This is the Privacy Policy for the Conservative Women’s Organisation (CWO) and not just for our website www.conservativewomen.uk. If you wish to obtain a copy in an accessible format, please contact our Data Protection Officer.
This Privacy Policy has been created in order to demonstrate the CWO’s commitment to the protection of your data and to be transparent in how we deal with it.
We will process your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
This privacy policy was published on 26th February 2026.
Contacting us about Data Protection:
If you have any questions about this policy or for more information about how we use your data, or would like to exercise any of your rights, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at deputyc@conservativewomen.uk
The Conservative Women’s Organisation (CWO) is the data controller for UK data protection law.
What information do we collect?
The types of personal information that we may collect about you include:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Contact Details (e.g. address, email address, telephone number, mobile number, social media)
- Communication Preferences
- Direct Marketing Preferences
- Electoral Register Data
- Demographic data
- Financial transaction data
- Opinions on topical issues
- Issues that you raise with us
- IP address, cookies and other technical information that you may share when you interact with our website
- Commercially available data – such as consumer, lifestyle, household and behavioural data
- Publicly available data
We may also collect special categories of information such as:
- Political Opinions
- Voting intentions
- Racial or ethnic origin
- Religious views
How we collect data
We collect data about you in the following ways:
Provided by you (Directly):
- In person, when you speak to one of our representatives or volunteers
- Through a telephone call, either where you call us or we call you
- On paper, such as if you return a printed survey or a reply slip on a leaflet
- Digitally, such as if you fill in a form on a website or interact with the CWO online via our website or social media platforms
- When you offer or ask about volunteering, or take part in CWO activities
- When you enter into a transaction with the CWO, such as donating, joining, purchasing a product or paying for an event
- When you consent to receiving marketing emails etc
- When you attend a conference or campaign event
Third Party Sources (Indirectly):
- When data is shared with us from the wider Conservative Party
- Indirectly from publicly accessible sources or other public records, including the full electoral register to which the Party is legally entitled
- On social media platforms, where you have made the information public, or you have made the information available in a social media forum run by the CWO
- From commercial organisations with whom we have a contract guaranteeing full data protection compliance.
- CCTV, if you visit Conservative Party Headquarters
- The Party is legally entitled to, and receives, the electoral registration records to which it is entitled under applicable electoral law, including as provided by Councils across the United Kingdom pursuant to the Representation of the People Regulations 2001 (as amended) and equivalent legislation in Scotland. We receive an updated version of these every time an update is published, which is usually every month.
- We collect data with the intention of using it primarily for political activities.
- The Conservative Party uses the data that we collect about you in order to build a picture of you and the United Kingdom electorate. We use automated means to analyse this variety of data and collate it (sometimes referred to as “profiling”). For example, we may combine electoral register data, commercially available modelled consumer data and publicly available data from the land registry in order to make a prediction about your lifestyle and habits. We do this to:
- understand the matters and issues that are likely to be of relevance and significance to you, and better inform our future policies if our predictions are incorrect,
- decide whether we send you our campaigning materials,
- select what campaigning material we send to you and which messages we put on it,
- evaluate whether we think you are likely to vote and for whom you will likely vote for during an election or a referendum,
- We have determined that this kind of automation and profiling does not create legal or significant effects for you. Nor does it affect the legal rights that you have over your data.
How we use your information and why we are allowed to use it:
How your data is used is protected by law, and we only use your data where we have an acceptable reason for doing so. The reasons we process your data are:
- In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement (Public Interest), or
- When it is our legal duty (legal obligation), or
- When you provide consent (consent), or
- In order to fulfil a contract with you (contract), or
- When we have a legitimate interest (legitimate interest).
The law restricts the processing of what is termed “special categories of personal data”. The work of the Conservative Party, and the wider Conservative Party, is deemed to be of substantial public interest and therefore we are permitted to process special categories of personal data relating to your political opinions and voting intentions.
Where we process special category data, we rely on Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR (substantial public interest) together with the relevant conditions set out in Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018, including the condition relating to democratic engagement. We maintain an appropriate policy document as required by Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
The table below lists examples of how we use your data and our justification and legal basis for it.
