Keeping your data safe

The Northern Independence Party is committed to protecting your privacy, including online, and in the transparent use of any online information you give us in accordance with our legal obligations. This Privacy Policy sets out in detail the purposes for which we process your personal data, who we share it with, what rights you have in relation to that data and everything else we think it's important for you to know.

Personal data means data which relate to a living individual who can be identified:

• from those data, or
• from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller,
• and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual.

Who are we?

The Northern Independence Party, 10 Houghton Avenue, Warrington, WA2 7EQ.

Who's in control?

It is important that you understand who is responsible for keeping your data safe. We are the "controller" of all personal data collected and used by the Northern Independence Party for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why your data is used and for ensuring that your data is handled legally and safely.

What data do we collect and where from?

Membership Signups

When you join us as a member of the party we collect all the details you provide including contact details and any other details that are voluntarily provided. We also collect your payment details where necessary to process your membership subscriptions and donations. This is run through our website platform.

Petitions and Surveys

We also collect information that you voluntarily provide to us when you respond to petitions or surveys including your responses to any questions they might ask.

Cookies and IP addresses

We collect information about how you interact with our websites using Cookies and your connection's Internet Connection (IP) Address if your browser is set to accept/provide such.

The Electoral Register

Once we are registered as a political party we will have access to the electoral register for the purposes of canvassing and promotion.

Social Media

We also collect anonymised publicly available information from social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, for example likes, shares, tweets and posts about the Northern Independence Party and its activities and campaigns. This information is provided to us by the third party social media platform.

What do we use your data for?

We use the data you provide us to communicate with our membership and supporters about party business, activities and campaigns. From time to time we will also communicate with you about fundraising campaigns we run in order to finance the operation of the party and/or support specific causes.

We use your data, including any voluntarily provided information, to choose which campaigns or Party activity we believe may be of interest to you. Our communications may be via Post, Telephone, Email or Social Media.

Your address information (where provided) is used to identify campaigns of local geographical relevance.

As a Political Party we use your expressed political opinions to inform our campaigning including what issues we promote, how we contact you and what we say to you.  

This ensures that we can continue to represent supporters' views in a democratic way and to help us generate revenue to fund our political activities. 

What is our legal basis for using your data?

In order to hold and process your data we are obliged to identify the lawful basis upon which we do so. The lawful basis is different for the different purposes identified above.

Purpose: Informing Members and Supporters of Northern Independence Party activities and campaigns

Lawful basis: Public task

We process this personal data on the basis that we ensure that we communicate effectively with actual and potential supporters of the Northern Independence Party and its campaigns. This ensures that we can continue to represent supporters' views in a democratic way and to help us generate revenue to fund our political activities.  This processing is considered to be fundamental to our role in promoting democracy in the public interest.

Purpose: Communicating with Members about their membership and constitutional role within the Party.

Lawful basis: Public task

We process your membership and personal data with respect to your membership position inline with the constitution of the Party and your agreed participation. As a membership organisation we require that we be able to communicate with members about constitutional issues (such as leadership elections, conference and changes to the constitution) this is considered to be a fundamental part of our role in promoting democracy in the public interest.

Purpose: Fundraising 

Lawful basis: Public task

We may from time to time contact you directly asking for donations to help fund the work of the Party.  Without funding it would be impossible to function as a Political Party and therefore such communication is considered to be a fundamental part of our role in promoting democracy in the public interest.

Purpose: Canvassing of Political Opinions

Lawful basis: Public task

As a political party we require an understanding of the political opinions of the UK electorate both nationally and on local campaigns and issues.  This understanding is considered to be a fundamental part of our role in promoting democracy in the public interest.  Political opinions are classed as ‘special category’ data under data privacy legislation and our processing of this data is in accordance with Article 9 (g) of the General Data Protection Regulations which states that “processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law…”

Who do we share your data with?

Northern Independence Party National Office

The data we have is held by the Northern Independence Party, which is where your membership will reside. Officials and officers of the party will have access to your data for the purposes stated in this document and no others. 

