Oxford Contemporary Music (OCM) is committed to protecting any personal data we hold. We will use the information that we collect about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018.

OCM (Oxford Contemporary Music) is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity (no. 1062845).

This privacy policy explains how and why we obtain, use and protect any personal information.

Why we hold and process personal data

We hold and process personal data for a number of reasons:

• To send our subscribers marketing information about our event news, fundraising activities, volunteering opportunities, and professional news, where we have their consent.
• To fulfil contractual obligations entered into with customers e.g. online ticket purchases
• To keep a record of donations made by our supporters and our communications with them.
• To claim gift aid on donations
• To support volunteers
• To ensure we do not send unwanted information to anyone who has informed us they do not wish to be contacted.

When and why we will send you marketing communications

OCM will only contact you for marketing purposes (e.g. event news, fundraising activity) where we have your consent.

If you have given your consent, we will send you information about event news, fundraising, volunteering or professional development opportunities and information for those working in music and sonic arts. We may also share information and opportunities from partner organisations or organisations who support us. 

You can sign up to our marketing communications via the “Mailing List” section of the OCM website (www.ocmevents.org), via sign up forms on our social media pages (such as Facebook), or in person at our live events.

We will not send you marketing material if you tell us you do not want to receive it. See the section "Giving you control" below to see how to opt out of our marketing emails, post, or other communications if you would like to stop receiving these.

Audience Surveys

OCM may contact customers to gather their opinions and demographic information. This is for the purposes of producing statistical analysis to support our business planning activities and our funding obligations. OCM is the data controller. 

How and when we collect information

1. When you give us your data DIRECTLY

We collect information about you when you sign up to our mailing lists, book tickets for our events, or make a donation. We also collect information when you voluntarily complete customer surveys, provide feedback or otherwise communicate with us. 

We maintain a record of your transaction history, but we currently use box office platforms or agents, which means we never store your full card number (although we may keep a note of the last four digits to help us identify transactions).

We keep a record of the emails we send you, and we may track whether you receive or open them to help us make future emails more relevant. 

2. When you give us your data INDIRECTLY

Your information may be shared with us by independent box office agents like Eventbrite or venue/partner box offices. It is necessary to share this information so that OCM can have the correct ticket information to run our events on the night.  

Your information may also be shared with us by independent fundraising sites like Total Giving or JustGiving if you make a donation to Oxford Contemporary Music, but only when you have indicated that you give your consent to hear from us. You should check the Privacy Policy when you provide your information to understand fully how these organisations will process your data.

3. When you access OCM’s Social Media

We use social media to publicise our activity. On occasion we may reply to your comments or questions on social media platforms. You may also see adverts from us on social media that are tailored to your interests.

Depending on your settings or the privacy policies on social media and messaging services like Facebook or X, you might give third parties (like Oxford Contemporary Music) permission to access information from those accounts or services. To change your settings on these services, please refer to their privacy notices, which will tell you how to do this.

4. When we use cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. OCM’s website (www.ocmevents.org) uses cookies to improve your user experience. We use Google Analytics and Hotjar to analyse the use of our website. You can read Google’s privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB  and Hotjar’s privacy policy at https://www.hotjar.com/privacy/ 

Our website also uses anonymous cookies, which means it does not collect personal data. These are for PHP garbage collection and site caching, both of which are collected only to ensure the website runs correctly.  

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above websites tell you how to remove cookies from your browser. However in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result. For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org 

What information OCM might collect

We only collect personal data relevant to the type of transactions you have with OCM. For example, when you purchase a ticket, complete an audience survey, make a donation, sign up to our marketing communications, or you telephone, email or write to OCM, or engage with OCM via social media channels, we may receive and retain personal information about you. 

The information we collect is relevant to the type of transaction you are entering into (e.g. booking a ticket) with details such as your name, email address, postal address, and contact number.

Data and our Recruitment Process

Job applications and applications for our opportunities are kept for 12 months. 

Applicants for our jobs or opportunities may be asked to complete a diversity monitoring form. This data is held for 12 months unless you ask us to delete it sooner. Anonymised aggregate statistics may be held for longer.

For freelancers who we might work with at intervals over a longer period of time, contact details and information about professional skills may be kept on file for up to three years. Every three years we will make contact to ask if you would like us to update or delete your information. If other organisations ask us to recommend a freelancer, we will only give them your information if you consent to this. (We may share information which is already public, for example a link to your professional website, without asking for consent).

OCM holds information about artists we are considering booking for a gig, including artists who have approached us and those we have discovered ourselves. 

Information about our past events is held in our archive, including contracts, publicity materials, and photo and video documentation of events. We will remove any images or videos of people who do not wish to be recorded. Notices are displayed at our gigs to indicate when we are videoing and/or taking photos.

