Privacy Policy

Last updated: 15 September 2026

The Order of The Magi respects the privacy of its members, visitors, applicants and anyone who contacts or attends events organised by the society.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how it is used and stored, and the rights you have in relation to your personal information.

The Order of The Magi is an unincorporated members’ society and is the data controller for the personal information covered by this policy.

For questions about this policy or the way we use your personal information, please contact:

The Order of The Magi
Email: webmaster@orderofthemagi.co.uk

1. The information we collect

The information we collect depends upon your relationship with the Order.

Membership applications and membership records

If you apply for membership, we may collect information including:

• your name, postal address, email address and telephone number;
• your occupation and age range;
• information about your interest, experience and involvement in magic;
• relevant websites or social-media profiles you choose to provide;
• information about your connection with existing members;
• other information you choose to provide in support of your application; and
• confirmation that you agree to abide by the rules of the society.

Applications may be made through our online Google Form or by completing and returning a membership application by email or post.

The Council does not routinely receive applicants’ addresses, telephone numbers or other unnecessary contact information. Council members may be given the applicant’s name and relevant information about their interest, history or experience in magic where this is necessary to consider an application.

Membership decisions are made by people. We do not use automated decision-making, automated scoring or profiling to determine membership applications.

For current members, we maintain a central membership record containing the information necessary to administer their membership. This includes contact details, date joined, membership and subscription status and relevant application information. We do not use the membership list to record Council opinions or subjective assessments of members.

Where a member supplies updated contact information, our active records are updated and superseded contact details are not routinely retained.

Membership payments and financial information

We maintain basic records of membership subscriptions and other payments. These may include a person’s name, amount paid, date, membership year and payment reference.

Where we make payments or reimburse expenses, our records may include the recipient’s name, amount and date, reason for the payment and supporting documents such as invoices or receipts.

We also retain bank statements as part of our financial records. These may contain names, transaction amounts, dates and payment references.

Card payments are processed by our payment service provider. The Order does not receive or store customers’ full card details.

Event bookings

Some events are booked through TicketSource.

Where somebody books an event, the Order may receive information necessary to administer the booking, such as their name, email address and booking details. Customers may also choose to provide additional information to TicketSource.

The Order does not receive customers’ full card payment details from TicketSource.

Information obtained in connection with a booking is used for administering that booking and communicating with the customer about the relevant event. We do not add event customers to a marketing mailing list.

Enquiries and correspondence

If you contact us by email, telephone or social media, we may receive your name, email address, social-media profile information, telephone number and any other information you choose to provide.

This information is used to answer your enquiry or deal with the matter you have contacted us about.

We do not maintain a database of people who have merely enquired about membership, attended an event or contacted the society.

Telephone calls are not routinely recorded. Notes may be retained where an enquiry requires further action.

Members’ communications

We use members’ contact details to administer the society and communicate matters relevant to membership. This may include meeting information, agendas, changes to the programme, society announcements and other administrative or society news.

Bulk membership emails are normally sent using BCC so that recipients’ email addresses are not disclosed to other recipients.

Telephone numbers may occasionally be used where an important or time-sensitive matter needs to be communicated.

We do not sell, rent or provide the membership list to advertisers, lecturers, other magic societies or other organisations for marketing purposes.

If somebody asks us for another member’s contact details, our normal practice is to pass the message to that member so that they can decide whether they wish to make contact, rather than disclosing their personal contact information.

Lecturers, performers and other professional contacts

We may retain contact information, correspondence, agreed fees, invoices, receipts and payment information relating to lecturers, performers and other people engaged by the Order.

Lecturers and performers may also provide publicity material such as photographs, biographies, website addresses and descriptions of their lectures or performances. Material supplied for publicity may be used to promote their appearance through our website, programme, magazine, social-media accounts and other appropriate society publicity.

2. Photographs and video

Photographs and occasional video recordings may be taken at meetings, lectures, competitions, social occasions and other events organised by the Order.

These may be used to document and promote the activities of the society and may appear on our website, social-media accounts, in The Magi magazine or within our historical archive.

We generally rely upon our legitimate interests in documenting the activities and history of the society and promoting its events and activities. We take into account the reasonable expectations and privacy of the people involved.

Anyone who does not wish to appear in photographs or video may speak to a society officer. We will consider requests concerning particular photographs or recordings and, where appropriate and reasonably practicable, will avoid publication or remove material.

Historical photographs, published event reports, magazines and similar records are not routinely altered or destroyed simply because somebody later ceases to be a member. They may continue to be retained as part of the Order’s historical record.

Children may occasionally appear incidentally in general photographs taken at larger public events. The Order does not deliberately take individual or posed photographs of an identifiable child for publication without appropriate permission.

