Social Market Foundation Privacy Policy
The Social Market Foundation (SMF) is a registered charity (charity no. 1000971). Our registered address is Social Market Foundation, Third Floor, 5-6 St Matthew Street, London, SW1P 2JT. We are a non-partisan think tank which believes that fair markets, complemented by open public services, increase prosperity and help people to live well. We conduct research, produce publications and hold events to inform the public, government, business, charities and a number of other stakeholders who have an interest in our work.
This privacy policy sets out how the SMF uses and protects any information that we collect about you. The SMF is responsible for this data and we are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, registering for our events, or engaging with us in any other way as an organisation, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy notice.
The Social Market Foundation may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. We also review our Privacy Policy on annual basis. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 01.01.2012, and was updated in January 2024.
What personal information do we collect about you?
We may collect the following data about you:
- Name and job title;
- Contact information including email address;
- Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests;
- Dietary requirements, for events only;
- Access requirements, for events only.
How do we collect this data?
We collect data through several means, including:
- Directly from individuals themselves who consent to the processing of their data by signing-up to our mailing list, registering for an event, or expressing verbally or by email that they wish to be contacted by us;
- Through desk-based research into key stakeholders and professionals who have an interest in our activities as a charity;
- Via recommendations from stakeholders;
- From Eventbrite, a third-party website used for registering attendees for events hosted by the Social Market Foundation. For more information See Eventbrite’s privacy policy;
- From Campaign Monitor, a third-party mail client used for distributing content to our mailing lists For more information see Campaign Monitor’s privacy policy
- From Vuelio, a third-party website which collects data about journalists which we use for alerting members of the press about our activities as an organisation. For more information see Vuelio’s privacy policy.
Why do we process personal data and what is our legal basis for doing so?
We process personal data about you on the basis of both our and your legitimate interests. This means that in some instances we may process your data in a way which you would reasonably expect in order for us to achieve our charitable objectives. If you want to know more about our purpose as a charity, please visit our page on the Charity Commission’s website. By processing your data, it also means that you can engage with our activities as a charity in a way which is beneficial to you.
We may also contact stakeholders and professionals who have expressed an interest in our work or those who have a key stake in particular topic or policy of interest to the Social Market Foundation.
What do we do with the data we gather?
We may use your personal data for one or all of the following purposes:
- Sending you newsletters – Wonk Week and SMF Monthly – and other content directly related to our activities as an organisation;
- Sending you invitations to our events;
- Carrying out any obligations under contracts entered into between you and us;
- Sharing basic information about you to sponsors, partners, speakers, and attendees at private SMF roundtables;
All personal data is handled by staff at the Social Market Foundation who are aware of their obligation to confidentiality and upholding the data protection policies set out in this notice.
How long is your information kept for?
We keep your personal data for no longer than the purposes for which it was collected. This is defined by both operational and legal considerations. We also carry out an annual review of the data that we are storing and will delete personal information appropriately if this information is no longer relevant to our activities as a charity.
We will not sell, distribute or lease your contact information with third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. If you sign up to attend one of our sponsored or partnered events we may share your name and job title with the event sponsor, partner or speaker for organisational purposes or with the venue for health and safety reasons. For private roundtables, we also circulate attendee lists to those participating in the session with clear instructions that these are not to be published externally. We may very occasionally use your personal information to send you information about the work and activities of third parties which we think you may find interesting.
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect about you.
Information to users of our website
Please note we operate a separate cookies policy for our website. You can find this below.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites on the internet. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Information for event attendees
Dietary and access information
As a standard practice, we ask all attendees at our events to let us know whether they have any dietary or access requirements. We do this in order to make sure everyone is able to attend our events comfortably and safely. We understand that this information may be sensitive and therefore shortly after the event has taken place, we will ensure that any sensitive data is carefully deleted.
Photography and Livestreaming
At most of our public events we take photos and livestream the session on Twitter, via Periscope. Whilst it is never our direct intention to photograph attendees, in some instances this may be unavoidable. All reasonable attempts will be made to ensure that attendees are not impacted by the taking of photographs or streaming of events. However, if you are attending one of our events and have any concerns, please speak to a member of the SMF team or contact events@smf.co.uk in advance of an event you are attending.
Controlling your personal information and understanding your rights in relation to the data we hold
If you have agreed to us using your personal information to contact you about our work and activities, you have the right to change your mind at any time. Under UK data protection law, you also have a number of additional rights, which include:
- The right to request access to any of the personal data we hold about you;
- The right to request correction of the personal data we hold about you;
- The right to request the erasure any data we hold about you;
- The right to object to the processing of your personal data based on legitimate interest or for direct marketing purposes;
- The right to request restriction of use of some or all of your personal information;
If you wish to contact us in order to exercise any of these rights, you can do so by:
- Writing to us at Social Market Foundation, Third Floor, 5-6 St Matthew Street, London, SW1P 2JT
- Emailing us at enquiries@smf.co.uk
You may request details of personal information which we hold about you In order to identify you.
If you believe that any information we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
Social Market Foundation Cookie Policy
What is a cookie and why do we use them on our website?
A cookie is a small text file which asks permission to be stored on your web browser, computer hard drive or mobile device when you first navigate to a website. Our website, like most websites, uses cookies to help us distinguish you from other users of the site and to monitor web traffic. We use this information to make our website more user-friendly.
You will need to either accept all, some or none of these cookies the first time you visit our website. If you’re happy for these cookies to be used, your preferences will be remembered next time you visit the website.
Our website uses the following types of cookies:
| Category | Cookie Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary Cookies | PHPSESSID | Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. |
| Necessary Cookies | cookiesAccepted | Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. |
| Necessary Cookies | cookiesAcceptedGoogle | Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. |
| Necessary Cookies | cookiesAcceptedSoundcloud | Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences. |
| Soundcloud | 'sc_anonymous_id' | Used by Soundcloud to remember preferences and settings when playing embedded Soundcloud media |
| '_ga', '_gat', '_gid' | Used by Google Analytics to provide visitor traffic data on the website |
How to disable cookies
If you want to stop cookies from being used when you visit our website, you’ll need to alter your web browser’s settings. It is different for each browser but we have listed links below to the most popular browsers to show you how to disable cookies. Please note, if you disable all cookies, including necessary cookies, our website may no longer become fully functional.
For web browsers:
Google Chrome
For mobile devices: