/ About the Royal Society / Terms, conditions and policies

Privacy policy

The Royal Society is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Policy sets out how and why we (the Royal Society including the UK Young Academy (UKYA)) use your personal data, and how we protect your privacy when doing so.

Please read the following carefully to understand how we will use your 'personal data'. 'Personal data' means any information relating to you, through which you can be identified either directly or indirectly such as name and contact details, biographical information or information about your interests/qualifications. 

There are types of personal data that are more sensitive in nature and therefore require a higher level of protection; this type of data is classified as ‘special categories of personal data’.

(Examples of special categories of personal data include race; ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; genetic data; biometric data used for identification purposes; health data; sex life; or sexual orientation.)

The UKYA is a joint initiative between the Royal Society and six partner National Academies (Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy, Learned Society of Wales, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh) operating across the UK and Ireland. Personal data relevant to the UKYA and its activities may be shared with the partner academies in order to facilitate the initiation and planning of the UKYA . Further details on how your personal data is used can be found below.

Changes to this privacy policy

We keep this Policy under regular review and it may be modified from time to time. Please check back here for further updates. This policy was last updated on 31 October 2024.

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Fellows and Foreign Members

When you are elected as a Fellow or Foreign Member of the Royal Society, your personal data is stored on our central database using information from your nomination forms and from your completed New Fellows forms. This information is periodically updated at your request, and from surveys that we conduct which you participate in. As your Fellowship or Foreign Membership is for life, we retain this information in perpetuity (without prejudice to your data protection rights, as outlined below).

As part of your relationship with us, you may be asked to support or get involved in some of the Society’s activities, such as joining a committee, becoming a referee, speaking at events, or attending meetings or events. You will also receive Fellowship communications from the President and Executive Director which you are welcome to unsubscribe from at any time. 

Factual information, such as your name, the year you were elected, any Medals or Awards you have received, reports for which you were on the Working or Advisory Group, and any Committees you have served on may be made available in the public domain through our website, and in reports where relevant. Records of conferences or major workshops we hold (alone or jointly) may also be published, including the names of those attending. 

Information we hold about you is stored on our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

Candidates for Fellowship and Foreign Membership

Candidates being elected for Fellowship or Foreign Membership are requested to acknowledge their nomination and will be informed of our intention to keep their personal details on file. Personal data that is provided to us for the purposes of the election process will be kept securely at the Society for seven years (from the initial year of nomination) in the case of a first nomination, and three years (from the initial year of nomination) in the case of any subsequent nominations. 

As part of the election process, your personal data will be supplied to third parties in a selected peer group chosen from the same scientific field or knowledge sector for the purposes of refereeing. These third parties will be mainly Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society, however some non-Fellows within and outside of the UK and the EEA may also be approached. References that we receive about you will be retained in electronic format on our nomination system for two years after each election while you are a nominee. A complete set of references in hard copy will be transferred to our historical archives at the conclusion of every election. On election, or in the event of your nomination lapsing, your references will also be removed from the nominations system to our historical archives. Personal data stored in our archives will be held for the purpose of historical public and research interest and, in the case of nominations to the Fellowship, will not be made accessible until the death of all individuals involved. 

If you are successfully elected to the Fellowship, the information that was submitted about you will be used as the basis for your Fellowship record and Royal Society website profile. If you are unsuccessful, your nomination and identifying data such as name, date of birth and contact details will be retained by us should a further nomination be made at a later date, but all other personal data about you will be deleted.

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Grant applicants and holders

The Royal Society Grants Programme includes all grants listed here.

The Royal Society uses personal data submitted by users of our grants management and awards system, Flexi-Grant®, for the following purposes:

  • Processing applications, making and administering grants and awards, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting, including statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of research and the study of trends; 
  • Evaluating and assessing activities, research outputs and impact arising from grants and awards by selected third parties, such as independent evaluators, consultancy groups, and career development organisations (some of whom may be based outside of the UK and the EEA); 
  • In connection with any independent internal and external audit of the Royal Society; 
  • Processing award finances and payments to your employing host organisation; 
  • Contacting you about our activities and events - or to help inform or evaluate these events, our application processes, strategy and policy work - in the form of newsletters, social media, surveys, and questionnaires. Where required by law, we only send direct marketing communications by email (or other electronic means) to an individual's private address when we have their prior consent; 
  • Maintaining your details as part of our alumni programme once your grant comes to an end. 

In assessing your application, we share details of your application with panel members and independent reviewers that are not employees of the Society. Please see the section on ‘Panel members and independent reviewers’ below for further information. 

We may publish details of successful grants and awards, and their outputs, including your name, employing host organisation, project title, summary of the award, scientific abstracts, lay summaries, and the value of your award on our public website, or via publicly available databases or other publications, some of which may be accessible from outside of the UK and the EEA. 