Purpose
Legal Basis and Justification
Canvass Political Support
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement and our legitimate interest in identifying Conservative supporters
Send you messages about our campaigns and policies, including via social media adverts
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement, and our legitimate interest to nform the electorate about what the Conservative Party is doing.
Contact you about issues or queries that you have told us about.
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement and our legitimate interests to engage with the electorate
Process and record voting intentions and political opinions.
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement, and our legitimate interest to understand the electorate and identify Conservative supporters.
Send you surveys and process your responses.
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement
Process your application for membership and administration of your membership.
Contractual necessity and our legitimate interest in engaging with our membership base.
Send you information by post about fundraising activities to support the Party.
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement and our legitimate interests to raise funds for the Party.
Process your donation and checking your eligibility to donate
We have a legitimate interest to process your donation and a legal duty to check your eligibility to donate amounts of more than £500
Assess suitability of prospective members and donors using publicly available sources
We have a legitimate interest to ensure that our members and donors will not bring the Party into disrepute
Send you electronic messages about our campaigns
When you sign up to receive emails from the Conservative Party, you are providing us with your consent to process your data for these purposes
Identifying potential supporters using commercially available modelled data
In pursuit of an activity that supports or promotes democratic engagement and our legitimate interests to identify Conservative supporters
Conduct anonymised market research.
We have a legitimate interest to get a sense of general political opinion across the UK.
Our legitimate interests:
Our objective is to promote our values and to elect Conservative candidates at every level of government across the United Kingdom, or when we campaign in referenda. In order to do this, we rely upon the support of our members, donors, volunteers and supporters. We rely on being able to communicate and engage with the United Kingdom Electorate and those eligible to vote.
As a member: If you join the Party or our organisation, we have a legitimate interest in processing your data and contacting you about all aspects of your membership, including information about your entitlements as a member and about events, either by post or by electronic means. The organisation is run by its members and therefore we have a legitimate interest in member engagement and retention. For example: If you do not renew your membership with the Party or the CWO we may continue to send you information about the Conservative Party, including information on how to rejoin, for a reasonable period after your membership lapses. We also have a legitimate interest in retaining your data after your membership lapses, as well as a legal duty to keep a record of a financial transaction.
As a donor: If you donate money to the CWO or the Party then we have a legitimate interest in processing and retaining your information and to send you marketing about our fundraising activities; either by post or by electronic means. We justify this because our activities are funded by donations. For donations over certain thresholds the Conservative Party has a legal obligation to report it to our regulator, the Electoral Commission, who will publish certain details on its website.
As a volunteer: If you volunteer for the Party or our organisation, or enquire about volunteering, and are not a member, we have a legitimate interest in processing and retaining your information and contacting you about volunteering opportunities. We justify this because of the vital function that volunteers perform both during and outside of elections.
If you attend an event: If you attend one of our events such as at Party conference or one of our social events, and are not a member, we have a legitimate interest in retaining your information and to send you marketing about future similar events which we think might be of interest to you; either by post or by electronic means.
Much of the work of the CWO and the Conservative Party is conducted by the wider Conservative Party. For this reason, we have a legitimate interest in sharing certain personal information with the wider Party when it is necessary for our campaigns or activities.
Whilst a lot of our political activities are considered to be tasks carried out in the public interest, we also have a legitimate interest in carrying out these tasks. We justify this due to our defined objective as a political party.
You will always have the opportunity to opt out of receiving any messages to exercise any of your legal rights.
We are committed to respecting your rights over your data and in some circumstances we will have a legitimate interest to continue to process your data even where you have exercised one of your rights. For example if you request that we stop processing your data for purposes of direct marketing then we justify keeping a record of this request in order to ensure that your wishes are respected.
Data Processed with your Consent
Where we use consent as our legal basis for processing your data, or process special categories of your data on the basis of your explicit consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. This does not affect our right to process your data before you decide to withdraw your consent.
