees may provide information to us about your experience and competence
  • We may ask parents / guardians or schools to supply information about under 18s for participation in our projects or for performance licensing purposes.
  • If we engage external suppliers for photography and video capture
  • If your details are given as an emergency contact for a member of one of our ensembles, or projects
Volunteers and other participants

We may collect or store the following information from you when you express an interest in volunteering/participating, or continue to volunteer/participate with us.

  • Name
  • Postal Address
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Email address
  • Access requirements
  • Allergies and dietary requirements
  • Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website or in person
  • Photographs and/or video footage of participants
  • CCTV footage for the security of property and individuals

Sensitive information
This includes health information (if supplied) such as access needs or allergies.

Data from third parties
We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third party sources, for example:

  • Referees may provide information to us about your experience and competence
  • If we engage external suppliers for photography and video capture
Suppliers, industry contacts and customers

We may collect or store the following information from you when you supply goods or services to us, purchase services from us (e.g. Hiring the CBSO centre) or are recommended to us:

  • Name of company
  • Name of designated contact(s)
  • Postal Address
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Email address(es)
  • Billing / payment information including bank details
  • Record of goods/services received/provided
  • Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website or in person
  • CCTV footage for the security of property and individuals

Data from third parties
We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third party sources, for example:

  • Recommendations from other organisations / clients
  • Publicly available information about you from your website
  • Evaluations of visiting artists, which are collated from members of the orchestra
Job applicants

We may collect or store the following information from you when you apply for a job with us:

  • Name
  • Postal Address
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Email address
  • Access requirements
  • Any other information you provide to us by email, letter, telephone, social media, via our website or in person
  • Musical experience or career information
  • CCTV footage for the security of property and individuals

Sensitive information
This includes health information (if supplied) such as access needs or allergies. We may ask for other information specific to the opportunity you are applying for.

Data from third parties
We may also obtain or collect personal information about you from other third party sources, for example:

  • References from previous employers
  • Publicly available information about you online
  • Contact details and employment history from recruitment agencies, when used to fill a position

Use of Data

We will use your information for the purposes listed below under one of the following legal bases:

  • Performance of a contract between us and you
  • Your consent (where we require it)
  • To comply with a legal obligation or
  • Our legitimate interest (except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the individual)

The ways in which we use your data are listed below:

Ticket buyers, online users, members and donors

We use the information we hold:

To inform you of any change to or additional information regarding a booking, visit or membershipPerformance of a contract
To send you a gift (such as a book, gift voucher or membership) bought by another personPerformance of a contract
To analyse your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information most relevant to youLegitimate interest
To inform you about relevant concerts, events, services or activities we believe will be of interest, as well as opportunities to support our workConsent
To process donations and payments, including making Gift Aid claims and thanking donorsLegitimate interest/Performance of a contract
To ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted about our activitiesLegitimate interest
To assist us with reporting and analysis for our own business needs, and those of our funding partnersLegitimate interest
To keep a record of the relationship we have with youLegitimate interest
To promote our work to funders, supporters and the general public via media and social media outletsLegitimate interest
To profile ticket bookers and donors in order to inform future fundraising approachesLegitimate interest
To ensure we cater for any specific needs you may have such as dietary or access requirementsLegitimate interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals in and around our building using CCTV footageLegitimate interest

Contacting you by Post, email and Telephone
If you do not want to receive information by post about events, offers or our fundraising activities, you have the option to change any of your contact preferences at any time by contacting unsubcribe@cbso.co.uk or by logging into your CBSO online account.

If you provided your consent when you purchased your ticket via B:Music's Box Office, from time to time we will send you recommendations and ticket offers by email for similar events and opportunities to support our work. Should you wish not to receive this information you will always have the option to unsubscribe from future emails from CBSO via a link at the bottom of our emails. Alternatively you can tell us directly by emailing unsubscribe@cbso.co.uk

If you have provided your telephone number when you purchased your ticket via B:Music Box Office, or directly to the CBSO, we may use this to inform you of a cancelled or re-arranged performance, to gain your views on our service, or to talk to you about relevant opportunities to support our work as an Arts Charity. Should you wish not to receive marketing or fundraising calls from us please let us know via unsubscribe@cbso.co.uk.

Membership
Customers joining one of our membership schemes will receive information by email and post relating to events and activities as a paid-for benefit of the scheme.

Multi-buy Discount and Group bookers
Customers purchasing a multi-buy discount booking or Group booking may receive additional benefits of information related to multi-buy discounts and group bookings, information about new concerts and regular CBSO Music Stand magazine.

Fundraising and profiling
As a charity, the CBSO relies on donations from individuals to support its charitable purposes. To do this, we look to identify individuals who, in addition to being purchasers of tickets, may be interested in supporting our charitable objectives through other means, including charitable donations. We also review whether existing donors may wish to provide further financial support.

