Energy Institute Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how the Energy Institute (EI) may hold and process your personal data during the course of its activities as a chartered professional membership body and provider of products and services relating to skills, knowledge and good practice in the energy sector. The EI is committed to respecting your privacy and has taken steps to be compliant with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force on 25 May 2018 and is designed to ensure personal data is processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes. As required by data protection law, the EI is registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner. The EI’s registration number is Z2259229. We are also accredited to the UK Government-backed Cyber Essentials, demonstrating our commitment to cyber security. We keep our Privacy Policy under review and will place any updates on this web page. The EI’s Terms and Conditions are available separately.

During the course of its work, the EI may collect personal data which identifies, or can be used to identify, individuals.

This personal data may include information such as name, age, home address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, organisation name, job title, business address, membership number and grade, examination records, bank and payment details, education and training details, CPD records, application forms and assessment records. Personal data may be collected by a variety of means, including face to face, by telephone, mail, fax, internet and e-mail, at events, conferences and exhibitions and via third parties where you have consented to them sharing it. We may obtain and store information that is available publicly from third party sources such as from Companies House and information that has been published in the media and online.

Your personal data is held and processed by the EI in accordance with legal bases set out in data protection law, specifically contract, legitimate interest and consent, and as explained in this Privacy Policy.

If you are a member of the EI, your personal data may be lawfully processed by the EI on the basis of contract, as set out in the Terms and Conditions.

The personal data you supply in respect of your application for membership or registration or membership of the Register of Professional Energy Consultants (RPEC), and any updates you subsequently provide, will (as applicable) be used to

  • process your application.
  • administer your ongoing membership and any professional registrations or titles you hold through the EI, either directly or under license, including matters relating to professional conduct.
  • ensure you receive and are informed of the benefits to which you are entitled as part of your membership or registration including receipt of our magazine content.
  • connect you with your local branch or YPN.
  • communicate any matters which may affect your membership or registration.
  • Confirm, on request, your professional status in respect of any professional memberships, registrations or other titles which have been awarded to you by the EI.

Your application, including any supporting evidence you submit with your application will be held securely on file as a record of the professional membership, registration or titles you have obtained through the EI, and the basis on which these memberships, registrations or titles were awarded. All material you submit in your application, and any information you impart as part of the interview process will be treated in strict confidence by staff, assessors, interviewers and any representatives of the EI or licensing or approval bodies who review or audit your application. In the interests of transparency, the protection of professional titles and the prevention of fraudulent claims in respect of professional status, the EI reserves the right to publish a list of the names of current members, and the professional registrations or titles which have been conferred on them by the EI.

Where the EI awards professional registrations or other titles under licence or approval from a third party such as the Engineering Council, the Society for the Environment or the Environment Agency, the EI will retain associated data that will also be shared with the relevant body who may communicate with you on essential matters relating to registration (see ‘Data sharing’ below). The EI also has a legitimate interest in keeping its members informed, in a proportionate way, of our activities at both corporate and local levels. We may therefore lawfully use your personal data to send you our monthly newsletter Energy Network and information from your local branch or the Young Professionals Network in your area. Similarly, we also have a legitimate interest in approaching you from time to time to request your involvement in expert surveys and consultations conducted by the EI to help fulfil our stated aim of bringing energy expertise to bear in the public debate about energy. These legitimate interests apply unless or until you either resign your membership or have opted out by visiting your My EI profile or simply clicking the personalised link at the bottom of any email from the EI.

Finally, where you have given us express consent, by providing us with your mailing preferences, you may also lawfully receive other communications about our products and services (see ‘Marketing communications’ below).

If you have registered for any other EI products or services including events, conferences, training and publications, your data may be lawfully processed by the EI on the basis of contract. As set out in the Terms and Conditions, you may receive communications relating to the fulfilment of those products and services. Where you are a previous customer, the EI has a legitimate interest in keeping you informed, in a proportionate way, about similar products or services - unless or until you have opted out by visiting your My EI profile or simply clicking the personalised link at the bottom of any email from the EI. Where you have given us express consent, by providing us with your mailing preferences, you may also lawfully receive other communications about our products and services (see ‘Marketing communications’ below).

The EI is a network of global energy professionals that exists to gather and share knowledge, skills and good practice within that community. We cannot perform this role without the contribution of professionals, experts and partners in our field. The EI therefore has a legitimate interest in processing the personal data of individuals in specific categories for specific purposes. The people in these categories are unlikely to be surprised or to object, by virtue of the senior or specialist positions they hold in their organisations and their relevance to, or their involvement in, our work.