Sensitive Personal Data

We do not collect protected personal characteristics (e.g. health status, age, gender etc.), unless there is a clear reason for doing so. Examples of this is audience surveys and equality and diversity monitoring forms, which help us to better understand the demographic of our audiences and staff in order to measure the impact and reach of our activities. In some cases, our funders may require us to give anonymised information on audience demographics and feedback. Clear notices will be provided on surveys, or other forms collecting sensitive data, so that it is clear what information we need and why we need it.

All sensitive personal data is stored securely and is only accessible to the necessary and relevant staff. It is deleted when no longer relevant, is never shared with third parties, and is available to you at any point should you wish to see it.

How will we use the information about you

OCM will use your personal information for the following purposes:

1) Administrative reasons:

If you book a ticket or make a donation we may need to contact you for reasons relating to the completion of the transaction or additional details about the event.

To confirm receipt of purchases or donations.

In relation to correspondence you have entered into with us whether by letter, email, phone, social media, message board or any other means and to contact you about any content you provide. 

For internal record keeping so as to keep a record of your relationship with us.

To implement any instructions you give to us with regard to withdrawing consent to send marketing information or informing us through the Fundraising Preference Service that you do not wish to receive fundraising information.

2) For marketing and fundraising reasons:

We use this data, if you agree, to email you about events, other activities or information you asked for. 

We may use your booking history to tailor the correspondence we send to you.

Also see the above section "What Information OCM Might Collect."

3. To produce statistical analysis:

To invite you to participate in surveys or research about OCM or our work (participation is always voluntary);

To produce statistical analysis to support our business planning activities and our funding obligations;

To analyse and improve activities and content offered by the OCM email communication, website and social media pages;

We may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes.

4. For recruitment:

To process your application for an OCM job or opportunity

To consider you for freelance work with OCM

How we keep your details secure

Your personal data will be held and processed on Oxford Contemporary Music’s systems. Your data is always held securely. Access to personal data is controlled and only made visible to members of staff who have a reason to work with it.

Sharing of data

1) Third Parties

We will only use your information within OCM for the purposes for which it was obtained. We will not share or sell personal details to any third parties for their own marketing purposes, and you will not receive marketing from any other companies, charities or organisations as a result of giving your details to us. (We may sometimes recommend carefully selected gigs or events by other organisations in our own communications).

2) OCM’s partners

Many of OCM’s events are produced and presented in partnership with other organisations. We will let them know about your booking and, if necessary for the running of the event, will share your name and contact details.  This data sharing will always be done securely and in line with Data Protection law. The other organisations cannot contact you unless you have consented to joining their mailing list.

3) Sharing anonymised information

We share anonymised personal information with funders such as Arts Council England (www.artscouncil.org.uk), who analyse the data to help us better understand our audiences and the impact of the public investment made in Oxford Contemporary Music.

4) Where legally required

We may need to disclose your details if required to by the police, regulatory bodies, or legal advisors, subject to such bodies providing us with a relevant request in writing.

We will only share your data in other circumstances if we have your consent.

How long we keep personal data

We hold personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, for example we will keep a record of ticket purchases for at least seven years to comply with HMRC rules.

If you request that we stop sending you marketing materials we will keep a record of your contact details and appropriate information to enable us to comply with your request not to be contacted by us.

We keep your data for a maximum of 12 months unless you have opted into another condition.

Giving you control

1. Changing your preferences

If at any point you would like to change your preferences or opt out of these communications you can do so, either by following the “unsubscribe” instructions in the emails or by contacting Oxford Contemporary Music on 01865 419002 or info@ocmevents.org. If you signed up to receive emails, you will have received a confirmation email from Mailchimp with a link to change your email preferences. You can also change your preferences by contacting us on 01865 419002 or info@ocmevents.org.

If you have opted out of our communications, we may still get in touch to give you important information about an event booking.

2. Access to your information and correction

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you and to request that inaccuracies in your data are corrected. 

You have the right to request us to stop processing your personal data. 

You have the right to withdraw consent at any point.

3. Complaints

If you would like to lodge a complaint with us please contact Sarah Mayhew Craddock (full details at the bottom of this policy). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office or the Fundraising Regulator.

Other websites

Our website contains links to other websites. This privacy policy only applies to this website so when you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies. 

Changes to our privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 30 September 2024.

How to contact us

Please contact Sarah Mayhew Craddock if you have any questions about our privacy policy or information we hold about you:

OCM Office: 01865 419002

Email: sarah@ocmevents.org

Post to: OCM, Room 136 Headington Hill Hall, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP.