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Privacy Notice

1. About us

The National Archives Trust (Charity no. 1187839) is a registered charity established in 2020 to support and promote education in, and public engagement with, the nation’s documentary heritage. We work closely with The National Archives, a non-ministerial Government Department.

The official address of The National Archives Trust is:

c/o The National Archives
Ruskin Avenue
Richmond TW9 4DU

The National Archives Trust is committed to protecting your privacy and security. This privacy notice explains how and why we collect, use and store your personal data. It is intended to ensure you remain informed and in control of your information.

2. How we collect your personal data

We collect data you provide to us. This includes information you give when you communicate with us, attend an event, make a donation, apply for employment, or enter into a contract with us.

2.1. Information we collect directly

Information we obtain from you directly may include:

  • personal details (name, gender, date of birth, email, address, telephone etc.)
  • family and spouse/partner details
  • records of donations and Gift Aid status
  • your response to event invitations
  • details of the ways in which you wish to be contacted by us
  • details of your areas of interest in relation to the Trust’s and/or The National Archives’ activities
  • where you have asked us for information or written to us
  • where you have applied for a job with us.

2.2. Publicly available data

From time to time, we may collect personal data about you from publicly available sources to inform fundraising activities, better understand our supporters and complete due diligence checks.

Examples of information sources we may use include:

  • Companies House
  • Charity Commission for England and Wales, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
  • Employment information you have made public through social media
  • Philanthropic information you have opted to make public through organisations you have supported
  • Newspaper and media articles.

2.3. Special category (‘sensitive’) personal data

We don’t normally collect or store special categories of personal data. However, there are some situations where we may need to do so. These may include, for example, if you work with us or apply to do so, or if we need to know about any access, medical or dietary requirements you may have.

3. How we use your personal data

We use your personal data with your consent, or where it is necessary in order to:

  • enter into, or perform, a contract with you
  • comply with legal duty
  • protect your vital interests
  • carry out a task in the public interest
  • for our own (or a third party’s) legitimate interests, provided your rights don’t override these interests.

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

  • administer donations, Gift Aid claims and grant payments
  • maintaining databases of our supporters and of othersinterested in helping the advancement of education through or with The National Archives
  • manage events, communications and fundraising activities
  • performing our obligations under agreements with supporters
  • carrying out due diligence to meet our compliance duties
  • helping us respect your choices and preferences
  • recruitment, staff management and management of suppliers of goods and services

We carry out research and analysis on our supporters to help tailor communications and to provide you with a better experience. For example, we may keep track of the amount, frequency and value of your support including your philanthropic involvement elsewhere. This information helps us to ensure communications are relevant, timely and consistent with our charitable purposes.

4. Disclosing and sharing your personal data

We will never sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with contractors or suppliers who provide us with services, including data processors; such sharing is carried out under a contract which imposes strict requirements on our contractors and suppliers to keep your personal data confidential and secure. We may share your personal data with The National Archives (and other organisations that support the advancement of education through or with The National Archives) where (after balancing this with your interests) we believe it is in our and/or their legitimate philanthropic or commercial interests to do so. We may share your personal data with other organisations, but only the information necessary for the purposes in question, for example where you register to attend events. Information is transferred to data processors securely, and we retain full responsibility for your personal data as the data controller.

5. Data security

We employ a variety of physical and technical measures to protect information we hold and to prevent unauthorised access to or use or disclosure of your personal data. Electronic data and databases are stored on secure computer systems, and we control who has access to information (using both physical and electronic means). Staff receive data protection training, and we maintain a set of data protection procedures which our staff are required to follow when handling personal data.

Our websites contain links to other external websites, over which we have no control. We suggest you read the privacy notice of any other website before providing any personal information.

6. Online donations via CAF Donate

If you donate to us online via CAF Donate, we collect and store your name, address, email address, Gift Aid declaration and contact preferences. CAF’s privacy notice provides information about how they use and process your data: https://www.cafonline.org/privacy

7. Retention of your personal data

We will only retain your personal data for as long as it’s required for the purposes for which we collected it. We regularly review what information we hold and will delete personal data which is no longer required.

8. Your rights and how to make a complaint

Under data protection law, you have rights which allow you to have a say in how we use your personal data. At any time, you can contact us to request that we:

  • provide access to the personal data we hold about you
  • correct or update the personal data we hold about you
  • erase the personal data we hold about you
  • restrict or stop the way we use your personal data, including by objecting to our processing based on legitimate interest and by withdrawing your consent.

If you receive marketing or fundraising communications from us, you can opt out at any time by contacting us.

Please note that these rights are not absolute – for example, we may need to retain data to fulfil legal obligations.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights or raise a concern, please contact us:

The National Archives Trust
c/o The National Archives
Kew
Richmond, Surrey
TW9 4DU

The National Archives Trust is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates and enforces data protection law in the UK. If you are not happy with our response, you can contact the ICO: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

9. Changes to this privacy notice

We may amend this privacy notice from time to time to ensure it remains up-to-date and continues to reflect how and why we use your personal data.

10. Approval

This privacy notice was approved on 11 June 2025.