We may contact you for your consent to use information relating to you or your grant in the promotion of the Royal Society’s programmes for example in the form of case studies, blog post and other similar activities.

Any information you elect to provide during the application processes relating to gender, age, disability, ethnic origin, or nationality will be used only for the purposes of monitoring diversity and equality and stored confidentially in accordance with applicable legal obligations. Diversity data is reported on anonymously. 

Personal data may be provided by third parties as part of the application process, and this data may be processed for the purposes of verifying relevant details related to grant applications. 

Information we hold about you is stored on our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

Mentoring programme

The Royal Society mentoring programme uses personal data submitted via SmartSurvey for registered mentees and mentors for the following purposes:

  • To facilitate the mentoring matching process, which is informed by general research field, geographical location and organisation, and interests expressed by both parties;
  • Contacting you about activities relating to the programme, to check whether additional support may be provided for pairs or to help inform evaluation of processes including registration, strategy or operation procedures. Contact may be in the form of surveys, questionnaires or direct communication by email – communication by telephone will only be done when we have your prior consent;
  • Statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of the programme;
  • Maintaining your details as record of your interest in participating and to monitor records of pairs. 

In the matching process we share the name and organisation of either party of a potential pair and seek consent of both parties prior to confirmation of the match. Should you not wish to be paired you may inform us, and another match will be suggested. Once pairs are matched it is the responsibility of the mentee to drive forward the relationship in a communication framework agreed by both parties. We may contact you for your consent to use information relating to you or your experience in the promotion of the Royal Society’s mentoring programme for example in the form of case studies, blog posts and similar activities.

Your personal registration data will be retained for at least two years from the date of your registration, after which time you will be invited to re-register as a mentor should you wish to continue.  The names of matched pairs will be transferred to our historical archives at the conclusion of this period. Personal data stored in our archives will be held for the purpose of historical public and research interest and will not be made accessible in line with our archiving closure period for administrative records.

If at any point you would no longer like to participate in the programme you can let us know by emailing mentoring@royalsociety.org.  Please ensure you tell us if you would like to opt-out from all mentoring programme opportunities or just for a set period.

Alumni

If you have previously been a recipient of a Royal Society grant or award, we may wish to contact you from time to time for the following purposes:

  • Evaluating and assessing activities, research outputs and impact arising throughout the course of your career, to help us monitor and track the effectiveness of our grants and awards by selected third parties, such as independent evaluators, consultancy groups, and career development organisations (some of whom may be based outside of the UK and the EEA); 
  • Publishing details of previous recipients of funding, this may include your name and title, employing organisation and career summary on our public website, or via publicly available databases or other publications, some of which may be accessible from outside of the UK and the EEA; 
  • Contacting you about our activities and events - or to help inform or evaluate these events, our application processes, strategy and policy work - in the form of newsletters, social media, surveys, and questionnaires;
  • Contacting you about the Royal Society’s mentoring programme. This may include communication via email inviting you to register your interest in participating via SmartSurvey or to propose a potential registered mentee. Where contact is made prior to your registration we will seek your consent to proceed and invite you to register fully to the programme via SmartSurvey.

You are under no obligation to remain in contact with the Society following the end of your grant or award. In accordance with your data protection rights, we will respect any request from you as an alumnus to remove the data we hold on you from our alumni database after the end of your award, and to refrain from contacting you thereafter for the above purposes. 

Partners and Funders

The Royal Society receives funding from government departments, including the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), philanthropic organisations and private donors. We work in close partnership with our funders and partners including other Academies and learned Societies, to process applications and administer grants and awards.

As part of our agreement with our funders and partners (or their representatives), the personal data you provide in your application, subsequent reports, and financial statements will be used for the purposes of:

  • Reporting activities, research outputs and impacts arising from grants and awards; 
  • Monitoring and evaluation, including statistical analysis in relation to the evaluation of research and the study of trends; 
  • Contacting you about our activities and events or those of the partner/funder - or to help inform or evaluate these events, our application processes, strategy and policy work - in the form of newsletters, social media, surveys, and questionnaires. 

If your grant or award is funded through a source other than the core DSIT grant, we will inform you of the funding source and the reporting requirements of our partner, in accordance with our agreement with the partner. Occasionally some funders and partners may wish to contact you directly. We will seek your consent to share your personal contact details with funders and partners before they are able to contact you in this regard. You are under no obligation to accept funding from a funder or partner that you would not want your personal data shared with.

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Medals and awards nominees and winners

Nominators

When you complete a nomination for a Royal Society award, as a nominator you submit your information and usually that of the nominee in an application form. Any personal data that you provide is used for the purpose of reviewing the nomination. Some of the information you submit may be published on the Royal Society website and social media channels, if the nominated individual is selected to receive the award. You should seek permission from the nominee before submitting their details to us.