Donations and financial information

The personal details you provide will be held internally by our finance officers and will be shared with the Electoral Commission in the case where your donations exceed declarable thresholds £7,500 per person per calendar year for the National Party and £1,500 per year for our Local Parties (see http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk for current thresholds). The personal details you provide will be held internally and the bank details you provide will be kept securely by our payment processor Smart Debit (for Direct Debits), or Stripe (for card payments). Your bank details will only be shared with your bank and ours.

Third Party Platforms

Google

The Northern Independence Party  website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (Google). Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. We use Google Analytics to make sure our online campaigning is as effective as possible, and it is also one of the ways we make sure that this website is clear and usable.

You can read Google's privacy policy here for further information.

facebook

The Northern Independence Party maintains official Facebook and Instagram accounts. Instagram is currently owned by Facebook Inc. On occasion we will use the advertising facilities on Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness about the Party and our campaigns. With your permission, our website utilises the Conversion Tracking Pixel service of Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”). This tool allows us to follow the actions of users after they are redirected to a provider’s website by clicking on a Facebook advertisement. We are thus able to record the efficacy of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes.

The collected data remain anonymous. This means that we cannot see the personal data of any individual user. However, the collected data are saved and processed by Facebook. We are informing you on this matter according to our information at this time.

Facebook is able to connect the data with your Facebook account and use the data for their own advertising purposes, in accordance with Facebook’s Data Use Policy found here. Facebook Conversion Tracking also allows Facebook and its partners to show you advertisements on and outside Facebook. In addition, a cookie will be saved onto your computer for these purposes.

Other processors

From time to time we may need to share some of your data with third party data processors (such as technology providers, website hosts, online systems). Where we do so we will have a data processing agreement with the third party, and where they are located outside the European Economic Area (EEA) we will ensure that they provide enough security and privacy to enable us to meet our legal obligations to you.

An example of this would be where we use a third party email provider to deliver our emails to you.  We would need to share your email address with the supplier to carry out this function but their processing of your data would be in line with a data processing agreement we would have with them.

How long do we keep your data for?

Where you join as a member of the Party your data will be held for as long as you maintain your membership. If your membership lapses, your status will change to a supporter.

Where you have identified as a supporter your data will be held until such time as you unsubscribe from receiving communications from the party.

Where you have donated to the Party or one of its campaigns the related data will be held for a period of 5 years to ensure we can comply with financial regulations.

What rights do you have?

You have a number of rights under data protection law. Some of these rights and how you can exercise them are set out in this section, more information can be found from the Information Commissioner's office.

Find out more information about your rights.

We will normally need to ask you for proof of your identity before we can respond to a request to exercise any of the rights in this section and we may need to ask you for more information, for example to help us to locate the personal data that your request relates to.

The right to be informed

You have the right to be informed as to how we use your data and under what lawful basis we carry out any processing. This privacy policy sets this information out however if you would like further information or feel that your rights are not being respected please email [email protected].

A right to access your information

You have a right to ask us to send you a copy of all your personal data that we hold about you (subject to some exceptions). A request to exercise this right is called a "subject access request" and must be made in writing to: [email protected] or to: IT team, Northern Independence Party, 10 Houghton Avenue, Warrington, WA2 7EQ.

A right to object to us processing your information

You have a right to object to us processing any personal data that we process where we are relying on legitimate interests as the legal basis of our processing. You also have the right to withdraw your consent from our processing that requires it (such as our email communications). Every communication will have an option for you to withdraw your consent directly, or you can email [email protected] at any time to exercise this right.

A right to ask us not to market to you

You have the right to opt-out of any marketing or personally addressed direct mailings we send to you. If the communication is electronic it will include simple links and instructions to ‘unsubscribe’. For other media please email [email protected] or write to: IT team, Northern Independence Party, 10 Houghton Avenue, Warrington, WA2 7EQ.

A right to have inaccurate data corrected

You have a right to ask us to correct inaccurate data that we hold about you. If we are satisfied that the new data you have provided is accurate, we will correct your personal data as soon as possible.

