Privacy policy

Transparency notice - Business & IP Centre

When you engage with our Business & IP Centre (BIPC) we will collect information about your business (potentially including financial information), as well as your contact details, and certain other data required to meet equality monitoring requirements (which will include Sensitive Personal Information in relation to your  ethnicity and gender).

We will use your personal information to provide you with the Services that you have requested from us, such as workshop bookings, attendance at events, advice sessions, and similar business support activities (e.g. in the performance of a contract with you). We will also use your contact information in order to supply you with relevant transactional documentation.

We may use your contact information to contact your business with information about our Services which we believe may be of interest to you. This is on the basis of our legitimate interests, as set out in the Privacy of Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (as amended), which covers business to business email communications.

Many of the services that we offer through the BIPC are also available through our partner organisations in the British Library Business & IP Centre National Network. We may share your information with our partners in the Network as necessary to provide you with the services you have requested, and to carry out our legitimate interests in monitoring, auditing, and developing the services of the Network. Our Network partner organisations may also use your information for the same reasons.

The services that you have requested will be provided by a variety of third party consultants who will be experts in the relevant field. We will share your information with them for the purpose of providing the services, and they may also use your information to offer you further support outside of the Library's service provision.

We may use various organisations to provide IT capabilities in support of our Services, and who may process your information on our behalf. These Data Processors will process your information only under contract to the Library, and may not use your information in any other way. In particular, we use the following systems to process your information:

• We use Hubspot, from Hubspot Inc., for marketing services. Hubspot may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Hubspot's Privacy Policy can be found at https://legal.hubspot.com/privacy-policy.
• We use Basecamp, from Basecamp LLC, to administer the BIPC Centre National Network. Basecamp may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the Eu-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Basecamp's Privacy Policy can be found at https://basecamp.com/about/policies/privacy.
• We use Eventbrite, from Eventbrite Inc., for event advertising, booking, and ticket sales. Eventbrite may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Eventbrite's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/support/articles/en_US/Troubleshooting/eventbrite-privacy-policy.

If you engage with a BIPC service we will retain your information for the current year plus a further six years after the date of your transaction in order to comply with tax and accounting rules.

Transparency notice - CCTV

The British Library uses CCTV, and other related technologies such as passive terahertz body scanners, on all of our physical sites for the purposes of safety and security management. We do this in the performance of our public task to protect the UK's national collection of its published output, and in order to protect the vital interests of our staff and visitors.

CCTV footage is retained for 31 days before being automatically overwritten, and security scan records are retained for 24 hrs, unless deliberately archived for evidential purposes in the event of a security incident.

Upon request, we will routinely provide copies of our CCTV records to the police in the performance of their legitimate duties.

Further information about our use of CCTV can be found in our CCTV Policy, which is available upon request.

Transparency notice - Collection materials

The British Library collects the published output of Great Britain, and has over 150 million items in its Collections. Our Collections contain personal data in many forms; in newspapers, radio recordings, oral history interviews, modern literary archives, electoral rolls, and in our archival copy of the .uk web domain.

We collect, catalogue, and make available our Collections (and the personal data contained within them) as part of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, e.g. as the national and legal deposit library of Great Britain. Further details about our public task can be found at the end of this page.

Where Sensitive Personal Data is found in our Collections it is processed for the purpose of archiving in the public interest. Where such data would be likely to cause substantial distress or harm to the data subject if disclosed it will be withheld from public access, but will still be retained in our Collections.

Personal data contained in our Collections will be retained in perpetuity, so as to inform the research of future generations.

Please note: If you use the personal data present in our Collections as part of your research then you become a Data Controller in relation to that data, and are responsible for using that data fairly, ethically, and in compliance with the law. In particular, personal data which is used for research purposes may not be used in order to make decisions about or take actions in relation to the data subject in question, and may not be used in ways which would cause substantial damage or distress to them.

Transparency notice - education & learning

In this section, please read all instances of “you” to include “your child(ren)” in those cases where you provide us with information about minors who are in your care.

When you engage with our Education and Learning Services we will collect information about your school (where relevant), as well as your contact details, and certain other data required to ensure that your visit is safe (which will include Sensitive Personal Information in relation to your special needs or dietary requirements).

We will use your personal information to provide you with the Services that you have requested from us, such as school workshops, teacher events, family events, or adult learning courses (e.g. in the performance of a contract with you). We will also use your contact information in order to supply you with relevant transactional documentation. We will use the Sensitive Personal Information that you provide to ensure that your use of our Services is safe (e.g. in the vital interests of the data subject).

