Irish Family History Society

Connecting People With Their Irish Roots

Data Protection and Privacy Policy

 

Last updated: 2025-10-26

The Irish Family History Society (IFHS) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).

1. Who We Are

The Irish Family History Society (IFHS) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting those interested in researching Irish ancestry. We are the data controller in relation to your personal data.

Contact Details:
Irish Family History Society
Email: info@ifhs.ie
Address: 10 Moyclare Drive, Baldoyle, Dublin, D13 C8X2, Ireland

2. What Data We Collect

When you join the IFHS through our online membership form, we collect the following personal data:

  • Full name
  • Email address
  • Postal address
  • Payment information (processed securely via our payment provider – we do not store full payment card details)
  • Membership type and status
  • Login credentials (for the members’ area)

When you separately subscribe to our newsletter (hosted by Substack), we collect:

  • Email address
  • Name (optional)

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data for the following purposes:

Purpose

Lawful Basis under GDPR

To process and manage your IFHS membership

Contract – processing is necessary for the
performance of a contract with you

To provide access to the members’ area of our website

Contract

To send you weekly updates about events, news, and member
services

Legitimate interests – to keep our members informed
and engaged

To administer member-only benefits

Contract

To comply with legal obligations (e.g. tax/accounting)

Legal obligation

To send our optional newsletter (if subscribed via
Substack)

Consent – you may unsubscribe at any time

 

4. How We Store and Protect Your Data

We store your data securely using encrypted databases and website hosting solutions. Access is restricted to authorised personnel only.

  • We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties.

We may use third-party service providers (e.g. website hosting, Substack for newsletters) who process your data under strict confidentiality and only on our instructions.

 

5. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for legal, accounting, or reporting obligations.

  • Membership data: retained for the duration of your membership and up to 2 years after
    it ends.
  • Newsletter subscriptions: retained until you unsubscribe.
  • Financial records: retained for 6 years as required by tax authorities.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject, you have the following rights:

  • Right to access – request a copy of your data.
  • Right to rectification – correct inaccurate data.
  • Right to erasure – request deletion of your data (where lawful).
  • Right to restrict processing – request limitation on how we use your data.
  • Right to data portability – receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
  • Right to object – object to processing based on legitimate interests.
  • Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent (e.g. newsletter), you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@ifhs.ie.

7. Third-Party Services

We use the following external services which may process your data:

  • Payment Processor – to handle membership payments securely. (e.g. Stripe, PayPal)
  • Substack – for newsletter email delivery (if subscribed)
  • Website Hosting Provider (KOS) – for the members’ area

All providers are GDPR-compliant and only process your data on our instructions.

8. International Data Transfers

If any of our third-party service providers transfer data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), they do so under
GDPR-compliant safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

9. Cookies and Analytics

We may use cookies on our website to improve functionality and track usage (e.g. through Google Analytics). You will be
informed of this upon visiting our site and asked to consent where applicable.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised “Last updated” date.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this policy or your data, please contact:

Irish Family History Society
Email: info@ifhs.ie
Address: 10 Moyclare Drive, Baldoyle, Dublin, D13 C8X2, Ireland

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (Ireland):
Website: https://www.dataprotection.ie/
Phone: +353 (0)761 104 801