A right to have your data erased

You have a right to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example if we have processed your data unlawfully or if we no longer need the data for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

A right to have processing of your data restricted

You can ask us to restrict processing of your personal data in some circumstances, for example if you think the personal data is inaccurate and we need to verify its accuracy, or if we no longer need the data but you require us to keep it so that you can exercise your own legal rights. Restricting your personal data means that we only store your personal data and don't carry out any further processing on it unless you consent or we need to process the data to exercise a legal claim or to protect a third party or the public.

To exercise any of the rights above please email [email protected] or write to: IT team, Northern Independence Party, 10 Houghton Avenue, Warrington, WA2 7EQ.

To further understand your rights please visit the website of the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at http://www.ico.gov.uk.

All codes of conduct and committee statements form part of the agreed relationship between individual Northern Independence Party members, and set the minimum code of conduct expected by the Party of all its members.

Northern Independence Party Committee Statement

The Northern Independence Party is building a movement to create a better world. Social media is a key and essential part of this process, now more than ever. We neglect the digital at our peril. This policy applies equally to our official NIP social media channels, paid-for advertising, and individual members. Only by behaving justly and going forward together can we build that better North for all.

Sometimes in order to build our movement, and a better world, we will need to challenge reprehensible views. We strongly condemn fascism, transphobia and other forms of ideology based on hatred and bigotry. While we will never endorse these views, or uncritically amplify them, sometimes being an effective adversary to hate means engaging and challenging it. While in some instances, starving trolls and hateful persons of the attention they crave is the right action, on other occasions we need to call out and argue against hateful ideology or ideas contrary to those of the movement. We trust the social media team and individual members to use their best judgement of when to argue and when to ignore.

We also acknowledge the issues with the very platforms we are engaging on. Many major technology firms have been involved with ethical and legal violations, have unscrupulous policies regarding their user’s data and avoid their responsibilities as regards compliance with the laws of the countries in which they operate or paying their fair share of taxes. While social media is an essential component of modern life and politics, we approach these platforms with a healthy dose of skepticism, and a commitment to pursuing greater transparency and regulation of these industries.

We look forward to working together, both online and offline, with our members to further our cause. Onwards together to a better North.

The Committee of the Northern Independence Party

Principles for the Northern Independence Party’s use of Social Media

• We are proud - we are bold, cheeky and clear about what we post.
• We are principled - we stick to our code of conduct on social media and live our values as outlined in our constitution.
• We are caring - we will use inclusive language and build a positive online community, including all our movement and it’s varied views.
• We are giant killers - we will punch up, taking aim at the powerful and unjust, we make legitimate criticism based on policy and actions.
• We keep our eyes on the prize - we stay focused on our Party’s aims of building a better and fairer and freer North for all, rather than dwelling on internal or personal issues.

Bad behaviour online

Members will face disciplinary measures if found to be engaging in the below behaviours. 

• Bringing the party into disrepute via social media. This could include the below behaviours, or repeated attacks against the Party or members in a public forum. While healthy debate and critique is encouraged, personal attacks, spreading false information or attempting to undermine the Party and movement as a whole through social media is unacceptable.
• Threats of violence or death made against users, regardless of views, are unacceptable.
• The use of sexualised language or imagery, and unwelcome sexual attention or advances are not acceptable.
• The targeting of individuals based on protected characteristics is not acceptable, nor is the use of racist, ableist, LGBTQphobic or gendered slurs. 
• Publishing of others’ private information (or ‘doxxing’) without their explicit permission is entirely unacceptable.
• We all have a responsibility to challenge abuse and to stand in solidarity with victims of it. We encourage the reporting of abusive behaviour to the administrators of the relevant website or social media platform, and where appropriate, to the police. This is a collective responsibility and should not be limited to those who have been subjected to abuse.
• Trolling, or otherwise disrupting the ability of others to debate is not acceptable, nor is consistently mentioning or making contact with others when this is unwelcome.
• Anonymous accounts or otherwise hiding one’s identity for the purpose of abusing others is never permissible.
• Copyright must be respected.

Any member found in breach of NIP policies will be dealt with according to the rules and procedures of the Northern Independence Party.