Nominees

When you complete a nomination for a Royal Society award, as a nominee you submit your information in an application form. Any personal data that you provide is used for the purpose of reviewing the nomination and, if you are selected as the winner, some of the information you submitted will be published on the Royal Society website and in social media.

Information we hold about you is stored on our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

Panel members and independent reviewers

Grants programmes

The Royal Society relies on the assessments of panel members and independent reviewers from a pool of worldwide scientific experts across a broad range of disciplines. This is a fundamental component of our decision-making process with respect to the research proposals and activities we fund. As part of our peer review process, we share your application details with our peer reviewers, some of whom may be based outside of the UK and the EEA. 

Assessment of applications by panel members and peer review undertaken by independent reviewers is conducted confidentially and with the utmost integrity, for the purpose of obtaining the best quality views and opinions. 

With respect to independent reviewers, it is highly important to maintain the confidentiality of the individual providing the review, to ensure that views and opinions can be exchanged freely and candidly, in the knowledge that their comments will only be disclosed to those involved in the decision-making process. On written request, we will share unattributed comments with applicants. 

We ask panel members and independent scientific experts that we work with to maintain confidentiality at all times. 

Policy reports

The Society’s policy reports and similar outputs are independently reviewed, and, in most cases, reviewers’ names are published as part of the report for transparency. 

Information we hold about you is stored on our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

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Working group and committee members

When you are invited to join a working group, advisory group or committee, we will hold your details in order to send you information about meetings related to the group. We will also include your details (typically name, role and affiliation) in the notes of those meetings, and your name and the contact email address provided in meeting invites. If you are expected to attend more than one meeting, we will hold your bank account details on file in order to deal with any expense requests. 

The responsibilities of joining a group, and the intended use of your information, will be made clear at the outset. The names of working group, advisory group and committee members may be included in reports and other written outputs and may be published on the Royal Society’s website. 

Your responsibilities may involve working in partnership with similar organisations, such as other national academies, academy networks and government departments, in order to oversee particular pieces of work. Your details may need to be shared with those bodies in these instances.

Information we hold about you is stored on either our CRM or the UK Young Academy’s CRM, where applicable. Both systems are Microsoft Dynamics 365, which are hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre. 

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

Event invitees and attendees

When you attend one of our events you will sometimes be asked to register via our website, a survey using SmartSurvey, a survey using Dynamics 365 Customer Voice, a platform managed by a third party provider or our event booking system currently operated by third party provider, Eventbrite. Where registration is via a platform managed by a third party provider, details will be provided before you register for the event. In order to run events successfully we may hold your details to send you information about the event you are attending, or to provide services at the event.  

In order to pursue our legitimate interests we may process your personal data in order to keep you informed of similar events and opportunities, to request feedback, and to maintain research links. Contact information will be stored on our customer relationship management system and contact information is reviewed every two years. 

For more information on how SmartSurvey, Dynamics 365 Customer Voice and Eventbrite process your data, please see their respective privacy policies which can be found here:  

SmartSurvey’s privacy policy 

Eventbrite’s privacy policy 

Dynamics 365 Customer Voice is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre. 

Occasionally we may invite you to an event on behalf of a speaker or organiser where they have requested we do so. We will ask the speaker or organiser to confirm you have given your permission before contacting you about the event, and we will hold your details only for the purpose of the specific event that they were provided for.  

At times we will deliver training in partnership with training / similar organisations. Your details may need to be shared in these instances and we will be clear about the partners we are working with when you register for the event. If your data is held in the EEA, or you are a citizen of the EEA, we will use appropriate mechanisms or take steps to make sure that those partners handle your data in compliance with EU data protection laws or standards. 

Partnership events

Occasionally we will run events in partnership with similar organisations. Your details may need to be shared in these instances and we will be clear about the partners we are working with when you register for the event. If your data is held in the EEA, or you are a citizen of the EEA, we will use appropriate mechanisms or take steps to make sure that those partners handle your data in compliance with EU data protection laws or standards.

Photography and filming

Photography and filming takes place at the Society’s events and as part of our programme of activities in order to pursue our legitimate interests.  

The majority of our in-person events are also live-streamed and/or recorded. Signage will be in place at in-person events to inform attendees when there is photography and/or filming taking place and you have the right to collect a ‘no photography’ sticker on the day which indicates that you do not want your image to be used. Please note that in certain event spaces where general recording is taking place, attendees may still be captured on camera as part of crowd shots. Notices will be issued at hybrid and virtual events to inform attendees when there is photography and/or filming taking place and you have the right to turn your camera off if you do not want your image to be used.   

Recorded content (including photography and videos) provided by individuals involved in our events and activities may also be used by the Society in order to pursue our legitimate interests. 