3. Children and young people

The Order of The Magi does not operate a youth section and does not specifically target children or young people for membership.

Membership applications are not accepted from children under 16.

It is possible for a person aged 16 or 17 to apply for membership. Where we process information relating to somebody under 18, we take particular care to use the information only where appropriate and necessary.

Children attending events organised by the Order must be accompanied by an adult.

4. The Magi magazine and society records

The Magi is the society’s members-only magazine.

It may contain members’ names, photographs, competition results, reports of meetings and events, achievements, notices and other information relating to the activities and history of the society.

Copies of the magazine are primarily distributed to members by email and may subsequently be made available in the password-protected members’ section of our website.

Historic editions are retained as part of the society’s permanent historical record.

5. Minutes, competitions and historical records

Formal minutes of Council meetings, Annual General Meetings and other official meetings are retained as part of the Order’s governance and historical records.

Minutes may contain the names of members where this is necessary to provide an accurate record of proceedings, for example where somebody proposes or seconds a motion.

The Secretary may also retain contemporary notes made during meetings where these may be necessary to clarify or evidence what occurred. These records are kept securely and are not available to the general public.

The Order retains historical records of competition winners, including winners’ names and dates. This information may also be permanently engraved on society trophies.

We do not routinely retain individual judges’ scoring sheets or written assessments of competitors.

6. Historical archives

The Order has existed since 1909 and preserving the history of the society is an important part of its activities.

Historical records may therefore contain names, photographs, correspondence, programmes, minutes, magazine articles and other information concerning past members, officers, performers and events.

Some historic material has also been deposited with Manchester Central Library. This collection may include personal information which formed part of documents at the time, such as names and addresses appearing on historic correspondence. Access to the Order’s deposited archive is controlled.

Historical material is not treated in the same way as the Order’s current administrative membership records and may be retained permanently where there is a genuine historical or archival purpose.

7. Our website

Visitors do not need to create an individual account to use our website.

Members-only material is protected by a shared password rather than individual member accounts. WordPress may use a functional cookie to recognise that the correct password has been entered. This does not identify which individual member is accessing the protected material.

Members and visitors cannot upload photographs or other files directly to the website.

People may voluntarily send photographs, articles or other material to the Order for possible inclusion on the website, in The Magi, on social media or within the society’s archive. We use such material in a manner appropriate to the purpose for which it was supplied.

Comments are disabled on our WordPress website, so the website does not collect names, email addresses or comments through a WordPress commenting system.

8. Website analytics

We use StatCounter to help us understand how our website is being used.

This can provide information such as pages viewed, approximate geographical area, referring websites, browser and device information, downloads and links followed from our website.

We have configured StatCounter so that full visitor IP addresses are not stored in our StatCounter statistics and its ordinary visitor-identification cookie is disabled.

We use this information to understand general website usage and improve the content and operation of the site. We do not use our website analytics to try to identify individual visitors.

Our hosting provider may also automatically create technical server logs for security, troubleshooting and operation of the website. The Order does not routinely access these logs to identify or monitor individual visitors.

9. Social sharing and third-party content

Individual blog posts may include optional sharing links provided through AddToAny.

If you choose to share content through a third-party service, such as a social network, your interaction with that service is subject to the privacy arrangements of the service concerned.

Some pages or older articles may also contain content provided or embedded by third-party websites, such as video content. Viewing or interacting with such content may result in information being sent to the third-party provider.

We recommend reviewing the privacy information provided by the relevant third-party service where appropriate.

10. Social media

The Order maintains accounts on social-media platforms.

If you contact us through one of these services, the relevant platform will process information in accordance with its own privacy arrangements. The Order may retain correspondence within the platform where it remains relevant to society business or may be needed for future reference.

Access to private social-media messages is restricted to authorised society officers.

We do not use social-media enquiries to create marketing lists or profiles of individuals.

11. Why we use personal information

Depending upon the circumstances, we process personal information because it is necessary:

For our legitimate interests, including administering and operating the society, communicating with members, responding to enquiries, organising events, maintaining appropriate governance records, protecting the society and its members, documenting our activities, promoting the society and preserving its history.

When relying on legitimate interests, we consider the purpose for which the information is required, whether its use is necessary and the effect that its use may have upon the individual concerned.

For the performance of an agreement or to take steps at an individual’s request, for example when processing a membership application, administering membership, arranging an event booking or engaging a lecturer.

To comply with a legal obligation, where we are required to retain or disclose information by law.

For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, where this becomes necessary.

Where we specifically ask for consent for a particular use of personal information, that consent may be withdrawn at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing which lawfully took place before consent was withdrawn.

