In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation that came into effect on 25 May 2018, the BES here lays out its data protection policy to publicly confirm the Society's lawful handling of data provided by its members. In addition to the summary of how the Society handles the data that members provide to the Society that follows below, this page also give access to the Society’s Data Protection Policy.

Summary of how the BES handles personal data, especially that provided by members to the Society:

The data members supply when joining the Society (or when updating their personal information by contacting the Society’s Honorary Secretary) is primarily used by the Society for organisational purposes (i.e. to keep a register of all subscribed members). The legal basis for the Society’s use of the information that members provide is the Society’s legitimate interest in keeping a record of its members and their payment, bank account, and contact details, as well as of recipients of bursaries and grants, including once more bank account and contact details.

We also draw on this personal information to contact you, typically by e-mail, i.e. for communications with members, typically twice per month, to inform you about epigraphic news, upcoming conferences and training opportunities, etc. We do not pass personal data on to other individuals or to third parties OTHER THAN in the case of those who have joined AIEGL via BES: in this case, we supply AIEGL on the behalf of those members with the information they have provided us.

Information members provide when registering for a Society activity (e.g. a Spring Meeting) is primarily used for organisational purposes, i.e. the running of the activity in question (incl. also such information as special dietary needs pertaining to catering arrangements, etc.). We may also list the names of participants and their institutional affiliation on the meeting programme (incl. on our website), and share this information with our funding bodies as part of the required grant reporting. Anyone registering for one of our activities will be asked for their consent for their personal data to be used in this fashion. The same applies in the case of bursars and grant awardees, i.e. members who have been given (financial) support by the Society for an activity.

Members can update their personal data at any time, by e-mailing the Society’s Honorary Secretary, and they can choose to withdraw their membership at any time, again by contacting the Society’s Honorary Secretary. The period of data retention is for up to 6 years after the termination of a membership (or the year of your last subscription), but the Society reserves the right to keep permanently its books of account and bank statements. The data that members provide is securely stored on the devices used by the Society’s officers, such as account books and computers kept by the officers of the BES, and their internet service providers.

If you have any questions about the Society’s handling of your personal data, please do not hesitate to get in touch: the officer charged with oversight over the Society’s data protection is at present our Treasurer, Dr Nick Milner. You can find his contact details on the Society's Data Protection Policy.