To enable us to do this in an efficient, effective and focused way, and to ensure the requests we make are appropriate, proportionate and tailored, we may use publicly available information (collected either in-house or by third parties) to identify whether or not you are likely to wish to provide additional donations to the CBSO. We do not allow third parties to use the data we provide them about you for other purposes.

The information that we may process includes publicly available information relating to your wealth (including house price values), whether you are a trustee of a charity or have previously donated to similar charities, or raised funds for charitable purposes, in addition to your interest in the arts.

We understand that not all of our audience members or donors will want us to carry out such processing and you are free at any time to ask us to stop doing this in respect of your data. You can do this by contacting unsubscribe@cbso.co.uk. If you do this we will delete the information that we have collected about you for these purposes.

Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles

We use the information we hold:

To keep you fully informed of all arrangements relating to your involvement with the CBSO, including rehearsals and concertsConsent
To keep you informed of ticket offers for ensemble members when availableConsent
To keep a record of the relationship we have with youLegitimate interest
To process payments when requiredPerformance of a contract
To apply for appropriate licensing for child performers where necessaryLegal requirement
To ensure compliance with policies, procedures and lawsLegal requirement
To publish lists of participants in our printed programmesLegitimate interest
To promote our work to funders, supporters and the general public via media and social media outletsLegitimate interest
To ensure we cater for any specific needs you may have such as dietary or access requirementsLegitimate interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest
Volunteers and other participants

We use the information we hold:

To keep you fully informed of all arrangements relating to your involvement with the CBSO, including volunteering/participation opportunities and activitiesConsent
To keep you informed of ticket offers for volunteers/participants when availableConsent
To keep a record of the relationship we have with youLegitimate interest
To process payments when requiredPerformance of a contract
To ensure compliance with policies, procedures and lawsLegal requirement
To promote our work to funders, supporters and the general public via media and social media outletsLegitimate interest
To ensure we cater for any specific needs you may have such as dietary or access requirementsLegitimate interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest
Suppliers, industry contacts and customers

We use the information we hold:

To contact you regarding the contract we have, or may wish to have with youPerformance of a contract
To keep a record of the relationship we have with youLegitimate interest
To keep you informed of our activitiesLegitimate interest
To process payments to/from you when requiredPerformance of a contract
To ensure compliance with policies, procedures and lawsLegal requirement
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest
Job applicants

We use the information we hold:

To process your application and communicate with you regarding the selection and interview processConsent
To ensure we cater for any specific needs you may have such as dietary or access requirementsLegitimate interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest

Sharing data with third parties

Unless you give us your consent, the personal information that you give us will only be shared with third parties where we are obliged or permitted by law to disclose it, we need to use the services of ‘data processors’ to fulfil your requirements, to support analysis and research for the CBSO or the Arts Sector, or for reporting to our funders.

As part of the services offered to you, the personal information you provide may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). For example, this may happen if any of the computer servers used to host our ticketing system are located in a country outside of the EEA. If the CBSO transfers your personal information outside of the EEA in this way, we will take steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Privacy Policy. For more details, please see Use of Data section above.

The ways in which we share data with third party organisations are listed below:

Ticket buyers, online users and donors

We may share your data with third party organisations as listed below:

  • To use third party processors providing services to the CBSO
  • With agreement about data management protocols, we may make anonymised data available to other agencies such as The Audience Agency and the Association of British Orchestras for analysis and research purposes (for instance, comparison sales trends over time and geographical comparisons). This assists with reporting to funders and strategic planning, helping us to make better business decisions.
  • We may take photographic or video recordings and share these with media and social media outlets. We always make clear when photography or recordings are taking place.
  • We publish lists of supporters and donors in our printed programmes but you can request us not to include your information should you wish.
  • We share data with fundraising prospect companies in order to undertake profiling as described above .
  • To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footage
  • To collect and share data with Google to utilise Google reCAPTCHA API for security purposes on our website.
Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles

We may share your data with third party organisations as listed below:

  • To use third party processors providing services to the CBSO
  • We may share your details (including photograph) with a freelance chorus or workshop leader, or chaperone (for children’s activities) in order to run the activity effectively or to provide relevant authorities with information required to process performance licenses.
  • We may take photographic or video recordings and share these with media and social media outlets. We always make clear when photography or recordings are taking place.
  • We may take photographic or video recordings of under 18s and share these with media and social media outlets.
  • We publish lists of participants, supporters and donors in our printed programmes, but you can request us not to include your information should you wish.
  • To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footage
Volunteers and other participants

We may share your data with third party organisations as listed below:

  • To use third party processors providing services to the CBSO
  • We may share your details (including photograph) with an external project manager in order to run the activity effectively or to provide relevant authorities with information required for access and/or safety for the activity you have signed up for.
  • We may take photographic or video recordings and share these with media and social media outlets. We always make clear when photography or recordings are taking place.
  • We may take photographic or video recordings of under 18s (with parental consent) and share these with media and social media outlets.
  • We publish lists of participants, supporters and donors in our printed programmes, but you can request us not to include your information should you wish.
  • With Companies House, Charity Commission, our auditors and professional advisers to ensure compliance with legal, governance and other regulatory requirements
  • To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footage
Suppliers, industry contacts and customers

