These rules are not currently in use. A vote to implement these will be taken in the October 2025 AGM, Until then, if you have any comments about the rules, be it rules you don’t think should be there, rules you think should be changed, rules you think should be added, then please let us know via discord, or via email at directors@leicesterhackspace.org.uk

GDPR and Privacy

This privacy policy [“policy”] will help you understand how Leicester Hackspace [“us”, “we”, “our”, “the Hackspace”] uses and protects the data that you provide us with when visiting and/or using our facilities.

We reserve the right to change this policy at any given time, of which you will be promptly updated. If you want to ensure that you are up to date with the latest changes, we advise you to frequently visit this page.

Section One - Contact Information

Leicester Hackspace is classified as a small organisation. As such, we do not have a dedicated data protection officer. However, our directors will respond to any data enquiries and requests received.

General Enquiries should be directed to:
directors@leicesterhackspace.org.uk.

Or posted to Leicester Hackspace’s registered office address:
Leicester Hackspace Ltd,
Unit 40, First Floor,
Faircharm Trading Estate,
Evelyn Drive, Leicester.
LE3 2BU

Any queries that are received will be responded to within a month, per the requirements set out within Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council [“the UK GDPR”].

Section Two - Data Collection and Processing

When you become a member of the Hackspace, we collect, process, and store certain personal information for the following purposes:

  1. Legal Obligations;
  2. Contractual Agreements; and
  3. Legitimate Interests, per Article 6(1)(f) of the UK GDPR. These may include:
    • Safety and Security Purposes
    • Improving our Services
    • Communicating with members of the Hackspace.

By agreeing to become a member of the Hackspace, you consent to us collecting, processing and storing your personal information, as appropriate. The data and reasons for collection can be found below. The data we will collect includes, but may not be limited to:

  1. Your Full Name;
  2. Your Discord™ Account Information;
  3. Your Wiki Account Information;
  4. Your contact information - namely, your email and postal addresses, and your phone number (if provided);
  5. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) information [i.e. information obtained from your key fob, required for entry];
  6. Images and/or Footage containing yourself, obtained from Closed Circuit Television Cameras [CCTV] within the Hackspace;
  7. Payment Information; and
  8. Transaction History.

Leicester Hackspace is committed to securing all collected information and keeping it confidential. We have done all in our power to prevent data theft, unauthorized access and disclosure by ensuring that we maintain high standards of safeguarding.

Further Detail as to the purposes and use of the above data can be found in Section Five of this Policy.

We may share your personal data with trusted third-party service providers who help us with the Hackspace’s operations and to deliver our services. These third parties are required to process your data in accordance with our instructions and to comply with the same data protection laws as the Hackspace. We will ensure that any third-party service providers we use are GDPR-compliant, and we will only share data that is necessary for the fulfilment of their services. We do not sell or share your personal data with any third parties for their own marketing purposes.

If we work with third-party processors, we ensure that appropriate contracts are in place to protect your data, and we only allow them to use your data for the purposes outlined in this policy,

In the unlikely event of a data breach, users will be informed via Email as soon as possible, upon us learning of the breach. Per our legal obligations, the Information Commissioner Office’s [ICO] will also be informed of any breaches within 72 hours.

Section Three - Your Rights

In line with the UK GDPR, you have the right – at any time – to request access to, to rectify, to restrict access to, or to request deletion of your personal data. You can also restrict the processing of your data, make a request for data portability, and object to the collection of your data in the first place.

Standard Exemptions to this policy apply – more information on these can be found on the ICO’s website:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/exemptions/a-guide-to-the-data-protection-exemptions/

Section Four - Concerns and Complaints

Should you wish to raise any concerns, or to make a complaint, with regard to our processing of your personal data, we ask that these be raised with the Hackspace, at first instance, using the contact information within Section One of this policy.

If you are unhappy with the response received from the Hackspace, however, you can also make a complaint to the ICO. Their contact information can be found below:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

You can also contact them using their telephone number (0303 123 1113) or via their website at https://www.ico.org.uk.