We may use your contact information to contact your school with information about our Services which we believe may be of interest to you. This is on the basis of our legitimate interests, as set out in the Privacy of Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (as amended), which covers business to business email communications.

We may analyse information about your transactions to carry out our legitimate interests in monitoring, auditing, and developing our Learning & Education Services.

Please note that photography (both video and still) for publicity purposes is often undertaken at our events, either by us, by third party photographers acting on our behalf under contract, or by media organisations. Such photography will primarily be focussed on groups and activities rather than on individuals. If you have any objection to such photography please make this known to a member of staff at the event. If we wish to take individual photographs or video recordings that are specifically focussed on you then we will always ask for your specific consent at the time.

We may use various organisations to provide IT capabilities in support of our Services, and who may process your information on our behalf. These Data Processors will process your information only under contract to the Library, and may not use your information in any other way. In particular, we use the following systems to process your information:

• We use Google Drive, from Google Inc., to coordinate and administer our education and learning activities. Google may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the Eu-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Google's Privacy Policy can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
• We use WeTransfer, from WeTransfer B.V, to transfer photographs between us and our photographers. WeTransfer's Privacy Policy can be found at https://wetransfer.com/legal/privacy.

We will retain your information for the current year plus a further six years after the date of your transaction in order to comply with tax and accounting rules. Photos taken for publicity purposes will be retained indefinitely.

Transparency notice - fundraising and development

The British Library is required to generate a proportion of its income from commercial activity and philanthropic donations. As such we carry out fundraising research in order to understand the background of people who may support us, and to help us to make appropriate requests to supporters who may have the desire to donate to the British Library.

From time to time we may analyse our database to find people who we think might be able to support us based on factors such as previous contributions, transaction history and demographics. In doing so we may use profiling techniques or use third party wealth screening companies and insight companies to provide us with general information about our donors or potential donors. Such information is compiled using publicly available information, information that has already been provided to us through the use of our Services, or information shared by other organisations where they have been given consent to do so.

We will not send fundraising and development marketing to users of our Services unless you have specifically consented to receive marketing communications from us. We may however make direct funding applications and approaches to known philanthropic donors or other high profile supporters of the Library through their charities, foundations, agents, or private offices.

All of our fundraising and development activities are carried out on the basis that they are in the legitimate interests of the British Library, and that the personal data is processed in such a way that the interests, fundamental rights, and freedoms of our donors and potential donors are properly protected.

In our fundraising database we process personal information relating to the identity of our potential or actual donors, their family, employment history, social activities, interests, and financial status and philanthropic activities. In relation to our actual donors we also process their bank and GiftAid details in order to manage their donations.

General information about donors or potential donors is retained for as long as it remains current and of potential use, after which it is deleted. Transactional information about donations is retained for the year in which the donation was made plus a further six years for tax and accounting purposes.

We have chosen to register with the Fundraising Regulator and adhere to their Code of Fundraising Practice. We ensure that all our fundraisers and third parties do so. Information about our donors may be used to ensure that we comply with the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice, which stipulates that we must take steps to assess and manage risks to our work and reputation with regard to certain levels of donation. More details can be found at www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk.

Transparency notice - marketing

The British Library is required to generate a proportion of its income from commercial activity and philanthropic donations. As such we carry out direct marketing activities in order to inform our potential customers of our new events, products, and services, and to help us generate interest in the activities British Library.

We will not send marketing material to you unless you have specifically consented to receive marketing communications from us. If you wish to withdraw your consent in relation to the receipt of marketing communications you may do so at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our marketing emails, or by writing to us.

We may however send marketing material to business contacts, commercial organisations, charities and other legal persons. This is on the basis of our legitimate interests, as set out in the Privacy of Electronic Communication Regulations 2003 (as amended), which covers business to business email communications.

We may use various organisations to provide IT capabilities in support of our Services, and who may process your information on our behalf. These Data Processors will process your information only under contract to the Library, and may not use your information in any other way. In particular, we use the following systems to process your information:

• We use Communicator, from The Communicator Corporation Ltd., to manage our legacy marketing correspondence. Communicator's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.communicatorcorp.com/service-privacy-policy.
• We use dotdigital, from dotdigital EMEA Limited, to manage and distribute our marketing correspondence. dotdigital's Privacy Policy can be found at https://dotdigital.com/terms/privacy-policy/.
• We use Google Drive, from Google Inc., to coordinate and distribute feedback surveys. Google may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the Eu-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Google's Privacy Policy can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

We will retain your marketing related information (such as contact details, preferences, and engagement with our content) for as long as your relationship with the British Library continues, plus a further six years after the date of your last interaction with us so as to provide evidence in the face of future complaints or legal claims.

