Data Protection

We respect your trust in us to use, store and share your information. In this notice, we explain how we collect personal data about you, how we use it and how you can interact with us about it.

In order to process personal data about an individual, we must do so in a way that is fair and that meets the principles set out in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The principles require that personal data is processed in a transparent manner which means that individuals should be provided with specific information about how we use their personal data.

We try to keep this notice as simple as possible but if you are unfamiliar with any of our terms or want more detailed information, please contact us via the details set out below.

Who we are:

The Psychological Society of Ireland is a Company Limited by Guarantee, having it registered office at Digital Office Centre Camden, 12 Camden Row, Saint Kevin’s, Dublin 8, D08 R9CN (company number 110772)

When we say “the Psychological Society of Ireland”, “the Society” “us”, “our” or “we”, we are referring to the company limited by guarantee.

The Psychological Society of Ireland is a “data controller” for the purposes of applicable data protection laws.

Our data protection representative is our office manager who may be contacted by writing to the above address or by emailing officemanager@psychologicalsociety.ie

Why we process your data, the lawful basis for processing your data and who we share it with

Members

We are a professional body for psychology and psychologists in Ireland with the objective to advance psychology as a pure and applied science.

If you are a member, we will use personal data relating to you for the following purposes:

• To disseminate information to you concerning events & conferences, professional learning and development and any other matters of professional interest. We use an email marketing service, Mailchimp to communicate with you;

• To promote you on our website through “Find a Psychologist” if requested. We use DV4, who acts as a Data Processor to maintain the Society’s website;

• To send you online materials and newsletters. You can opt out of receiving materials from us at any time by contacting us at the above email or postal address;

• To process membership payments from you. DV4 uses Realex Payments to process online payments. When you make a payment, your payment card details are retained by Realex Payments for future membership renewals. You can request the Society at any time to delete stored payment details;

• To make recommendations to you concerning qualifications, CPD requirements, appointments and conditions of service;

• To conduct member research on professional issues using surveys and questionnaires and to generate and analyse findings. We use an online survey development software company to carry our surveys;

• To deal with any queries you have submitted to us via our contact details on our website.

Legal Basis

The legal basis for collecting and using your personal information is on one or more of the following grounds:

• You have given your consent

• Our legitimate interest in conducting our business to ensure the proper management and functioning of the Society, based on article 6 (f) GDPR. We will not process your personal data if to do so would constitute an unwarranted interference with your own interests, rights and freedoms.

• It is necessary to fulfil a contract with you or a request from you.

It is the intention of the Society that surveys are carried out anonymously and anonymity is safeguarded by the Society. However, in exceptional cases, where we suspect there may have been technical errors, or concerned there may suspicious or fraudulent activities, we may need to derogate from this anonymity. From time to time, we may be required to verify survey results by cross-referencing with email addresses we hold. If, in the event that such course of action proves necessary, the contents of such surveys are not considered as part of this process and remain confidential.  

How we keep your data safe?

We have implemented numerous technical and organisational measures to ensure the most complete protection of personal data processed through our operations and our website. When you contact us to ask about your information, we may ask you to prove your identity. This is to help protect your information.

How long we keep your data for?

We will retain personal data for the duration of an individual's membership with the Society. Once an individual ceases to be a member, data is kept for a period of time depending on membership type, unless deletion is requested earlier.

Graduate and Chartered member data is kept until the end of the following year’s renewal period which falls on 01 April each year, or the next working day. Student and Associate member data is deleted at the end of the renewal period in the year an individual ceases to be a member. Details of financial transactions are kept for 6 years.

Your data and third parties

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your personal information to data processors working directly on our behalf. In all instances, we will ensure that your information is given the appropriate level of data protection under the Data Protection legislation and that such data processors are subject to a contractual arrangement ensuring that your information is protected.

Transfers of data outside the European Economic Area

We may transfer data relating to our online functions to service providers who are located outside the EU. We expect the same standard of data protection to be applied outside the EU and have contractual arrangements and safeguards in place.

Your rights relating to personal data

You have the following rights under the GDPR, in certain circumstances and subject to certain exemptions, in relation to your personal data:

• right to access the data - you have the right to request a copy of the personal data that we hold about you, together with other information about our processing of that personal data;

• right to rectification- you have the right to request that any inaccurate data that is held about you is corrected, or if we have incomplete information you may request that we update the information such that it is complete;

• right to erasure - you have the right to request us to delete personal data that we hold about you. This is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten;

• right to restriction of processing or to object to processing - you have the right to request that we no longer process your personal data for particular purposes, or to object to our processing of your personal data for particular purposes;

•right to data portability - you have the right to request us to provide you, or a third party, with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format.

In order to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at the contact details at the start of this data protection notice.

If we are processing personal data based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing which took place prior to its withdrawal.

Automated decision-making and profiling

We do not use any personal data for the purpose of automated decision-making or profiling.

Making a Complaint

If you have any complaint about the use of your personal information, please contact us at the contact details set out above. Please be assured that all requests and/or complaints received will be fully investigated and acted on without any delay.

You can also contact the Data Protection Commission in Ireland at www.dataprotection.ie