12. Serious incidents, complaints and disciplinary matters

Where necessary, the Order may retain records concerning serious incidents, complaints, disciplinary decisions or bans.

Such information is retained only where there is a continuing reason to do so, for example to protect the society, its members or its events, to maintain an accurate record of a Council decision, or where the information may be required in connection with a dispute or legal claim.

Access to such information is restricted according to need. Personal information relating to sensitive matters is not routinely included in minutes circulated more widely than necessary.

13. Special category and sensitive information

The Order does not routinely ask members to provide information concerning matters such as health, disability, religion, sexual orientation or other special category personal information.

People may occasionally choose to disclose sensitive information themselves in correspondence or free-text responses. We will only use such information where necessary and where we have an appropriate lawful basis for doing so.

For the annual barbecue, we may ask whether particular dietary options are required. Wherever practicable this is recorded as anonymous totals, for example the number of vegetarian, vegan or Halal meals required, rather than being linked to named individuals.

14. Who has access to personal information?

Access to personal information held by the Order is restricted to authorised officers who require it to carry out their society responsibilities.

The Order maintains a central working membership record rather than distributing permanent copies of the membership list throughout the Council.

Where an officer changes, information and access required for the role are transferred appropriately. Information should not continue to be retained by an outgoing officer without a legitimate reason.

Historic email correspondence may be reviewed before an email account passes to a new officer so that confidential material which the incoming officer has no need to access can be removed where appropriate.

15. Service providers and other organisations

We use third-party services where necessary to operate the society and its website. These include services providing:

• website and email hosting;
• online forms, documents and cloud storage;
• event ticketing and payment processing;
• banking and card-payment facilities;
• website analytics; and
• social-media and online sharing facilities.

These currently include providers such as D9 Hosting, Google, TicketSource and StatCounter.

These organisations may process information on our behalf or, in some circumstances, act as independent data controllers for the services they provide.

We do not sell personal information or provide membership lists to third parties for commercial marketing.

We may disclose information where we are legally required to do so or where disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law.

16. Information processed outside the UK

Some of the service providers used by the Order operate internationally and information may therefore be processed or stored outside the United Kingdom.

Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, the relevant provider’s contractual or other approved transfer arrangements are used where applicable.

17. How long we keep information

We do not keep personal information for longer than is reasonably required for the purpose for which it is held, although different types of information need to be retained for different periods.

Unsuccessful membership applications are deleted or destroyed after the applicant has been notified.

Successful membership applications and current membership details are retained while the individual remains a member. If a member resigns, their current application and contact information are removed. Where membership lapses because subscriptions have not been paid, current membership information is normally removed after approximately three months.

Former members’ email addresses are removed from active member communication records.

Routine enquiries and correspondence are deleted when they are no longer required. Correspondence having continuing administrative, financial, legal or historical relevance may be retained for longer.

Event booking information is retained only for as long as reasonably required for administration, financial record-keeping or any other legitimate purpose. Booking providers may retain information in accordance with their own retention arrangements.

Financial and accounting records, including bank statements, invoices and payment records, are retained for the period reasonably required for accounting, taxation, legal and society governance purposes.

Formal minutes, historic magazines, competition winners, photographs and genuine historical archive material may be retained permanently as part of the Order’s governance and historical record.

Serious incident and disciplinary records may be retained for as long as a continuing decision or legitimate need remains. For example, a record of a lifetime ban may need to be retained so that the decision can continue to be enforced.

18. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

These measures include restricting access to authorised officers, password protection, appropriate backup arrangements and the security measures provided by the services and hosting providers we use.

No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we aim to use measures proportionate to the nature of the information we hold.

19. Your data-protection rights

Depending upon the circumstances, data-protection law gives you rights including the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you and obtain a copy;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to erase personal information in certain circumstances;
• ask us to restrict the way information is used in certain circumstances;
• object to certain processing, including processing based upon legitimate interests;
• receive certain information in a portable format where the right to data portability applies; and
• withdraw consent where we are relying upon consent.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. For example, the right to erasure does not automatically mean that accurate historical records, legal records or information which must legitimately be retained have to be destroyed.

To exercise your rights, contact:

webmaster@orderofthemagi.co.uk

We may need to ask for sufficient information to confirm your identity before disclosing personal information.

There is normally no charge for exercising your data-protection rights.

20. Complaints

If you have a concern about the way The Order of The Magi has handled your personal information, please contact us in the first instance at:

webmaster@orderofthemagi.co.uk

We will consider the matter and respond appropriately.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data-protection regulator.

Information Commissioner’s Office

21. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the way the Order operates, the services we use or applicable data-protection requirements.

The current version will be published on this website with the date of the most recent update shown at the top of the page.