These contributors are best understood in four categories:

  • Interested technical experts in relevant fields for the purposes of developing, revising and communicating the body of EI good practice guidance vital to the continued safe functioning of the energy industry.
  • Speakers, VIP invitees, award applicants, judges, organising committees, partners and other contributors to the EI’s programme of industry-leading conferences and events.
  • Volunteers, for the purposes of maintaining our Council of trustees, sub-committees, magazine contributors, professional assessors and the network of branches that support the EI’s objectives.
  • Stakeholders including public officials, parliamentarians, counterparts in other institutions, businesses and journalists in order to fulfil our stated aim of bringing energy expertise to bear in the public debate about energy.

Our communications on this basis will be relevant, proportionate, balanced and have a minimal privacy impact. Anyone not interested in contributing to the EI’s work can indicate this by reply.

If you are a previous, current or prospective employee of the EI we may lawfully process your personal data on the basis of contract as set out in individual terms of employment. We will keep and use it to manage our relationship with you effectively, lawfully and appropriately, during the recruitment process, while you are working for us, at the time when your employment ends and after you have left. Much of the information we hold will have been provided by you, but some may come from other internal sources, such as your manager, or in some cases external sources, such as referees.

Where necessary, we may keep information relating to your health, which could include reasons for absence. This information is used in order to comply with our health and safety obligations and to administer and manage EI and statutory sick pay, maternity pay, etc. The EI will only disclose information about you to third parties if we are required by law to do so by law or in order to comply with our contractual duties to you, for instance we may need to pass on certain information to our external payroll provider and pension provider (see ‘Data sharing’ below).

We may also store information provided by people who express an interest in working for us, whether via a formal application or expressed informally.

The EI will retain and process personal data relating to contacts at third party companies contracted to support our activities, as made necessary by contracts agreed. This includes, but is not limited to, technical consultants, freelance journalists, data processors, training tutors and service providers to our London headquarters.

The EI is keen to keep its members, customers and others with an interest informed of the latest professional opportunities and news about developments across the sector. Our marketing communications are intended to be relevant, proportionate, balanced and have a minimal privacy impact.

The EI will only use your personal data to send marketing communications if you have expressly provided consent by providing us with your mailing preferences, other than in the specific circumstances detailed above under ‘Members of the EI’, ‘Customers of the EI’s other products and services’ and ‘Other contributors to the EI’s work’.

You can provide, amend or withdraw your consent at any time by visiting your My EI profile or simply clicking the personalised link at the bottom of any email from the EI.

The EI’s main website - https://www.energyinst.org and our other websites - https://www.ipweek.co.uk, https://publishing.energyinst.org, http://knowledge.energyinst.org,https://toolbox.energyinst.org , https://safetyon.com and https://www.gplusoffshorewind.com and any sub domains thereof - are hosted by Squiz Ltd on behalf of the EI. The website https://myprofile.energyinst.org/ is hosted by Centrepoint UK on behalf of the EI. These are referred to collectively here as “the Sites”.

Neither the EI nor any of its website hosts make use of your IP address, or other session information that is automatically captured by the web server, for any purpose other than system administration and to provide statistics that are used to evaluate the use of the Sites. The Sites make use of ’cookies’, which are small text files that contain a unique identification number written to a user’s hard disk and read by a server program. Cookies are used generally to keep a record of your details in order to recognise you the next time you visit.

Cookies are used on the Sites to collect information about visits to the Sites. They use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics sets cookies in order to evaluate your use of the Sites and compile reports for us on activity on the Sites. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form only. We have also implemented Google Analytics features based on Display Advertising (Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting).

Google stores the information collected by the cookie on servers in the United States. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using the Sites, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize Google Display Network ads using the Ad Settings tool. As an added privacy measure, you can use Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

Use of the Sites does not require you to disclose personal information unless you choose to register with the Sites. Individual registration is required to elect and receive email notification services and updates; gain access to content through subscription services; gain access to restricted areas of the Sites; proceed with a PDF file download transaction; purchase hard copy items (eg books, DVDs).

The owner of personal data held by the EI will at all times be the EI. We will never sell your data to third parties and, as data controller, the EI has taken steps to ensure that personal data remains in a secure environment.

We will only share it with third parties in the case of trusted ‘data processors’ or ‘joint data controllers’ with whom we have contracts in place to ensure onward data protection, or where we are required by law to do so. For instance, we are required by law to provide the Charity Commission for England and Wales annually with a list of our trustees.

Personal data held by the EI may be processed by trusted third party data processors where we have an appropriate contract in place to ensure onward data protection in line with data protection law. Where data processors are headquartered outside the EU, additional protections have been ensured.

The EI’s main data processors are listed below.