Recordings may be used to promote the Society’s events and activities, including: on the Royal Society's website and on the Royal Society's accounts on third party social media sites, in promotional material and the media, email marketing and campaigns and in reports about the work of the Society. Recordings may be shared with those partner organisations who are identified on the event or activity website or on promotional materials or notices at the event or activity itself. If the recorded content is of historical or cultural significance to the Society and its programmes, it may be stored in the Royal Society’s archives in perpetuity.  

For children and young people under 18 years, we will seek consent from a parent or guardian before taking a recording where the child or young person is the main subject of the photograph or film.  Visiting school groups will be asked to confirm they have collected consent from the parents or guardians of the children and young people in the group as part of their visit.

Speakers

We may contact some individuals to speak at our events if you are a specialist in a chosen topic area. We may hold your details (such as contact and bank details you provide to us) in order to make arrangements for the event, to pay any agreed expenses, to record that you spoke at the event and to record if you tell us that you are interested in speaking at future events.

If you are entitled to claim expenses under the Royal Society’s travel and expenses policy, we will collect personal data from you to enable us to process the payment. This will include your name, email address and bank account details. 

This information will be stored on the Royal Society’s systems, including its cloud-based finance system, Xledger. Further information about Xledger can be found on its website.

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Donors and prospective donors

As we identify and develop relationships with our donors and prospective donors, we collect the following types of information:

  • Name, title/s and postal address; 
  • Contact details such as email addresses, social media links and telephone numbers; 
  • What kind of connection you have with us; 
  • Why you have decided to donate to us; 
  • Your feedback from your dealings with us; 
  • Contact notes relating to your communications with us or if you are considering a relationship with us. 

For US-based donors and prospective donors, we share the above categories of data with the American Friends of the Royal Society (AFRS), in order to pursue our legitimate interests for the purpose of advancing the mission of the Royal Society by growing the base of support for the Royal Society among donors and friends in North America. The Royal Society is the data controller of personal data collected. Find further information on the AFRS. Data sharing with the AFRS is managed through agreed processes which comply with relevant data protection legislation. The AFRS is based outside of the UK and the EEA and transfers of personal data to the AFRS are made with appropriate safeguards in place.

How much of this information we collect depends on the type of relationship we have with you and the information we build in the course of your relationship with us. We do not store information that is classed as 'sensitive' or 'special category' personal data, or any data regarding criminal offences that you share with us, unless there is a clear and valid reason for us having to process this particular data that complies with applicable law, primarily that we have your explicit consent, and/or that you have made that information public and/or we have to process that data in connection with a legal claim.

We will use your information to:

  • Provide you with the information you asked for, such as reports on projects that you have helped to fund; 
  • Invite you to meetings and events that we consider will be of interest to you; 
  • Administer your contact details and give you the opportunity to change your preferences as well as amend errors and update your data; 
  • Manage donations including processing Gift Aid; 
  • Keep a record of your relationship with us, including your feedback; 
  • Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted; 
  • Flag your data record, for example if you opt out of any specific data processing, or if you have special requirements. 

If you decide to make a donation, we use a third-party processor, RSM 2000 Ltd., to securely process your bank, credit or debit card details. For more information on how RSM 2000 processes your data, please see their privacy policy (PDF).

If you decide to make a donation from the US, we use a third-party processor, PayPal, to securely process your bank, credit or debit card details. For more information on how PayPal processes your data, please see its privacy policy. If you decide to make a donation from the US by cheque, we use a third-party processor, Chapel & York Limited, to securely process your cheque. For more information on how Chapel & York processes your data, please see its privacy policy.

Tailored communications for donors and prospective donors

We use research and screening techniques in order to tailor our communications effectively to our donors. This helps us to understand donors’ motivations for supporting the Society’s work and means that we can speak to donors and potential donors about projects and sizes of gifts that they might be willing to support and make. 

When conducting this research, we may analyse geographic, demographic, academic, or professional information relating to you in order to better understand your preferences and possible interests in or affiliations with the Society’s work. In doing this, we may use additional information from third party sources when it is available. Such information is compiled using publicly available data about you from reputable sources such as listed directorships or company shareholder information on the UK Companies House website, or information that you have chosen to put into the public domain such as on corporate/institutional websites of organisations where you work or you have a publicised association with or where you have made comments in the press. 

We may also use publicly available information from these and other sources (such as mainstream news and media) to gather information regarding prospective donors in order to detect and reduce fraud/credit risk as well as for 'due diligence' purposes to safeguard our reputation. 

We need to keep the details of financial transactions for seven years after the financial year of a donor’s last gift, in the event of a tax or banking enquiry. All other information about you will be kept while we have an ongoing relationship with you. 

Information we hold about you is stored on our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

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Visitors to our website and blog users

When someone visits our websites, we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the RS website. This information is processed in a way that does not personally identify individuals. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personal data through our website, we will be transparent about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal data and will explain what we intend to do with it. 

