We do our best to protect and respect your personal data. We take your privacy concerns very seriously and confirm to users of this site that we will not sell or rent individual user information to others and will only share information in accordance with this privacy statement.

This statement explains how we collect that data, why we use it and how we keep it safe.

Who are we?

The Institute for Systems Engineers (IfSE) is a limited company that is registered in England & Wales (no 15347834). IfSE acts as the UK Chapter of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), a not-for-profit membership organisation founded to develop and disseminate the interdisciplinary principles and practices that enable the realisation of successful systems.

As appropriate, IfSE will disclose your information to any legal entities for the purposes of processing and maintaining all aspects of your membership of the Institute and introducing and delivering goods and services to you. In order to enable access to INCOSE’s global activities, it will be necessary to share limited personal data with INCOSE who have headquarters in the United States.

Our registered office is ‘The Dyers Building, 21 Silver Street, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 0DH’ and our contact number is 01460 298217. For general or data protection enquiries, contact our Data Protection Officer.

The IfSE UK Secretariat is managed by Dot-The-Eye Ltd, who are responsible for the day to day running of IfSE.

INCOSE UK is a limited company that is registered in England & Wales (no 3641046) It is operated by the directors of IfSE who are also the directors of INCOSE UK. The day-to-day operations and any data held has been transferred from INCOSE UK to IfSE. Furthermore, INCOSE UK now operates under the IfSE policies and procedures including those relating to data protection.

How do we collect your information?

We obtain information about you when you make contact with us. For example, when you register on our website, when you become a member, when you study for or take one of our qualifications, or when you attend an event or conference. On occasion we may collect limited information about you indirectly, for example when you book a training course through our secure third-party booking platform, who will pass the details of this booking to us in order to administer attendance at the training.

What types of information do we hold?

The information we collect might include your name, address, email address and phone numbers. We will store information on the products and services you hold, or have shown an interest in.

Examples include:

• Whether you are in one of our volunteer groups.
• Your grade of membership.
• The events you have attended.
• Your renewal dates.
• Your membership applications.
• Your communication preferences

We will record equal opportunities data that you give us, such as your age and ethnicity. This is kept secure and only used to give statistics to help plan our services.

Why do we collect your information?

We only use your information in accordance with the law. This gives us various powers to use your data. These are effectively the reasons for our processing and are:

• To perform or take steps to enter a contract with you.
• For the purpose of our legitimate interests. This includes being able to send you marketing.
• To ensure compliance with a legal obligation.
• If you give consent for us to do so.

Collecting and using your data will mean that we are able to manage your membership, process any orders or requests you have made and provide you with relevant and topical information relating to your interests. For example, changes to our services. It will enable us to ask for your views on our services and matters relating to the profession.

Data protection applies to personal data held about individuals. It does not always cover ‘business to business’ contacts or information. However, we will also do our best to secure and protect the contact details of our corporate contacts.

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for them to market to you.

IfSE will share personal data with third party training providers as necessary for the administration of training and examinations. In addition, data may be shared with appointed assessors for the purpose of assessment, and in order to maintain records of your qualifications.

In the event that you choose to become involved with one of our volunteer groups, then data will be shared with volunteers running these services, for the purposes of offering you those services.

IfSE Directors and Staff of the IfSE Secretariat (employees of Dot-The-Eye Ltd) will have controlled access to your information to enable us to provide you with services. Volunteers of IfSE will not have access to your personal information without your consent or, very occasionally, in defined circumstances under the direct supervision of IfSE Directors and secretariat staff.

In order to process your membership and to offer you INCOSE’s global activities we share relevant data with INCOSE International, who are based in the United States. If you require more details of the data shared, please contact our Enquiries Team.

In some instances, we use third party payment providers to process payments such as GoCardless, who we use to process your Direct Debit payments. More information on how GoCardless processes your personal data and your data protection rights, including your right to object, is available at GoCardless.com.

Retention of Your Data

We will retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary in order to comply with our legal obligations, noting that this may extend beyond your actual relationship with us. Following the end of your relationship with us we will restrict the processing of your data to those purposes which form a legal obligation for us, such as financial reporting. Disposal of data is in accordance with the IfSE Retention Register.

Your choices

You have a choice about whether and how you wish to receive information from us. You will be asked to make your preferences clear when we collect your information. For most users, this will be when they register online. Members can update their preferences at any time by going to their member profile area.

The accuracy of your information is important to us. We encourage members to regularly check and update their information in their profile area.

We do not use your information for automated profiling. However, you may choose to tell us which subjects most interest you and this can be used to tailor your online experience and in communications to you. These topics can be selected in your “My Profile” area of the website.

You have various legal rights over your information which we will always respect. These rights include the right to access a copy of the data we hold about you, and to ask us to rectify or erase the data. Where processing is based on your consent then you have the right to withdraw that consent.

If you wish to invoke any of these rights in regard to your data then please contact the Data Protection Officer. You can also write to: The Data Protection Officer, Institute for Systems Engineers, The Dyers Building, 21 Silver Street, Ilminster Somerset TA19 0DH.

You have various legal rights over your information, which we will always respect. Further detail is available from the Information Commissioner via their website.

Your responsibilities

You must not share the password for your IfSE account. Your passwords are your responsibility and must not be disclosed to any third party. This is important for your own protection and that of your personal data.

If you access the IfSE website from a PC that can be used by any other person, such as those at work, college or in an Internet café, there are some basic guidelines to follow:

• Be aware of others close by who may try to take note of your username and password.
• Never leave the PC unattended when you are logged in to your IfSE account.
• At the end of your Internet session, ensure you Logout of your IfSE account.
• You should delete any downloaded files. This may require also deleting them from a 'recycle bin' if the system has one.
• Always close the Web browser correctly using the exit button.
• Avoid using the "Remember Me" login option in such situations, or wherever devices are shared.

If you suspect that your password or account information has been compromised, it is your responsibility to inform us promptly and change your password.

How do we protect your data?

IfSE, INCOSE UK and Dot-The-Eye Ltd. have robust IT security in place. All staff receive data protection training, and our premises are secured. We hold data sharing contracts with providers, requiring them to protect your information.

Use of Cookies

Like most websites, IfSE pages use Cookies. Cookies are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. Cookies make it possible for your browser to remember your settings and preferences. This helps us to improve our website and deliver a more personalised service for you.

It is possible to switch off cookies in your browser preferences.

We do not have systems that use your information for automated decision-making.

Visitors to our websites

When someone visits our website we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. This information is anonymised, and we do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

Usage by Under 16s

We particularly wish to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission before you provide us with personal information.

External links

This privacy statement does not cover the links within this site that lead to external websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites that you visit. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of other sites.

Review of this Statement

We keep this statement under review as part of our overall Data Protection Policy. It was last updated in June 2024.