Privacy notice

Introduction

We take our data protection duties seriously, because we respect the trust that is being placed in us to use personal information appropriately and responsibly. We are committed to complying with legislation including UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, as well as following good practice processes. This privacy notice has been produced to inform you about your rights and how we use your data.

Community Energy Association (England), company number 09042561, trading as Community Energy England (CEE), is a membership organisation and for its legitimate business interests, must maintain contact information on its members and the wider community energy sector to communicate information on membership, events, training courses, policy, research, working groups and any other Community Energy England services. 

This notice applies to all activities of Community Energy England, including the usage of www.communityenergyengland.org, email communications, events and anywhere else personal data is collected for use by CEE and its partners. 

This notice, and any other documents referred to in it, sets out the basis on which we will process any personal data we collect or process.

We will act in respect of personal data to comply with the six principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which are:

• Lawfulness, fairness and transparency
• Purpose limitation
• Data minimisation
• Accuracy
• Storage limitation
• Integrity and confidentiality

CEE may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. It is important that you read this privacy notice, together with any other privacy notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you, so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data.  This privacy notice supplements other notices and is not intended to take the place of them.

Questions, complaints, subject access requests

We are the data controller of the personal data that we keep and use, and we are therefore responsible for making sure that our systems, processes and people comply with the relevant data protection laws in respect of that personal data.   

The Community Energy England team is responsible for ensuring compliance with the data protection requirements and with this policy. Jessica Vallentine, Chief Operating Officer, is our data protection lead. 

Any questions, concerns or complaints about the operation of this policy should be referred in the first instance to data@communityenergyengland.org or by writing to:

Community Energy Association (England) Ltd
The Workstation
15 Paternoster Row
Sheffield
S1 2BX

Complaints can also be made directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance. 

If you have general feedback or issues other than data, please see our comments & complaints page.

What data we collect

We may collect the following information:

• Identity and contact data: name, job title, company/organisation, contact information including email address, telephone number, postcode, preferences, interests
• Event information: accessibility needs, dietary requirements, attendance.
• Financial data: bank account and payment card details
• Transaction data: detail about payments to and from us and other details of services used
• Technical data: internet protocol (IP) addresses, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices used to access our website
• Recruitment: education, employment history, identity and other background checks
• Other information: relevant to member surveys, State of the Sector and other project delivery

When we collect personal data

We may collect personal data from and about you through:

Direct interactions, when you:

• Enquire, apply for or receive any of our services.
• Purchase one of our services.
• Attend our events.
• Register or use our websites.
• Provide us with feedback.
• Contact us by any means with queries or complaints.
• Enquire, apply for a vacancy with Community Energy England
• Request marketing information to be sent to you.
• Enter a prize draw or competition.
• Complete a survey.

Automated technologies or interactions

• We may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns.  We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.  
• We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. 

Third parties or publicly available sources

We may receive personal data about you from various third parties:

• Technical Data from the following parties:
  • Analytics providers
  • Advertising networks
  • Search information providers 

• Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services 
• Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators 
• Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources such as Companies House

Our website and services are not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

Collaborative projects

We deliver a number of projects in partnership with other organisations. These projects are sometimes governed by a separate private policy, specific to delivery. You can view those policies here:

Energy Learning Network Privacy Notice

Download (DOCX, 382KB) Energy Learning Network Privacy Notice

How we use the information and the lawful basis we rely on to process data

Community Energy England does not collect personal data about individuals except when there is a legitimate business requirement or when such information is provided on a voluntary basis. The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons (lawful basis) why a company may collect and process personal data.  Most commonly, we will use your personal data under:

• contractual necessity, to:
  • deliver your membership benefits or any other services you ask of us, including processing membership applications and renewals
  • fulfill event registrations and other requests
  • deliver projects for which we have been funded
  • report to funders and maintain necessary records
• legitimate interests, to:
  • send emails to our members and subscribers about our work, upcoming events, and other information we of interest, using provided email address and based on preferences
  • customise the website according to interests
• consent, to:
  • improve our delivery of membership and other projects
  •  undertake market research purposes by email, phone, or mail

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Partners and other applications

We use different applications and platforms to deliver our membership and other services and your data is protected by these partners’ data protection efforts. These partners may require data to be transferred outside the UK/EEA with safeguards in place through standard contractual clauses. More information can be found in these partners’ privacy notices.