Where marketing cookies are collected we use these for ads personalisation. We also use a number of other third-party analytics services to assess how people use our websites so that we can make improvements to the sites. Again, those do not identify visitors personally, this includes Hotjar. On our blogs we sometimes use a third-party data processor acting on our behalf and under our instructions to display and process comments that you make using your chosen username.

You can use the cookie consent pop up on the site by clicking on the ‘C’ icon in the bottom left of the page to adjust your preferences by the type of cookies being collected at any time.

You have a right to object to this tracking at any time or can protect your privacy by installing a tracking-blocker or by clearing your cookies at the end of every browsing session. 

We use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimize this service and experience. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users’ experience (e.g. how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc.) and this enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behaviour and their devices. This includes a device's IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), and the preferred language used to display our website. Hotjar stores this information on our behalf in a pseudonymized user profile. Hotjar is contractually forbidden to sell any of the data collected on our behalf. For further details, please see the ‘about Hotjar’ section of Hotjar’s support site.

Find more information on analysis data collected and used by Google Analytics and how Google uses information from sites that use their services.

We hold analysed data for the periods of: up to 26 months for Google Analytics from the date of your last visit, which resets on new visits to our website; and up to 12 months for Hotjar.

To protect user submissions to forms on royalsociety.org, we have implemented invisible reCAPTCHA on forms. Please note use of the invisible reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Read more about the Royal Society's use of cookies.

Social media contacts

We use Sprout Social, a third-party provider acting as a data processor, to manage our Twitter interactions, as well as some Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn interactions. If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored by ourselves and by Sprout Social on our behalf if it is via Twitter. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

Please see https://sproutsocial.com/privacy-policy/ for further information on how they process your data. 

Surveys and competitions 

We use an online service called SmartSurvey to process feedback, contests, event subscriptions, and survey information that you submit to us. We also use Dynamics 365 Customer Voice for some surveys. Participation is voluntary and you have a choice whether or not to disclose any information requested.  

Information requested may include contact information (such as name and delivery address) and demographic information. If you are a contest winner, we will use your contact information to notify you and award prizes. We collect feedback and diversity monitoring anonymously. We do not store any personal identifiers except for your IP address to monitor our system integrity and do not use your IP address in reporting. Information from our surveys will also be used for the purposes of monitoring or improving the functionality of our website(s) or any of our other products or services. Your data will be retained for up to two years and will be deleted at the earliest possible opportunity.  

SmartSurvey acts as a data processor on our behalf and will not share any information that you submit to us. For more information on how SmartSurvey processes your data, please see SmartSurvey’s privacy policy.  

Dynamics 365 Customer Voice is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre. 

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Email subscribers

We use ClickDimensions as a data processor to deliver our email marketing campaigns. We rely on your consent to process the personal data you provide us for marketing purposes and we may request consent when you sign up to our newsletters via our website or at one of our events. If at any point you want to withdraw your consent you can click the unsubscribe link on the email or change your preferences by clicking ‘update your details’ at the bottom of the email. 

We may also send emails to communicate our activities to your professional email address if we believe you will find them of interest and its necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. 

We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using ClickDimensions technology to help us monitor and improve our email marketing. 

For more information on ClickDimensions, please see ClickDimensions' privacy notice. 

Information we hold about you is stored on either our CRM or the UK Young Academy’s CRM, where applicable. Both systems are Microsoft Dynamics 365, which are hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre. 

Authors and journal contacts

Depending on your relationship with us, we may process your personal data in the following ways:

  • To provide our products, content and services to you or to your employer, university or institution; 
  • To respond to your requests and enquiries; 
  • To invite you to peer review and to manage the peer review process; 
  • To publish your name, institution, country, and in some cases your email address and ORCID iD alongside your work; 
  • To arrange a press release with your consent; 
  • To administer and manage our relationships with individuals who sit on our journal Editorial Boards; 
  • To process payments from you, such as article processing charges, page charges, subscriptions or payments for any products or services that you choose to purchase from us; 
  • To process payments to you, including, but not limited to, refunds or reimbursements, or payments to you for services provided to us; 
  • To request your participation in surveys or other initiatives which help to inform the development of our products and services; 
  • To keep you updated about our products and services, latest content, and industry news, where you have opted-in to such communications or are an existing customer/client. Where you have told us about your research interests, we may use this information to tailor the updates to your interests; 
  • To provide access to restricted parts of our websites. 

