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Privacy
Policy.

Introduction

At BALPA we are committed to protecting your privacy and promise to respect your personal information and do all we can to keep it safe. We aim to be clear about how we process your personal details and only process them in ways we believe you would reasonably expect.

We always aim to communicate with you respectfully, effectively and efficiently. As a member of BALPA you will receive our quarterly publication, digital communications and general newsletters plus there is a forum for you to express your views on a range of issues subject to the rules in force from time to time. As a legitimate aim of BALPA we shall communicate with you in ways that are most convenient using email, SMS, phone or post to further the aims and objectives of BALPA as captured in the rulebook. This will include being involved in communications with a legitimate interest including company newsletters, ballots, elections and surveys related to the core industrial relations issues that affect you and your colleagues in the workplace.

When you join BALPA we collect your personal details

We store your personal details on the BALPA secure database; it is a legitimate aim of a trade union to provide you with information about furthering the aims and objectives of BALPA covering themes that are technical, flight safety oriented and industrial relations related. Therefore, we need to keep your personal contact details as up to date as possible.

When you participate in our surveys or when you apply for assistance with technical or legal matters relating to your professional duties we will carefully and securely store your personal information.
If you are involved in a BALPA disciplinary matter relating to a breach of the BALPA rulebook the outcome of a disciplinary hearing including your name may be released to the BALPA membership.  On each occasion BALPA’s NEC will conduct a balancing exercise to consider the legitimate interest in favour of publication set against the rights and freedoms of those whose names and sanctions will be published.  There will be an evaluation of the balance between the benefits to BALPA and the wider BALPA membership from publication, such as openness, democratic transparency, and improving behaviour as against the impact of publication on the individuals concerned.  This process will consider the specific (and separate) ground for processing which is available to BALPA as a trade union.  The relevant ground for processing sensitive personal data within trade unions is as follows:
“processing is carried out in the course of its legitimate activities with appropriate safeguards by a foundation, association or any other not-for-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim and on condition that the processing relates solely to the members or to former members of the body or to persons who have regular contact with it in connection with its purpose and the personal data are not disclosed outside that body without consent of the data subjects”.
We do not share any of your personal details with third parties external to BALPA without your consent. For example, we would need your consent to share your personal information with an appointed lawyer if BALPA recommends that the legal profession should be approached for advice about an incident that involves you.

When you give it to us indirectly, for example, when we undertake membership mapping in the workplace we will check that our database is up to date from information gleaned from your elected representatives in the workplace to ensure that our membership data is up to date. You will appreciate that taking industrial action, albeit always a last resort, requires BALPA under current legislation to declare the strength of the membership. Therefore, keeping our database up to date is an important legitimate aim, which is facilitated through regular membership mapping by comparing and contrasting pilot lists from your employer.

When other organisations have permission to share your details or it is available publicly

In addition to the data you give us on joining the association and participating in our legitimate trade union activities, we may seek further information about you that is publicly available from external sources. We use this information to enable us to update you about our work and how you can get involved in the most appropriate ways to support our aims and objectives:

  • Social media

Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, Whatsapp or Twitter, we might have permission to access information from those sources to show you our own social media feeds.

  • Other information that is available publicly

This may include information found in publicly available sources such as Companies House, LinkedIn, Government websites, biographical directories and information that has been published in reputable media.
 
What personal information might we collect from you?

In supporting BALPA through your membership with us, we will usually 
collect:

  • Your name
  • Your contact details, including postal address, email, telephone numbers
  • Your date of birth
  • Bank account details for your subscriptions made by direct debit
  • Your rank, base and position within your company
  • Your interests in aviation and other interests where necessary
  • Other personal information or sensitive data you share with us, such as your family information, health information you may have told us about that will help BALPA support you with internal issues with your employer or external issues with the regulator or legal system.

What personal information might we collect from you?

In supporting BALPA through your membership with us, we will usually 
collect:

  • Your name
  • Your contact details, including postal address, email, telephone numbers
  • Your date of birth
  • Bank account details for your subscriptions made by direct debit
  • Your rank, base and position within your company
  • Your interests in aviation and other interests where necessary
  • Other personal information or sensitive data you share with us, such as your family information, health information you may have told us about that will help BALPA support you with internal issues with your employer or external issues with the regulator or legal system.

How do we use this information?

 The information we gather helps us to send you what you want to keep you apprised of industrial relations issues and technical developments relating to the aviation industry where BALPA conducts lobbying and campaigning on your behalf as a respected professional body.
It also helps us to shape our trade union activities to ensure that our communication is relevant and timely, and to provide you with a good experience of being a supporter of BALPA. 

Importantly, having accurate information that we can analyse enables us to tailor approaches and to be wise stewards of the resources entrusted to us, ensuring that we maximise the return on our efforts to improve flight safety in the industry and enhance terms and conditions of employment over time.

We will use your personal information to:

  • Provide you with the information, resources or services that form the basis of your membership of BALPA
  • Keep you up to date with the work you are supporting as a BALPA member both by your own elected representatives and the broader association linking to the affiliations with the 
  • European Cockpit Association, International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations and the International Transport Federation.
  • Administer your membership
  • Keep a record of your subscriptions, questions you have asked us, or comments or complaints you have made
  • Understand how we can improve our services based on your interests and interactions with us
  • Understand how we can improve our services, and the resources or information we send out to you