Who we share your data with:
We will never sell your data but sometimes it is necessary to share your information, either within the wider Conservative Party, or with our service providers and data processors. Data is only ever shared where we have a justification and when the law allows us to do so.
We share data with:
- The wider Conservative Party
- Business associates and professional advisers
- Suppliers
- Service providers
- Financial organisations – such as credit card payment providers
- Political organisations
- Elected representatives
- Regulatory bodies
- Market researchers
- Healthcare and welfare organisations
- Law enforcement agencies
Where we use a service provider to process your data on our behalf we will ensure that this processing is governed by a legally enforceable contract which sets out their responsibilities for protecting your data and your rights.
Where we share data with the wider Conservative Party we ensure that the recipient of the data signs an undertaking that they will use the data only for the purposes for which it was provided and will take necessary measures to ensure its security. Members of the wider Party receive training on data protection.
Transferring your data outside of the European Economic Area
Some of our service providers are located outside of the United Kingdom and therefore it may be necessary to transfer your personal data outside of the United Kingdom. Where we do transfer your data outside of the United Kingdom we will make sure that it is protected in the same way as if the data was inside the United Kingdom.
We will use one of the following safeguards to ensure this:
- Where the UK Government has issued adequacy regulations determining that a country or organisation ensures an adequate level of data protection.
- A contract is put in place with the recipient of the data obliging them to protect the data to the same standards as the United Kingdom, including use of the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, where appropriate.
We are not permitted to transfer Electoral Register Data outside of the United Kingdom.
How long we retain your data for
We constantly review the data that we hold and regularly review its relevance and our need to hold onto it. We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Whilst we do not set fixed periods for data retention we use several factors to determine whether we need to hold onto the data. Factors we take into consideration are:
- Retention periods as required by law – for example the Conservative Party is under a statutory duty to retain financial information for a period of 6 years,
- The purpose for which the data was provided or obtained,
- Our legitimate interests in holding onto your data,
- Whether holding onto your data will infringe your rights over your data,
- Legal and regulatory obligations that may require reference to your data,
Cookies
Please visit our cookies page for more information about how we use cookies on this site.
Log Files and Statistics
We use IP addresses, URL’s of requested resources, timestamps and HTTP user-agents to analyse trends, administer the system and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. In addition to this we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies, to help analyse how visitors use our site. The information generated by the cookie about the use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activityd and providing other services relating to website activity and Internet usage. 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. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your Web browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to make full use of our website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above. Where personal data is transferred outside of the United Kingdom, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR, including adequacy regulations or approved transfer mechanisms.
How we protect your data:
The security of your data is paramount to the Party and as such we ensure that appropriate technical and organisational measures are in place to protect it. We constantly review our measures to ensure that your data is protected from any threats that may emerge.
Your rights over your data
Right of access to your data
You have the right to request a copy of your personal information that we hold. This is commonly known as a Subject Access Request.
We follow the ICO’s “Subject Access Code of Practice” when dealing with requests for access to personal data. You can read this code by visiting https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/2014223/subject-access-code-of-practice.pdf
Right of rectification of your data
You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete information that we hold about you is corrected.
Right to be forgotten
In certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records. When we do so, we keep the bare minimum of your information in order to continue to respect your wishes when your personal data is next provided to us by a local authority, which is at least annually.
Right to restriction of processing
You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your data where you are contesting the accuracy of the data or when the data has been unlawfully processed.
Right to data portability
You have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to a third party organisation and you can ask that we provide it in a machine readable format.
Right to object
You have a right to opt out of your data being used for direct marketing.
If we process your data on the basis of “legitimate interests” or “a task carried out in the public interest” then you have the right to object to us using your data in that way. This right is not absolute and we may continue to process your data if we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing.
Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
We may use computer software to make decisions about you or to create a profile about you. You have the right not to be subject to such a decision or to that profiling where it creates legal effects concerning you or where it significantly affects you.
Making a complaint
If you are unhappy with the way that we have processed or handled your data then you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the supervisory body authorised by the Data Protection Act 2018 to regulate the handling of personal data within the United Kingdom.
The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:
- Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF
- Telephone: 0303 123 1113
- Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
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