Marketing activities for publishing

Where we have obtained your consent, we will occasionally send you email updates about our activities including, but not limited to, online content, industry news and developments, events, competitions and surveys. If you have provided information about your disciplinary interests or have purchased or used our products and/or services, we may use this information to tailor the content of our emails to you. Where you are an existing customer/client who has purchased or enquired about content or services before, we will occasionally send you emails about the same or similar content and services on the basis of legitimate interest. You are free to withdraw consent or opt-out of marketing emails at any time. Any marketing emails we send you will include an unsubscribe link at the end of the email. We will not send you marketing emails if you have withdrawn consent or opted out of receiving them.

If you would like to stop receiving marketing emails from us, you can let us know by:

  • Clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any marketing emails you receive from us; or 
  • Emailing us at publishing@royalsociety.org (please ensure you tell us if you would like to opt-out from all email marketing communications or just a particular update).  

Occasionally we may send you marketing information by post where we have decided that it is beneficial to you as a customer. We will make sure that such marketing is non-intrusive and is done where needed in accordance with our legitimate interests

Third-party services

We will never sell, trade, or rent your personal data to others. However, we may share your personal data with third parties who provide services to us and process data on our behalf under our instructions (called 'data processors'). Those data processors may only use your personal data as necessary to provide the relevant services and are bound by contracts with us that limit their use of your personal data. Depending on your relationship with us and your use of our websites, it is likely that your personal data will be disclosed to third party data processors who provide the following types of services to us:

  • Article indexing services; 
  • Creation, management and preservation of archived articles; 
  • Allowing researchers to track, verify and showcase their peer review and editorial contributions; 
  • The manuscript submission process, the management of author and reviewer databases and improving the accuracy of name-based article repository searches; 
  • Online hosting partners providing the secure storage and transmission of your personal data; 
  • Database software providers for the management and tracking of your personal data; 
  • Providers of unique identifiers for authentication purposes, such as ORCID IDs;  
  • Marketing services that send communications on our behalf regarding our products and services; 
  • Payment solution providers for the secure processing of payments you make to us; 
  • Technology partners who assist in the development and management of our websites; 
  • Subscription agents, fulfilment and postal vendors for the fulfilment of our products and services; 
  • Marketing consultants who act as data processors, carrying out certain mailing campaigns under our direction;  
  • Survey and research providers who perform studies on our behalf; or
  • Members of our journal Editorial Boards who perform various functions on our behalf. 

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Journalists

We collect, store and handle personal information of journalists for our legitimate interest to communicate with said journalists, who have a genuine interest in the work of the Royal Society.

We use Roxhill Media as a data processor to distribute our press releases, media notes and event listings. If you would like to stop receiving our press releases, media notes or event listings you can let us know by:

  • clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any of the communication you receive from us, or
  • emailing us at press@royalsociety.org and ask to opt-out from all communications you receive from us or from a particular alert.

For more information on how Roxhill Media store and process your data, please see their privacy policy.

We may also contact you directly with story ideas, interview opportunities or event invitations if we think you will have a genuine interest in a topic.

Information we hold about you (name, organisation, role and email address and phone number) is stored in our own files and/or by Roxhill Media

Library users

The Royal Society requires that all users of the Library provide us with their name, address and contact details, and can show a valid photographic ID and proof of address upon registration. Personal information supplied on this form will be processed by the Royal Society Library for administrative purposes only. This includes:

  • Monitoring the use of our collections and protect them from damage or theft. We also use this information to ensure we can provide an efficient service to our users; and
  • Using aggregated data to provide general statistics about the usage of our collections, which is required by our internal management or by external funders.

No reader will be individually identified without giving prior permission, and the information will not be passed to any third party. 

Your personal data will be retained for at least two years from the date of your most recent visit to or contact with the Royal Society Library, after which time it will be deleted from our internal system and all paperwork destroyed. Once your data has been erased, in accordance with our retention policy, you will need to re-register as a reader on your next visit to the Library.

Job applicants, current and former employees

Where you apply for a job with us, the Royal Society is the controller of the personal data you provide during the application process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at humanresources@royalsociety.org. 

What we do with the information you provide to us

All of the information you provide during the recruitment process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.

We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors, whether the information is in electronic or physical format.

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for. Occasionally we may use the details you have provided to suggest your suitability for another role within the Society.

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary. The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for, but it might affect your application if you choose not to. 

Application stage

When applying for a position to work with us, we ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.

You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.

Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it.

Assessments

We might ask you to participate in assessment days, complete tests, and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test, or we might take interview notes. This information is held securely by us.

Conditional offer

If we make a conditional offer of employment, we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are legally required to confirm your identity, your right to work in the United Kingdom, and it is in our legitimate interests to seek assurance as to your trustworthiness, integrity and reliability. 

You will therefore be required to provide: 

  • Proof of your identity - you will be asked to provide original documents and we will take copies of these. 
  • Proof of your qualifications - you may be asked to attend our office with original documents. 
  • We will contact your referees directly to obtain references, using the details you provide in your application. 

