Privacy Policy

Society Building (“we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy policy) takes your privacy seriously and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy sets out how we collect, use and protect any personal information that you give us during the course of your interactions with us online and offline, including your communications with us and any data that we may handle if you or your employer provides services or supplies us. Should we ask you to provide certain personal information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be processed in accordance with this privacy policy.

The policy also describes your data protection rights, including a right to object to the processing of your information during the course of our business activities. More information about your rights and how to exercise them is set out in further detail below.

We may amend this policy from time to time to keep it up-to-date with legal requirements and the way we operate our business. If we change our privacy policy we will upload a new privacy policy to the website. Where we make any material changes to this privacy policy, these will be communicated to you via our website.

This policy was last updated on 17th September 2026.

Who we are

Society Building is responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your information, please contact us:

Email: info@societybuilding.org
Address: Society Building, 55 Whitfield Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4AH

Objectives

We will protect the privacy of individuals when handling any personal information and ensure that we are compliant with relevant data protection and privacy laws by adhering to the following principles:

• Being transparent about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information
• Collecting and using personal information fairly and lawfully
• Only collecting personal information that is required and only keeping it for as long as is necessary
• Keeping personal information accurate and up to date
• Respecting the privacy rights of individuals granted by privacy laws
• Keeping personal information secure.

Outcomes

In meeting the above objectives, we will:

• Commit to keep abreast of all applicable data protection/privacy laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate
• Take steps to provide appropriate training and support to ensure that our staff are aware of our obligations under this policy and follow our data protection procedures when handling the personal information of others
• Implement relevant security procedures and issue guidance to staff explaining their data protection and security obligations
• Implement clear processes for individuals to raise concerns about how we process their personal information and for resolving any such concerns
• Ensure our privacy notices are clear, accessible and give sufficient information about how we use and share personal information and where personal information can be updated or corrected
• Delete/destroy personal information that is no longer needed for its original business purpose in accordance with our retention schedule, unless we have a legal obligation to retain personal information for a certain period
• Only transfer personal information outside jurisdiction in accordance with relevant legal requirements.

What personal information we collect

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use and store different kinds of information about you when you make contact with us through this website, social media, applying for a vacancy, work placements or any other means of contacting us. By way of example, types of personal information may include:

• Identity information (name, date of birth)
• Contact information (email address, telephone numbers)
• Financial information (bank account details)
• Transaction information (details about payments to and from you)
• Anonymous Technical information (IP address, website analytics statistics)
• Profile information (your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses)
• Marketing and Communications Information (information about how you use our website)

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

Some information is classified as “special” personal data under data protection legislation. This includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data.

In very limited circumstances and with your explicit consent we may collect “special” personal data about you. We will however, only disclose this “special” personal data where it is necessary to protect your vital interests (for example, if you are unwell at our premises, we may need to pass your personal data to medical professionals in order to seek assistance).

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

How we collect personal information

We use different methods to collect information from and about you including through:

• contact us or complete a form on our website or app;
• enquire about membership, workspace or venue hire;
• become a member or create an account;
• book a room, tour or event;
• subscribe to our emails;
• complete a survey, enter a promotion or contact us with a question; or
• communicate with us by email, telephone, social media or another channel.

This may include your name, email address, telephone number, employer, job title, booking and payment details, communications with us, and any preferences relevant to a booking or event, such as dietary requirements.

We may also collect technical information when you use our website or app, including your IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, and how you interact with our services. Further information is available in our Cookies Policy.

We may occasionally receive information from third parties where this is necessary to manage a membership, booking, event or service.

You do not have to provide personal information, but we may be unable to provide a requested service without it.

What we do with the information we gather

By law we are only permitted to use your personal information if we have a legal basis for doing so. We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

• respond to enquiries and provide information you have requested;
• manage memberships, accounts, bookings, payments and events;
• provide and improve our website, app, spaces and services;
• communicate important changes to our services;
• keep our website, app and premises safe and secure;
• understand how people use our services; and
• meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

We use personal information where it is needed to provide a service or fulfil a contract, where you have given your consent, where we have a legitimate business reason to do so, or where we need to comply with the law.

Marketing communications

We will send you news and marketing communications where you have chosen to receive them. You can unsubscribe at any time by using the link in our emails or contacting us.

Unsubscribing from marketing will not remove information that we need to retain for other purposes. For example, your name may remain attached to a historic booking, but it will not be used for marketing unless you have subscribed.

Disclosure of personal information

We occasionally need to share your information with third parties. Where this occurs, we ensure that we have appropriate measures in place to safeguard your personal information to ensure that it is solely used for legitimate purposes in line with this policy. We will always make sure that those third parties protect your personal information in the same way that we do.

We will be required to share your personal information with third parties who provide services to us to enable them to provide their services such as IT, payment and system administration services. We may also need to share your personal information with our professional advisers including lawyers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, legal, insurance and accounting services.

International transfers

The information we collect from you may be transferred to and processed and/or stored at a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). If we send your personal data outside the EEA we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate measures to protect your information.

Security of personal information

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure and we have put in place suitable security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

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

We have also taken steps internally in order to ensure that our systems adequately protect your personal data. This includes for example:

• HTTPS / SSL encryption of data between the user’s browser and server;
• use of updated and patched software;
• storing highly confidential information in encrypted form;
• using firewalled IT systems to prohibit unauthorised access;
• restricted access controls on files and servers containing personal data; and
• physical security including locked and access-controlled rooms.

Retention of Personal Information

We will only retain your personal information 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 information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

Individual rights

Individuals have rights in respect of their personal information and this section explains more about those rights that are applicable to what we do with your personal information and when to exercise them. Individuals have a number of rights in relation to their personal information, these include the right to:

• Be informed about how we use your personal information;

• Obtain access to your personal information that we hold. You can request a copy of certain personal information that you have provided to us in a commonly used electronic format. This right relates to personal information that you have provided to us that we need in order to perform our agreement with you and personal information where we are relying on your consent to process;

• Request that your personal information is corrected if it is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate;

• Request that we erase your personal information if:

– we are continuing to process personal information beyond the period when it is necessary to do so for the purpose for which it was originally collected;
– we are relying on consent as the legal basis for processing and you withdraw consent;
– we are relying on legitimate interest as the legal basis for processing and you object to this processing and there is no overriding compelling ground which enables us to continue with the processing;
– the personal information has been processed unlawfully (i.e. in breach of the requirements of the data protection legislation); or
– it is necessary to delete the personal information to comply with a legal obligation. Please note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

• Ask us to restrict our data processing activities where you consider that:

– Personal information is inaccurate;
– Our processing of your personal information is unlawful;
– Where we no longer need the personal information but you require us to keep it to enable you to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim;
– Where you have raised an objection to our use of your personal information.

• Object to our processing of your personal information where we are relying on legitimate interests or exercise of a public interest task to make the processing lawful. If you raise an objection we will carry out an assessment to determine whether we have an overriding legitimate ground which entitles us to continue to process your personal data;

• Request that we transfer your personal data to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you;

• Withdraw consent where we are relying on consent to process your personal information. You can withdraw consent to our processing of your personal information at any time;

• Not be subject to automated decisions which produce legal effects or which could have a similarly significant effect on you.

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

External links

Our website and app may contain links to other websites. Those websites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for how they collect or use your information.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes to our services, business practices or legal requirements. The latest version will always be available on our website, with the date of the most recent update shown at the top of the page.

Contact Us

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to

The Society Building 55 Whitfield Street Fitzrovia London W1T 4AH