We may share your data with third party organisations as listed below:

To operate our IT systems, such as our finance payment and receiving systemsPerformance of a contract
We share financial data with relevant government departments, our internal & external auditors and other regulatory bodies in order to fulfil our legal and charitable responsibilities.Legal requirement
We may recommend your services to other organisationsLegitimate Interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest
Job applicants

We may share your data with third party organisations as listed below:

We may occasionally engage external advisors to sit on recruitment or interview panels, and would share your application details with themLegitimate interest
To maintain the security of property and individuals using CCTV footageLegitimate interest

How to update your data

The ways in which you can update your information are listed below:

Ticket buyers, online users, members and donors

You can update your personal contact and communication preferences data at any time, by visiting your CBSO account online, or by contacting us at mydata@cbso.co.uk. Every promotional email we send you will contain an option to unsubscribe, or you can contact us at mydata@cbso.co.uk.

Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles

You can ask us to update your information, or how you hear from us by contacting mydata@cbso.co.uk or your regular CBSO contact.

Volunteers and other participants

You can ask us to update your information, or how you hear from us by contacting mydata@cbso.co.uk or your regular CBSO contact.

Suppliers, industry contacts and customers

You can ask us to update your information, or how you hear from us by contacting mydata@cbso.co.uk or cbsofinance@cbso.co.uk.

Job applicants

You can ask us to update your information, or how you hear from us by contacting mydata@cbso.co.uk or our HR Manager on 0121 616 6515.

Data Integrity and Security

We take steps to ensure that data is accurate, complete and up to date, and we regularly run checks to review our data. If you wish to correct any inaccuracies in your data, please email mydata@cbso.co.uk. or your normal CBSO contact.

Data retention
We will keep personal data for no longer than is strictly necessary, having regard to the original purpose for which the data was processed. Our retention periods are detailed below:

Ticket buyers, online users, members and donors

We will store data in our database system(s) for a maximum of seven years after your last engagement with us, through ticket, gift voucher or membership purchases, or making donations. At that point your data will be deleted, no longer processed, and you will cease to receive communications from us, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Participants in our Learning and Participation activities and members of our ensembles

We will store data in our database system(s) for a maximum of five years after your last engagement with us, through participating in our work, or requesting to be kept up to date with our activities. At that point your data will be deleted, no longer processed, and you will cease to receive communications from us, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Volunteers and other participants

We will store data in our database system(s) for a maximum of five years after your last engagement with us, through your volunteering work, or requesting to be kept up to date with our activities. At that point your data will be deleted, no longer processed, and you will cease to receive communications from us, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Suppliers, industry contacts and customers

We will store data in our database and finance system(s) for as long as you continue to purchase services from us, supply us with goods and/or services, or 6 years plus the current tax year, where the relationship is not ongoing. At that point your data will be deleted and no longer processed, unless there is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution.

Job applicants

For unsuccessful candidates, we will store data in our HR systems for 6 months following your application, at which point it will be deleted, unless:

  • There is an outstanding issue, claim or dispute requiring us to keep such information until resolution
  • You consent to our keeping your data on file to keep you informed of other suitable opportunities.

Successful candidates’ data will be kept under the terms of the Privacy Statement (internal) which will be issued to all employees on appointment.

Your Rights

You have rights, including the following

  • To be informed of the ways in which we use your information, which we seek to do in this statement
  • To request us to stop processing your personal data for marketing purposes
  • To request access to the personal information we hold about you
  • To have a copy of the personal data which you have provided to us made available to you (or a third party) in a machine readable format
  • To request that any inaccuracies in the data we hold about you are corrected
  • In certain circumstances to request that we limit, cease processing or erase your personal data.
  • To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office or through the Fundraising Regulator.

Where you have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact us as set out below. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to.

Where you take the view that your personal data is processed in a way that does not comply with the UK GDPR, you have a specific right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. The supervisory authority will then inform you of the progress and outcome of your complaint. The supervisory authority in the UK is the ICO. You can contact the ICO at:

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

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

Who to Contact

Email us: mydata@cbso.co.uk

Write to us: Data Protection, CBSO, CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF

Complaints: If you wish to make a complaint about how we are using your data, please email mydata@cbso.co.uk.

Subject Access Requests: If you wish to make a subject access request (SAR), please email mydata@cbso.co.uk. We will try to respond to all legitimate requests within 30 days. Occasionally it may take us longer if your request is particularly complex or if you have made a number of requests, in which case we will keep you notified and updated. We may require specific details of your request and proof of identification.

Changes to this Statement

We may change or update this Privacy Statement from time to time. Any significant changes will be communicated on our website and/or by contacting you directly.

March 2023