Where your contact information is held solely for marketing communications and no other purposes you have the right to ask us to delete it. To do so please contact our Data Protection Officer at:

Corporate Information Management Unit
The British Library 96
Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

Email: dp@bl.uk

To help us identify the personal information you are referring to, please include any details that will enable us to locate the relevant personal information.

Transparency notice - membership

When you purchase or activate a British Library Membership (either as an individual or a couple) we will collect your contact details and payment information, as well as your date of birth. Your date of birth is required to ensure our compliance with licensing rules in relation to your access to the Knowledge Centre Bar which forms part of your Membership.

We will use your personal information to administer your Membership benefits (e.g. in the performance of a contract with you), which includes sending out your Membership Pack and What's On Guide.

We will also use your contact details to supply you with relevant transactional documentation, such as renewal information.

As part of your Membership we will also contact you from time to time with news about the Library, details of upcoming events and products, and opportunities to support the Library and its projects. These messages are part of your membership; without them you will find it difficult to use the benefits of your membership such as priority booking and access to Members only special events. However, if you do not want to receive such messages you may opt out of receiving them at the time of purchase, or by contacting us in writing.

We may analyse your use of your Membership in order to carry out our legitimate interests in monitoring, auditing, and developing the Services that we provide.

We will retain your Membership information for as long as it remains current, plus a further six years after the date of your last interaction with us so as to provide evidence in the face of future complaints or legal claims. Transactional information will be retained for the year in which the transaction took place, and then for a further six years in order to comply with tax and accounting rules.

Transparency notice - Public Lending Right (PLR)

When you create a PLR account we will collect your contact details, details of the publications which you wish to register, and your financial details.

We will use these details to administer the PLR payment scheme, as part of a task performed in the public interest. Further details about our public task can be found at the end of this page.

We may also use this data for the purpose of analysis in support of service improvement, IT security, or other legitimate interests of the Library.

We will retain your PLR account information for as long as your account remains current plus a further six years in order to comply with tax and accounting rules and to provide evidence in the face of future complaints or legal claims. We may retain information about PLR payments (which may include your name and correspondence) for longer if we believe such information is likely to be of importance to future research.

In relation to the Irish PLR scheme, the British Library acts as a data processor for the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), who are the Data Controller in relation to all personal data used to administer the Irish PLR Scheme. As part of our contract with LGMA we will administer any personal data that we receive in relation to the Irish PLR scheme in accordance with the British Library Privacy Policy.

Transparency notice - purchases (Incl. BL Shop, & Box Office)

When you purchase goods from us (for example, books, memorabilia, or event tickets) we will collect your contact details, delivery information, and payment details. We will use your information to provide you with the goods that you have purchased (e.g. in the performance of a contract with you). We will also use your contact information in order to supply you with relevant transactional documentation such as order confirmations, invoices, delivery notes, and tickets; if you have consented to receive marketing communications from the Library we may also use this information to provide you with special offers and other useful information, such as checkout abandonment reminders.

We may also use this data (and other data relating to your use of our Services such as audit trails) for the purpose of analysis in support of Service improvement, IT security, or other legitimate interests of the Library.

Online payments by credit or debit cards for some Services provided by the Library are processed under contract using specialist Data Processors, and in line with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. When a payment is processed by Data Processor acting on our behalf, card details are collected over a secure link and protected by industry standard software which encrypts your information. We do not collect any payment card account details ourselves, and they are not made available to us. Our service provider will use the information you provide to process your payment or to refund any monies due to you. Please refer to the terms and conditions for the relevant Service for further details. In particular, we use the following systems to process your information:

• We use Netbanx, from Paysafe Financial Services Ltd., to process electronic payments. Paysafe's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.paysafe.com/legal-and-compliance/privacy-policy/.
• We use PayPal, from PayPal Services, to process electronic payments. PayPal may process your information in the United States and other areas outside of the EEA, and uses Binding Corporate Rules in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. PayPal’s Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.
• We use Seal Subscriptions, from Seal Subscriptions, to manage subscriptions to our publications. Seal Subscriptions' Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.sealsubscriptions.com/legal/privacy-policy.
• We use Shopify, from Shopify International Ltd., to host our online shop. Shopify's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy.
• We use Tessitura Network to host our online ticket and membership sales. Tessitura Network's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.tessituranetwork.com/About/Privacy.

