Who we are

The Young Archaeologists’ Club (YAC) is part of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), an educational charity working throughout the UK to involve people in archaeology and to promote the appreciation and care of the historic environment.

Our website address is: https://www.yac-uk.org. The CBA is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 287815) and in Scotland (No. SC041971), and a company limited by guarantee registered in England (No. 1760254).

For any privacy-related enquiries, please contact us at: yac@yac-uk.org

Last updated: [10/11/2025]

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

We are committed to protecting the privacy of our members, volunteers, and supporters. We only collect personal information that is necessary to carry out our work and fulfil our legal obligations.

Information You Provide to Us

We may collect personal information when you:

  • Join as a member or volunteer.
  • Sign up for our newsletter.
  • Take part in our activities or competitions.
  • Donate to us

This information may include your name, postal address, email address, and telephone number. For specific processes, it may also include payment information (processed securely by third parties), Gift Aid declarations, or information for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for our volunteers.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your data based on:

  • Legitimate Interests: To fulfill our duty to members, promote our charitable aims, improve our services, and handle enquiries.
  • Consent: Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose (e.g., signing up for a newsletter).
  • Legal Obligation: To comply with the law (e.g., processing Gift Aid).

Website Forms

Our website uses Gravity Forms to collect information submitted by visitors (for the Ask an Archaeologist question form). When you submit a form, the information you provide is:

  • securely transmitted to our website server;
  • stored within the website’s database.
  • Form submissions stored on the website are accessible only to authorised members of YAC who need this information to carry out their duties.
  • We do not sell, or share form submission data with third parties unless required by law or explicitly stated on a form.

Media and Photography

If you upload images to the website (e.g., for a competition or blog post), please avoid including embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

By submitting photos to us, you agree that copyright remains with you, but you grant the CBA and YAC non-exclusive rights in perpetuity for publication, digitisation, exhibition, and broadcast.

Cookies

We use the CookieYes plugin to manage cookie consent preferences. You can review our cookie policy and manage your preferences here.

Cookies help improve website functionality and provide analytics. By using our site, you agree to the use of cookies in accordance with our policy.

Embedded content from other websites

Pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g., YouTube videos). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content.

Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

  • MeThree maintain the website; they do not access any form submission data, unless we specifically request their assistance for a support or technical issue — and only then under strict confidentiality.
  • Our hosting provider CloudAbove hosts the server on which the data is stored. CloudAbove does not access the contents of form submissions.
  • Our website, hosting, and data handling processes benefit from the following protections:
    • MeThree is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) holds Cyber Essentials certification.
    • Our hosting provider, CloudAbove, is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and Cyber Essentials standards. Data is stored on servers within the UK
    • Access to the website’s administrative area is restricted and protected by strong authentication.
  • We may disclose data if required by law.

How long we retain your data

We only hold your personal information for as long as is necessary to administer our relationship with you and fulfill legal requirements.

  • Analytics Data: Anonymised data is retained for up to 14 months.

If you wish to request the deletion of your data, please contact us at yac@yac-uk.org.

What rights you have over your data

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

  • Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Request correction or erasure of your personal data.
  • Withdraw consent for processing where applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at yac@yac-uk.org.

For further information about your rights, please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website at https://ico.org.uk/.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page, so please check back periodically.