Section Five - Further Information on the Use of Your Data

Membership Data

When you join the hackspace, we will collect, process and store certain personal information for the following purposes:

  1. As a Company Limited by Guarantee, we are required to maintain accurate records of the names and addresses of all members for at least 6 years after they are no longer a member. The latter of these will also be checked upon joining the Hackspace, to confirm that it is a valid address.
  2. We will primarily contact members via email for company-related information, such as updates on events and other important news. We may also contact members if there is a problem that requires their attention. For this purpose, in the event that you cannot be reached via email, we will communicate via post to the address associated with your Membership. If you have provided us with your phone number, this may also be used to contact you, in case of a time-sensitive matter or emergency. You may be contacted by a director or a member of the membership team.

Further to the above, we may contact you if we are advised of a misuse of the Hackspace and its tools, or if a complaint was made against and/or concerns you. We also store any information necessary for maintaining the safety of the Hackspace, such as details on any rule infractions and complaints made against members.

Membership Data Deletion

We will retain sufficient information in order to identify any individuals who are banned from the Hackspace. This data will be held for the length of said individual’s ban, plus the 6 years defined within our legal obligations.

Any information pertaining to complaints and rule infractions will be maintained for as long as the individual remains a member of the Hackspace, plus the 6 years defined in our legal obligations.

All personal information will be held indefinitely for as long as a member wishes to have an account. Removal of this information may be requested by contacting the directors, with the exception of an individual’s name and address, which we are legally obliged to retain for 6 years.

Access to the Hackspace

When you access the Hackspace, we collect, process and store information in order to identify who has entered the Space, who is using what equipment, and when.

We log timed RFID door openings to the Hackspace indefinitely, for security and troubleshooting reasons (i.e. to prevent unauthorized access and to resolve any technical issues that may arise with the entry system).

The identifying details of banned members (i.e. the information obtained from their RFID key fob) will be retained for the duration of an individual’s ban, plus the 6 years defined within our legal obligations. These may be provided to directors and/or members of the management team at any time, in order to assist in identifying those who should no longer be using the Hackspace.

The Hackspace Doors keep a log of the time(s) they are accessed, and the unique identifying code of the key fobs used to access them. These logs may be used to identify members who were in the Hackspace at the time of an incident or complaint, for investigative purposes.

If an individual informs us of any accessibility requirements, these will be retained for as long as the individual is a member of the Hackspace, plus 6 years, as per our legal obligations. This is to allow us to accommodate your requirements, wherever possible.

Use of the Hackspace’s Tools

A number of the Hackspace’s tools are controlled and monitored via the use of RFID technology, in order to identify who is using the tools, when, and for how long.

We collect, store, and display information about tool bookings. If you book tools online, your booking information will be visible to others via the Online Booking Calendar.

We log user access to our tools, in order to ensure that they are maintained, and that all users are inducted and ‘safe’ to use them. This information is also used for billing purposes and to guide future tool purchasing decisions. This may also be used for investigative purposes, in the event of a rules break or complaint. This information is retained indefinitely but may be decoupled from an individual, upon request, after 7 years have passed, as required by HM Revenue and Customs for taxation purposes.

Membership Payment Data

We do not store or process any of our members’ payment card information, with Membership Payments instead being made via Standing Order.

Membership Payments and Transactions are stored indefinitely for accounting purposes, but may be decoupled and/or anonymised after 7 years from the date of payment/transaction, upon request.

Details of payments that are less than the membership threshold are stored, even if hackspace membership is not granted.

We may contact you regarding the amount or frequency of membership payments to the space.

Payment Data for Tools and/or Snacks

At the Hackspace, we allow members to purchase snacks and to rent out specific tools, as needed.

The data for these transactions are held indefinitely to enable the purchase of snacks the use of tools, and for the purposes of accounting. This is required to be retained for at least 7 years, for tax purposes, but may be anonymised past this point, upon request.

Wiki Data

The hackspace provides a Wiki which is publicly available at all times. Members can use the Wiki in order to share information relating to the hackspace or its projects.

Contributions to the Wiki are made at a member’s own risk, and are retained indefinitely for preservation and monitoring purposes. An individual’s contributions can be anonymised and/or decoupled from their account, upon request.