We will retain your commercial account information for as long as it remains current. Transactional information will be retained for the year in which the transaction took place, and then for a further six years in order to comply with tax and accounting rules.

Transparency notice - Reader registration

When you apply to become a Reader at the British Library we will collect information about you including your contact details, date of birth, contact details for your sponsor (if you are under 18), and details of your research interests. We will use these details to provide you with access to the British Library (e.g. as part of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest). We will also collect details about your ethnicity and any disability you may have; we have a legal obligation to ensure that equality and diversity obligations are being met in relation to access to our public Services.

As part of setting up your Reader account we will also check your proof of ID and proof of address as set out in our Reader Registration process. in certain rare cases me may ask you to join a video conference call before attending one of our sites in order to verify your identity. We will not take copies of the documents that you provide in order for us to confirm your ID.  We will take a photograph of you for use on your Reader pass. As you use the Library we will also record your interactions with our Collections, such as your order history and audit trails of which electronic items you have accessed. Again, this is part of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest; the British Library has a statutory responsibility to protect the security of its Collections. Further details about our public task can be found here.

Details relating to the specific Collection Items that you have requested during your use of our Collections (for example through use of our Reading Rooms or our remote Services such as Document Supply) will never be used to provide marketing analysis or similar functions (for example, to send you personalised marketing material), but may be used on an aggregated and depersonalised basis for Service improvement purposes (for example, to determine whether we are purchasing enough journals in a specific foreign language to match our Readers' research interests).

Upon request we will routinely provide copies of our records to the police in the performance of their legitimate duties. However, in accordance with agreed international ethical standards for libraries, we will not provide details of the specific Collection Items that you have requested during your use of our Collections to any third party unless compelled to do so by law, with two exceptions:

• If we have evidence that gives us reason to believe that you have committed theft or vandalism in relation to our Collections we may choose to pass information about you to other cultural institutions whose Collections may be at risk. This cooperation between cultural bodies is in our own legitimate interests as we seek to protect the national Collections from harm.
• If we have evidence that gives us reason to believe that you have deliberately infringed the intellectual property of a third party through your use of our Collections we may pass your personal information to that third party to enable them to defend their rights. This is to protect our own legitimate interests in protecting the concepts of Library Privilege and Legal Deposit.

We may use various organisations to provide IT capabilities in support of our Services, and who may process your information on our behalf. These Data Processors will process your information only under contract to the Library, and may not use your information in any other way. In particular, we use the following systems to process your information:

• We use Microsoft Teams, from Microsoft, for video conferencing services. Microsoft may process your information in the United States, and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework in order to implement appropriate safeguards in relation to your information. Microsoft’s Privacy Policy can be found at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement.

We will retain your Reader account and associated audit trails relating to your use of our Collections for 40 years, for the purpose of administering the security of our Collections (e.g. as part of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest). We reserve the right to increase this period as necessary to protect the integrity of the cultural treasures that we preserve on behalf of the nation, in line with our responsibilities as set out in the British Library Act.

Transparency notice - recruitment

When you apply to work at the British Library we will collect information about you including your contact details, previous employment history, education and qualifications, and referee contact details. We will use this information to process your application (e.g. in pursuit of the performance of a contract with you). We will also collect details about your ethnicity, gender, orientation, nationality, and any disability you may have; we have a legal obligation to ensure that equality and diversity obligations are being met in relation to our recruitment processes.

Where we want to disclose your information to a third party, for example, to take up a reference or to carry out a background check for the purpose of pre-employment security vetting, we will not do so without informing you beforehand, unless the disclosure is required by law.

We may use various organisations to provide IT capabilities in support of our Services, and who may process your information on our behalf. These Data Processors will process your information only under contract to the Library, and may not use your information in any other way. In particular, we will use the following system to process your application:

• We use Vercida, from Vercida Ltd., to process recruitment applications. Vercida's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.vercida.com/uk/privacy-policy.

Personal information about unsuccessful candidates will be held for 12 months after the recruitment exercise has been completed. It will then be securely destroyed or deleted. We retain statistical information to help to inform and improve our recruitment activities; for the purpose of ethnic monitoring and to obtain workplace statistics on, for example, gender, race, disability and age. The information retained is anonymised so that no individuals may be identified from that data.

Alternatively, if you are successful in taking up employment with us, we will compile a file relating to your employment, beginning with your application information. This information will thereafter be managed in accordance with our Staff Privacy Policy.

Transparency notice - social media

The British Library maintains an official presence on various social media platforms, in pursuit of own legitimate interests in relation to marketing and brand management.