If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:

  • Bank details - to process salary payments. 
  • Emergency contact details - so we know whom to contact in case you have an emergency at work. 
  • Your personal mobile number and email address - for business continuity reasons when you are not in the office. 

Use of data processors 

We use third party data processors who provide elements of our recruitment service for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal data unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal data with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct. 

If you use our online application system, you will provide the requested information to iCIMS who provide this online service for us. You can access iCIMS’ privacy policy to find out more about how they handle your personal data. 

If you accept a final offer from us, some of your personnel records will be held on ADP which is an internally used HR records system. You can find out more about how ADP handles your data in their privacy policy. 

We work with a number of companies to provide benefits to our employees, where you have signed up to these. You will be informed of the company providing those benefits and will be able to access their privacy policy when you sign up. 

To fulfil our employment contract with you and/or to comply with legal obligations we also need to share your personal data with HMRC (for tax law compliance purposes), Scottish Widows and/or Barnett Waddingham (our pension providers/ administrators), Cardinus Risk Management (our health and safety providers), and Maitland Medical (our occupational health service providers). 

How long we retain candidate information for

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus six years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the application process, the information you have provided until that point and information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for up to six months after the process closes. This is in order to deal with any follow up queries or issues from candidates.

Equal opportunities information is retained for six months following the closure of the application process whether you are successful or not.

Recruitment decisions

Final recruitment decisions are made by hiring managers and members of our recruitment team. All of the information gathered during the application process is taken into account.

You are able to ask about decisions made about your application by speaking to your contact within our recruitment team or by emailing humanresources@royalsociety.org.

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Diversity monitoring

In addition to the specific diversity monitoring activities mentioned separately in this policy, the Society runs diversity monitoring surveys for the purpose of monitoring diversity and equality. We collect diversity data via an optional survey using Dynamics 365 Customer Voice. This optional survey is provided to existing Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society, medals and awards nominees and winners, panel members and independent reviewers, working group and committee members, event invitees and attendees, and authors and journal contacts. The personal data collected via this survey is anonymised and stored on the Society's CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365. Diversity data is reported on anonymously and will only be used for the purpose of monitoring diversity and equality.

Dynamics 365 Customer Voice and the Society's CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, are hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

Data retention

We may retain certain records for legitimate reasons (including after your relationship with us has ended), for example to maintain records of articles published in our journals, to resolve any potential disputes and to comply with regulatory reporting obligations. 

We have a data retention policy that sets out the different periods we retain personal data for in respect of relevant purposes, in accordance with our duties under applicable data protection law. 

The criteria we use for determining these retention periods are based on:

  • Various legislative requirements (for example, duties to hold transaction details or employee data to comply with certain requirements of tax or employment legislation);  
  • The purpose for which we collected that personal data and where we have identified a continued need to hold that personal data to serve a compelling legitimate purpose; and  
  • Relevant codes or guidance on data retention issued by regulatory authorities including the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).  

Personal data we no longer need to hold is securely disposed of and/or anonymised so you can no longer be identified from it.

The legal basis of processing

We will process your personal data for the purposes identified in this document on the following legal bases:

  • Our legitimate interests, which relate to processing of your personal data for the purposes of administering the Royal Society and its Fellowship as well as the provision of our products, services and information; 
  • Where we have a contract with you and processing is necessary to our obligations to you under that contract, or in preparation for entering into a contract with you; 
  • As necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and/or to enforce our contractual agreements;  
  • Where processing your details may be in the public interest, such as listing Fellows on our website or medal and award winners; and 
  • Where you have freely consented to our use of your personal data for a specified purpose on an informed and unambiguous basis. Where this is the case, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at the address below. 

Your rights

Data protection law gives you the following rights:

(a) Your right to make a 'subject access request' relating to the personal data that we hold and process about you (see section below headed 'Access to personal data');

(b) That we correct personal data that we hold about you which is inaccurate or incomplete; 

(c) That we erase your personal data without undue delay if we no longer need to hold or process it;

(d) Your right to object to any automated processing (if applicable) that we carry out in relation to your personal data, for example if we conduct any automated credit scoring;  

(e) To object to our use of your personal data for direct marketing; 

(f) To object and/or to restrict the use of your personal data by us for a purpose which is not based on your consent unless we have a compelling legitimate reason for continuing to process that data; or

(g) That we transfer personal data to another party where the personal data has been collected with your consent or is being used to perform contract with you and is being processed by means.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights please contact us at the email address dataprotection@royalsociety.org or by post at The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG. Please note that we may have to ask for further information or evidence to verify your identity before we can proceed with your request.

If you believe that any data we hold about you is incomplete or inaccurate, as well as informing us using the above contact details, you may be able to complete or correct such data using personalisation options that are available on our website.

