Who we are
The British Society of Plant Breeders is the membership association for the agricultural plant breeding industry in the UK. We provide services to our members including licensing the production and sale of seed of crop varieties, royalty collection, collection of farm-saved seed payments and organisation of statutory and non-statutory variety trials. We develop policy, represent our members’ interests and communicate about the science and business of plant breeding. We do not carry out marketing.
BSPB is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals. We will keep your data private and use it only for the purposes set out in this document and in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information.
What information we hold about you
Depending on the type of relationship that we have with you and the business function concerned, we may hold any or all of the following:
- Name
- Address
- Email address
- Telephone numbers
- Bank account details
- Date of birth
- Contact history
We hold only the information about you that we need to have to be able to carry out our business functions.
How we collect the information
We collect information about you in a number of ways:
- Information that you give us, for example when you join as a member, take a head licence or licence with us, apply to enter varieties into our trials or contract to operate trials for us, correspond with us in relation to our farm-saved seed collection scheme or communicate with us as part of our day to day business activities.
- Information that is given to us by third parties, for example by your employer, a BSPB head licensor, sub-licensee, farm-saved seed processor, farmer or contractor that you have done business with, national authorities or BSPB’s variety trials contractors.
- Information that is public on the internet or that has come to us via a mailing list.
How we use the information
- Depending on the type of relationship that we have with you, we use the information to:
- Communicate with you
- Transact with you
- Deliver a service to you or to others, including licensing, royalty collection, farm-saved seed payment collection, organisation of variety trials and delivery of results
- Operate a contract with you
- Comply with our legal obligations
- Send you our newsletter and other generic information about plant breeding
Our lawful basis for collecting, holding and processing your information
Depending on the type of relationship that we have you and the business function concerned, our lawful basis for collecting, holding and processing your information is one of:
- Contract
- Legal obligation
- Legitimate interests
Where we have a legitimate interest in contacting you and holding your information, it is because we require to do this to be able to carry out one or more of our business functions.
Who we share the information with
Depending on the relevant business function and the type of relationship that we have with you, we may share your information with certain third parties. These may include:
National authorities and their contractors for seed certification
- BSPB head licensors
- BSPB legal advisers
- BSPB contractors for, and partners in, variety trials and related work
- Variety trial applicants
- GM inspectorate
- Printers and mailing house
- Debt collection agency
We will not share your information with third parties unless we have a specific legitimate need to do so to be able to properly carry out our business functions. We will never share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
How long we will hold your information for
Where there is a statutory obligation for the length of time we need to retain your information, we will abide by that. In all other instances we will retain your information for as long as there is a business need.
Access to your information and correction
You have a right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email or write to us using the contact details below. We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct or remove information that you think is inaccurate.
Data security
We take the security of data very seriously. If you would like further information on how we maintain the security of your information, please email or write to us using the contact details below.
How to contact us
You can write to us at: BSPB House, 114 Lancaster Way Business Park, Ely CB6 3NX
Or Email us enquiries@bspb.co.uk
Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review. Please check back to this page for updates. This privacy policy was last updated on 24 May 2018