  • Centrepoint Computer Services Limited is contracted by the EI to provide a database platform – Oomi – to securely store and manage data relating to members, customers and contacts.
  • Soutron database is contracted by the EI to provide a Library Management System. Soutron has operations in the USA but the hosting service for the Soutron application is located in the UK.
  • Squiz Ltd hosts the Energy Institute websites. Squiz Ltd is headquartered in Australia but hosts the EI’s sites on servers located in the UK.
  • Google Inc for Google Analytics. Google is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield.
  • Microsoft Corporation provides email services to the EI as well as providing the full suite of Office 365 programs and functions including SharePoint for encrypted file transfer. Microsoft is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield.
  • Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group, Atlanta) is contracted to manage the delivery of EI email communications. MailChimp is certified under the EU-US ‘Privacy Shield’ and has in addition provided a ‘Data Processing Addendum’ obligating compliance with European data protection law.
  • Alchemer and SurveyMonkey for undertaking member and other surveys. Both are certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield.
  • Financial systems and advisers including Worldpay payment gateway for card transactions for the purchase of EI products and services, SD Worx for the payment of staff salaries and other payments, PS Financials for management and payment of expenses and purchase invoices.
  • Mailing houses - Ashford Colour Press Ltd for the despatch of EI technical publications, Geerings Print for the printing and despatch of EI magazines, Elsevier for the printing and despatch of the Journal of the EI and Journal of Fuel and Energy Abstracts, Ashley Forms for the printing and despatch of the Energy Barometer.
  • Training is provided using the Moodle platform and also by a number of independently contracted tutors.
  • Event management providers including SE2 Ltd, RD Mobile and iCONEX Group.
  • Webex (Cisco International Limited), Zoom, Whova, and VFairs - platforms on which the EI hosts digital events and training.

In a small number of cases the EI is a joint data controller with a partner organisation:

  • Events run jointly with partner organisations – the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) for the Heat & Decentralised Energy, World Petroleum Congress (WPC) UK for occasional industry events.
  • Where we jointly organise an event with a partner, we collect your registration details on behalf of both organisations and pass them to our partner. This is made clear prior to registration.
  • Publications where both the EI and its partners are recognised as the ‘Publisher’ or joint owners of the work.
  • Where the EI awards professional registrations or other titles under licence or approval from a third party such as the Engineering Council, the Society for the Environment, or the Environment Agency, the EI will retain associated data that will also be shared with the relevant body, as explained in the Terms and Conditions.
  • Where we are commissioned to provide or sell training on behalf of or via another organisation. This includes SGS, Astutis, Ditto Sustainability, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group, Energy Live News, EIBI, IHRDC, NPANOR, DWA Associates, Gulf Downstream Association.

Data is retained by the EI only for as long as it has legitimate reason to do so. Where your information is no longer required, it is disposed of in a secure manner.

  • EI member data is retained for as long as membership is ‘current’ (until we are informed that a member wishes to resign or they are deemed to have lapsed because subscriptions have not been paid), and for 6 years plus the current year, in line with HM Revenue and Customs requirements and in order to facilitate reinstatement if requested. However, member records are retained where a professional title has been awarded to an individual by the EI to enable us to respond to queries relating to the professional standing of an individual.
  • Customer data is retained for 6 years plus the current year after purchase, in line with HM Revenue and Customs requirements. Records of attendance at events and training are also retained as a matter of record in relation to CPD participation and qualifications gained.
  • Data relating to past, current and prospective contributors to the EI’s work (see ‘Other contributors to the EI’s work’ above) is retained for various durations as necessary to fulfil the specific legitimate interests. This typically reflects the need to retain information covering a defined number of ‘cycles’ of activity. Contact details of office holders is kept up to date as routine.
  • Employee data will be retained for as long as the employment contract is in place or 3 years beyond the end of the tax year in which employment terminated, in line with PAYE requirements. Details of unsuccessful job applicants will be retained for 1 year after the start date of the unsuccessful applicant, in line with legal requirements.
  • Data relating to contractors to the EI will be retained for the duration of the contracted work and 6 years plus the current year beyond, in line with HM Revenue and Customs requirements.
  • Marketing contacts who have no other relationship with the EI will be retained on our database only if they have given consent within 3 months of being asked, otherwise they will be deleted. Where a contact has unsubscribed, a simple record may be retained beyond this for the purposes of ensuring suppression of future email communications.

The EI will respond when requested to any data access request in line with data protection law. We will also, if asked, respect the right of an individual to ask to be forgotten entirely in so far as it does not undermine legal requirements.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please let us know as soon as possible and we will correct any information found to be incorrect.

If you have any comments, questions or concerns about how the EI handles personal data, or in relation to your personal data held by the EI, please contact:

Nick Turton, External Affairs Director, Energy Institute, 61 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7AR nturton@energyinst.org

If you wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office visit: https://ico.org.uk/concerns