We may receive personal data about you from a third party for the purposes of undertaking our activities. We will provide this information to you within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data, but at the latest within one month, unless the provision of this information proves to be impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort.

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Access to personal data

The Royal Society tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal data. You can find out if we hold any personal data about you by making what's known as a 'subject access request'. If we do hold data about you we will:

  • Give you a description of it; 
  • Tell you why we are holding it; 
  • Tell you whom it could be disclosed to; and 
  • Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form, subject to any legal exemptions or limitations that may apply. 

To make a request for any personal data we may hold please write to our Data Protection Team, either at dataprotection@royalsociety.org or at The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG. As above, we may have to ask for further information or evidence to verify your identity before we can proceed with your request and may ask for further information to help us locate any specific information you seek. 

Usually we will have one month to respond to a subject access request. However, in case of complex requests, we may require a further two months to respond; if this is the case, we will let you know within one month that we need more time and provide the reason why. We may also charge for administrative time in dealing with any manifestly unfounded or excessive requests, or if you ask for further copies of your information following a request 

Complaints or queries

The Royal Society aims to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal data. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of our collection and use of personal data. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed regarding our data processing practices. Any requests for this should be sent to our Data Protection Lead at The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG.

If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal data, you can also contact us at dataprotection@royalsociety.org. 

If you are not happy with the way we have handled your data, or deal with any request above and are unable to resolve the issue with us personally, you can lodge a complaint with the UK data protection regulator who is the Information Commissioner's Office or with our representative in the EU, DataRep. 

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or ++44 1625 545 745
See: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

DataRep

If you are an individual in the European Union and European Economic Area and want to raise a question to the Royal Society, or otherwise exercise your rights in respect of your personal data, you may do so by:

  • sending an email to DataRep at datarequest@datarep.com quoting ‘The Royal Society’ in the subject line;
  • contacting DataRep on their online webform at www.datarep.com/data-request; or
  • mailing your inquiry to DataRep at the most convenient of the addresses provided in the document in the following link. Please note: when mailing enquiries, it is essential that letters are marked for DataRep and not the Royal Society otherwise your inquiry may not reach us.

Find further details on how to contact us via our Data Protection Representative (PDF).

UK Young Academy Applicants 

We keep personal details of applicants who have made an application for membership to the UK Young Academy on file as part of the submission of their application form. Personal data that is provided to us for the purposes of the membership application process will be kept securely for ten years  (from the initial year of application), and three years (from the year of application) in the case of any subsequent applications. 

As part of the selection process, your personal data will be supplied to third parties who form a designated appointments group for the purposes of reviewing your application. These third parties will mainly be Fellows, Members of the UKYA and early-career representatives from the seven partner Academies, selected representatives from professional sectors and other global Young Academy members. Some of these individuals sit outside of the UK and the EEA.  

References that we receive about you will be retained in electronic format on the UK Young Academy’s CRM system for two years after each selection round while you are an applicant. 

Any information you provide during the application processes relating to gender, age, disability, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion or nationality will be used only for the purposes of monitoring diversity and equality and stored confidentially in accordance with applicable legal obligations. Diversity data is pseudonymised for reporting. 

If you are successfully selected as a member, the information that was submitted as part of your application will be used as the basis for your Membership record and UK Young Academy website profile. If you are unsuccessful, your application form questions and identifying data such as name and contact details will be retained by us should a further application be made at a later date, but all other personal data about you will be deleted.

Information we hold about you is stored on the UK Young Academy’s CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.  

UK Young Academy Members 

When you are selected as a Member of the UK Young Academy, your personal data is stored on the UKYA central database using information from your application forms and from your completed New Members forms. This information is periodically updated at your request, and from surveys that we conduct which you participate in. As your UKYA membership is for 5 years, unless otherwise agreed, we retain this information for the period of your membership, after which we keep a record of your alumni status in perpetuity (without prejudice to your data protection rights, as outlined below).

As part of your relationship with us, you will be asked to support or get involved with the Young Academy’s activities, such as joining work programmes, involvement in global Young Academy opportunities, speaking at events and attending meeting or events. You will also receive Membership communications from the UKYA. 

Factual information, such as your name, current place of work and role, your membership term and reports or work programmes you are involved with may be made available in the public domain through the UKYA website, and in reports where relevant. Records of conferences or events we hold (alone or jointly) may also be published, including the names of those attending. 

The names of UKYA Members will be transferred to our historical archives at the end of your membership term with the UKYA, along with details about any work programmes and activities you were involved with. Personal data stored in our archives will be held for the purpose of historical public and research interest and will not be made accessible in line with our archiving closure period for administrative records. 

Information we hold about you is stored on the UK Young Academy’s CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is hosted by Microsoft Corporation. To find out about how Microsoft handles your data, please see their privacy policy. Further privacy information is also available in Microsoft's Privacy Trust Centre.

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