The Duchess Golf Club ("DGC", "we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Data Controller

The Duchess Golf Club is the data controller responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us at admin@duchessgolfclub.com.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following personal data when you apply for membership or use our services:

Name, email address, phone number, date of birth, and gender

Golf handicap index and home club

Social media handles (Instagram, TikTok)

Business ownership information

Membership preferences and event attendance history

Payment and billing information (processed securely via third-party providers)

Device information and app usage data

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

Process and manage your membership application

Provide access to events, tee time bookings, and partner offers

Communicate with you about your membership, events, and updates

Personalise your experience based on skill level and preferences

Process payments for Club membership and event bookings

Comply with legal and regulatory obligations

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data on the following legal bases:

Consent: You have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for specific purposes.

Contract: Processing is necessary to fulfil our membership agreement with you.

Legitimate interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as improving our services.

Legal obligation: Processing is necessary to comply with the law.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data with:

Payment processors (e.g. Stripe, GoCardless) to process transactions

Email service providers to send communications

Partner golf clubs and venues solely for the purpose of facilitating bookings

Legal authorities where required by law

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your membership is active and for up to 2 years after it ends. Application data for rejected applicants is retained for 6 months. You may request deletion of your data at any time.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (SSL/TLS), secure cloud storage, and access controls. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

Access your personal data

Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data

Erase your data ("right to be forgotten")

Restrict or object to processing

Data portability

Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at admin@duchessgolfclub.com.

9. Cookies & Analytics

Our mobile app may collect anonymised usage data to help us improve the service. We do not use tracking cookies. Any analytics data collected is aggregated and cannot be used to identify individual users.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes via email or in-app notification. Continued use of our services after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact & Complaints

If you have any concerns about how we handle your data, please contact us at admin@duchessgolfclub.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.