Privacy Policy

This privacy policy outlines how The Dharma Trust uses and protects any information you provide when using this website.

The Dharma Trust is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. If we ask you to provide certain information by which you can identify when using this website, we can assure you that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

It is the policy of The Dharma Trust to take all necessary steps to ensure that Personal Information held by the charity is held securely and processed fairly and lawfully, in accordance with the eight Data Protection Principles contained in the UK’s Data Protection Act 1998.

About The Dharma Trust

The Dharma Trust (also referred to in this document as ‘the charity’) is a charitable company dedicated to the advancement of Tibetan Buddhism and the advancement of education in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist Principles.

The Dharma Trust primarily pursues its objects by maintaining a Buddhist Centre, known as Marpa House in Ashdon, Essex (‘Marpa House’), where the charity provides events, spiritual teachings, accommodation, and meals for individuals attending those events. Marpa House is also available for individuals to undertake personal residential retreats. Volunteer staff are resident at Marpa House.

This is the publicly available website for Marpa House; however, The Dharma Trust does not have its own website. Our website address is: https://marpahouse.org.uk

What personal data do we collect and how?

Contact forms

Our contact forms utilise invisible Captcha to prevent spam.

Comments

This website has disabled the ability to comment on articles and posts.

Cookies

If you visit our website, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

Like most websites you visit, the charity’s website uses cookies to enhance your user experience by remembering you. This could be just for the duration of your visit or for future visits (to remember your preferences, etc.). Our website requires some cookies to enable you to navigate between pages efficiently.

We also use cookies to analyse the type of traffic visiting the website, such as your geographic location, the kind of browser or device (mobile, etc.) used, and the pages viewed, along with the time spent on each page. All this information helps us modify the service we supply and tailor the website to improve your experience.

If you wish to restrict or block cookies set by this, or any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should provide instructions on how to do so. Alternatively, you may visit www.aboutcookies.org, which contains comprehensive information on how to do this for a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to clear cookies from your computer, as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on your mobile phone’s browser, you will need to refer to your handset’s manual.

View our coolie policy here. 

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if the visitor had visited those websites.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest or for making bookings (e.g., Eventbrite). However, once you have used these links to leave our site, please keep in mind that we do not have control over the other website.

Unfortunately, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you provide while visiting these sites, as this privacy statement does not govern them. You should be careful and look over the privacy statement that is applicable to the website in question.

Analytics

Our site utilises basic analytics software provided by WP Engine, which allows us to track the number of visitors to our website, as well as their country and location. This tells us which pages have been viewed and how the viewer has found our site.We use this information to help improve our site, ensuring visitors have a better experience.

Who do we share your data with?

We will not sell or lease your personal information to third parties without your permission, except as required by law.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

If you would like a copy of the information held on you, please write to the address detailed in this policy. If you think that any information we are holding about you is incorrect or incomplete, please let us know as soon as possible by writing to or emailing us at the address detailed in this policy. We will promptly correct any incorrect information.

We are committed to ensuring the security of your information. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have implemented suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

The Dharma Trust may disclose your Personal Information to third parties who the charity instructs to process that Personal Information on its behalf for the purposes set out above. Such third parties are required by The Dharma Trust to sign an agreement under which they agree to only use your Personal Information for the purposes for which the charity instructs them to use the information, and to take appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful access to it. In using this website, you consent to such use of your Personal Information.

The charity may disclose or make available information which includes your Personal Information where it is obliged to do so to fulfil any legal requirement (such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and/or the Codes of Practice on the Discharge of Public Authorities’ Functions and on the Management of Records (which are issued under section 45 and 46 of the FOIA respectively) and/or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).

How do we use your data?

This is information about you that you provide by filling in forms on our website or by corresponding with us by phone, email, or otherwise.

The information you provide to us or that we collect about you may include your name, postal address, email address, and phone number, bank account details (for Gift Aid/Donations etc.) as well as links to your social or professional profiles available in the public domain, such as Instagram, Facebook, X, etc.

When submitting an email on this website, the submitted data is sent directly to us. We may collect the following data:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your address and contact numbers – if you supply it or it is contained within your email signature
• Any information you divulge in your email or attachments.

We use this data to contact you regarding your question or request. The data we collect can only be accessed by the trustees and authorised staff of The Dharma Trust, unless you give your permission to involve a third-party specialist to move forward with your question.

We also collect personal data from you if you contact us via our social media sites. We can only contact you through these sites until you’re able to engage with us through traditional contact methods or ask us to.

We also collect information offline when you contact us by telephone or in person. If you contact us via email or we receive an email from you, this information is stored electronically. By sending us an email, we consider it an instruction and permission to respond to the query raised in the email via any communication method you have provided. This may be related to a stay at Marpa House, a booking for an event or a course, a donation or any other service offered ay/by Marpa House. Please don’t hesitate to ask us to remove your contact details from our system at any time.

Your data is also kept on our system to ensure we meet our legal obligations for the processing of your enquiry. This is vital to ensure we can provide the most effective support to you.

How long do we retain your data?

The Dharma Trust will only retain personal data whilst it is reasonably likely to be needed to further the charitable objects of the charity or a legal provision requires that it be preserved.

What rights do you have over your data?

Contact information: For any questions, comments, or requests regarding our data processing practices, please direct them to: The Dharma Trust, Marpa House, Rectory Lane, Ashdon, Essex CB10 2HN.

If you provide names, postal addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses to The Dharma Trust with the intent that we contact you about our activities, they will be kept until you request their deletion, at which point they will be destroyed. This does not include any data that we are required to retain for administrative, legal, or security reasons.

Additional information

How do we protect your data?

This website has a valid SSL Certificate. This means the information you send to this website will be private and encrypted. You will notice the padlock symbol is displayed in your address bar.

What third parties do we receive data from?

WP Engine hosts this website. See their website for more information https://wpengine.com/

Concerns

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Changes to this privacy policy

We may occasionally make changes to this privacy policy. Following any changes, the date at the top of the privacy policy will be updated. If any change allows for wider access to/or sharing of data, such changes will only apply to data collected after the specified date.