When you engage with us on these platforms the platform owner is the Data Controller in relation to the provision of the platform, its security, and the use of your profile on their platform, and their own privacy policy applies. The British Library is a joint Data Controller with the platform provider and is responsible for its own use of the platform and for our own use of your personal data as you engage with us on that platform.

We will engage with you on social media only in accordance with the platform provider's privacy policy, and will only contact you directly (e.g. by 'private message') in response to a request or query made by you.

The British Library maintains an official presence on the following platforms:

• Facebook - Facebook's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. Please note that if you 'like' the British Library's Facebook page, Facebook will use cookies on your machine in order to provide anonymised and aggregated demographics data to the Library to assist us with Advertising, Measurement and Analytics activities, and in order to share relevant British Library advertisements with you in your Facebook news feed. Further information can be found in Facebook's Privacy Policy.
• Instagram - Instagram's Privacy policy can be found at https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875. Please note that if you subscribe to the British Library's Instagram page, Facebook will use cookies on your machine in order to provide anonymised and aggregated demographics data to the Library to assist us with Advertising, Measurement and Analytics activities, and in order to share relevant British Library content and advertisements with you in your Instagram feed. Further information can be found in Instagram's Privacy Policy.
• TikTok - TikTok's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.tiktok.com/legal/privacy-policy-eea?lang=en.
• Twitter - Twitter's Privacy Policy can be found at https://twitter.com/en/privacy.
• Weibo (and WeChat) - Weibo's Privacy Policy can be found at https://weibo.com/signup/v5/privacy.
• YouTube - YouTube's Privacy & Safety Centre can be found at https://support.google.com/youtube/topic/2803240?hl=en&ref_topic=6151248.

Statement of Public Task

This statement sets out the functions carried out by the British Library that are within the Library's public task under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the greatest research libraries in the world. Established by Act of Parliament in 1972, the scope of its remit, the scale of its operations, the range of its services and the international importance of its collections are without equal. The collection - which consists of some 150 million items - is unconstrained by subject, geography, format or language.

The Library's public task comprises all the statutory functions, duties and responsibilities as defined in the relevant sections of the British Library Act 1972. The Act charges the British Library Board with:

• managing the British Library as the national Library of the United Kingdom consisting of a comprehensive collection of books, manuscripts, periodicals, films and other recorded matter, whether printed or otherwise;
• managing the Library as a national centre for reference, study and bibliographical and other information services, in relation both to scientific and technological matters and to the humanities;
• making the services of the British Library available in particular to institutions of education and learning, other libraries, and industry;
• carrying out and sponsoring research;
• contributing to the expenses of library authorities;
• lending any item, and making any part of the Library’s collections or premises available, in connection with events of an educational, literary or cultural nature; and,
• taking such actions as are necessary to safeguard the collections of the British Library.

For the avoidance of doubt, the British Library views all of its Collection management related activities as part of its Public Task, including the collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storing, adaptation, digitisation, facilitation of retrieval and consultation, disclosure by transmission or dissemination, and licensing of any or all material held by the British Library on behalf of the nation.

Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, the British Library:

• acts as a deposit library entitled to the delivery of printed and similar (including digital) publications for persons who publish work in the United Kingdom.

The British Library also undertakes the functions formerly assigned to the Registrar of Public Lending Right, under the Public Lending Right Act 1979, namely:

• establishing and maintaining a register showing books in respect of which public lending right subsists and the persons entitled to the right in respect of any registered book; and
• determining and paying the sums (if any) due by way of public lending right.

The Library's public task is also incorporated in our mission and vision and in our six public purposes.

• The British Library's mission is to make our intellectual heritage accessible to everyone for research, inspiration and enjoyment.
• Our vision is for the British Library to be the most open, creative and innovative institution of its kind in the world.

Six public purposes encompass our scope and remit and provide a framework for why and how we spend the money the public entrusts us with:

1. Custodianship - We build, curate and preserve the UK's national collection of published, written and digital content.
2. Research - We support and stimulate research of all kinds.
3. Economic - We help businesses to innovate and grow.
4. Cultural - We engage everyone with memorable cultural experiences.
5. Learning - We inspire young people and learners of all ages.
6. International - We work with partners around the world to advance knowledge and mutual understanding.

These purposes are aligned to our statutory duties as set out in the British Library Act 1972, the Public Lending Right Act 1979, and the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 as amended by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013.

This statement of public task is reviewed every 5 years and is due to be considered again in 2025.

If you have any queries on our public task statement, please email FOI-Enquiries@bl.uk.

Date of last update: 24 January 2024