Data protection – a guide for the arts sector

Data protection – a guide for the arts sector

By Roger Tomlinson

SUMMARY

February 2015: New guidance on Data Protection is coming soon and information here will be updated as soon as possible A guide designed to assist managers, box office, marketing and fundraising staff in operating procedures for dealing with customers and their data. It gives guidance on how to provide good customer service while complying with the spirit of the Data Protection Acts. It is designed explicitly to offer advice primarily about ticket sales situations. Customers are sensitive as to how they are treated. It is important that venues are seen to behave in ways which respect the public and the integrity of their information.

Customer contact, especially in the Box Office, demands an increasingly professional, trained and skilled, response from staff. Staff need to use their software correctly to build customer records which are accurate and up to date. Staff need to ensure that customers are properly advised about data protection. Managers need to ensure that appropriate procedures are in place, that 'good practice' is implemented and maintained.

For arts and entertainment organisations which use their databases for fundraising, there are considerable implications for the information kept about potential donors and sponsors, especially because of the rights the Data Protection Acts give the public to have access to the data held on them.

Resource type: Guide/tools | Published: 2013