These partners include:

• Eventbrite – for event registration
• Mailchimp – for email communications
• Mailgun – for email communications
• Capsule – for customer relationship management
• Survey Monkey – for survey and research
• Xero – for financial information
• DIAS – for web site development

The only information we publicly share from the Join us form can be found on Our members page. This is generic information about an organisation. No individual data is shared. 

Through our websites we also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose.  Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law, as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with business services).  In this case, we may have to cancel a service you have with us but we will notify you at the time.

Marketing communications

Community Energy England, sends promotional information highlighting its events, training courses, membership services, projects, policy and research work, member’s offers and other relevant opportunities. 

From time to time, Community Energy England collaborates with other relevant organisations and companies to promote other programmes that may be of interest to members and the wider community. In such cases, Community Energy England does not provide these organisations with any personally identifiable information but may distribute the organisation’s information on their behalf to those who may legitimately benefit from receiving such information or have elected to receive such information. 

If you do not wish to receive marketing communications, you may opt out. Every marketing e-mail will include an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom. You may also notify Community Energy England by emailing data@communityenergyengland.org.

Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated. For example, where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, you will still receive operational emails from us, for instance if we need to request information needed for a service you are receiving. If your parent organisation has nominated you as a relevant contact required to receive information on its behalf as part of its membership, you cannot opt out of important information CEE are required to provide you as per our contractual obligations to our members.

Third party marketing

We take your data very seriously and will not share your personal data with any organisation outside of Community Energy England for marketing purposes.  

How we use cookies

Our website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to provide you with personalized services. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device when you visit our website. They help us remember your preferences, understand how you interact with our site, and improve our services.

We use different types of cookies, including:

• Strictly necessary cookies: These are essential for the operation of our website and enable you to navigate and use its features.
• Analytical/performance cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited most often and if users encounter error messages. This data helps us to improve the performance of our website.
• Functionality cookies: These are used to recognize you when you return to our website and allow us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name, and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
• Targeting cookies: These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited, and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website more relevant to your interests.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

You have the option to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. For more information on how to manage cookies, please refer to your browser’s help documentation.

How we protect personal data

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. 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.

We take appropriate security measures against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data, and against the accidental or unlawful destruction, damage, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed.

We have procedures and technologies to maintain the security of all personal data from the point of the determination of the means for processing and point of data collection to the point of destruction. Personal data will only be transferred to a data processor if they agree to comply with those procedures and policies, or if they put in place adequate measures.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

How long we keep personal data

We will only retain personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. 

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of the personal data, the purposes for which we process personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

In some circumstances we may anonymise personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with an individual) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further consent, in line with our Data Retention Policy.

How you can make changes to your personal data

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current.  Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.  You can do this by:

• Updating your data held in your online account on www.communityenergyengland.org  if you have registered on the site.
• Emailing: data@communityenergyengland.org

Your legal rights over your personal data

Under certain circumstances, you have the right by law to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.
• Request correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
• Request erasure of your personal data.
• Request restriction of processing of your personal data 
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on your legitimate interest and there is something about your particular situation, which makes you want to object to processing on this ground.  You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes, where this is not linked to emails or calls which are required in the operational delivery of contracts or service you are signed up to. 
• Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. 

You have the right to request a copy of any information about you that Community Energy England  holds at any time, and also to have that information corrected if it is inaccurate. 

You will not normally have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights).  However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive.  Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights).  This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.  We may also contact you to ask for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.  

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month.  Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests.  In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

If we choose not to action your request we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact our Data Protection Officer: data@communityenergyengland.org

Last reviewed: 13/10/25

Version: 2