The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) takes the responsibility of handling your personal data seriously. The Orchestra respects your privacy and we are committed to ensuring proper use of personal data and that only relevant information is processed according to your wishes.
We use the personal information held about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, any replacement laws and the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
What does ‘your personal data’ really mean?
Your personal data may include:
- Your name and title
- Contact information, such as your address, email and telephone number
- Payment details
- Background personal information, if you provide this to us, for example when applying to work with us or giving us a donation
- Information about gender, date of birth or age, ethnicity, religion, medical information, disability and sexual preference (sensitive personal data) which we may collect for diversity monitoring and diversity reporting to our principal donor, Arts Council England
- Photographic, audio or film images, which we use for promotional purposes or recording community and education project outcomes
How do we collect your data?
You provide personal details when you interact with us. For example, when you register with the RPO to receive relevant information, Friends packages, CDs/downloads, or you have kindly donated financially to help support the Orchestra, take part in a community or education project or apply to work with us.
We may also receive your information from a friend, family member or current supporter. We will provide you with access to our privacy policy, or ask the person who provided us with your information to do so.
What are Cookies and does the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra use them?
Cookies are small pieces of text sent by your web browser or by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows a website or a third-party to recognise you and remember things about you, such as your login details or whether you have visited the site before. We only use cookies to collect anonymous analytical data. This allows us to know how many individual users our website has, and how they behave when they visit the site.
Can I turn Cookies Off?
If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser.
What cookies do we use?
Functional Cookies
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This cookie is used to store a simple message when a form is submitted that can be displayed on a different page.
For example, if an enquiry form is completed incorrectly, a message will be stored and presented to the user to indicate the errors in the submission.
When an enquiry form is submitted successfully, a message is stored and presented to the user thanking them for their enquiry.
No personal information is stored in this cookie.
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This cookie is used so that we know when we have shown a user the Newsletter Popup.
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Third Party Cookies
Google Analytics
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These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The information collected is anonymous and does not identify a visitor. The data includes the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come from and the pages they visited.
For more information go to Google’s privacy policy
Click here to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites
Facebook cookies
We embed feeds from Facebook on this site. Facebook does not use cookies to create a profile of your browsing behaviour on third-party sites or to show you ads, although it may use anonymous or aggregate data to improve ads generally. You can remove or block cookies using the settings in your browser, but in some cases, this may impact your ability to use Facebook.
For more information, go to Facebook’s cookie policy
Twitter cookies
We embed feeds from Twitter on this site. Twitter may cookies to better understand how you interact with their services, to monitor aggregate usage by Twitter users and web traffic routing to their services. You can remove or block cookies using the settings in your browser, but in some cases, this may impact your ability to use Twitter.
For more information, go to Twitter’s privacy policy
YouTube cookies
When you click play on a YouTube video which is hosted on our site, YouTube drops a cookie on your machine so it knows you have watched it. These cookies are held for 30 days. As these cookies are set by YouTube, we have no direct control over their usage.
For further information go to YouTube’s (Google’s) privacy policy.
Hotjar cookies
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We use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimize our website and users’ experiences.
Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices (in particular device's IP address (captured and stored only in anonymized form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), preferred language used to display our website). Hotjar stores this information in a pseudonymized user profile. Neither Hotjar nor we will ever use this information to identify individual users or to match it with further data on an individual user.
For further information, go to Hotjar’s privacy policy.
You can opt-out to the creation of a user profile, Hotjar’s storing of data about your usage of our site and Hotjar’s use of tracking cookies on other websites by going to this opt-out link.
Remarketing and Advertising Cookies
We use cookies to track which parts of the website you’ve been interested in and this helps when we run digital marketing campaigns using Google Ads and Facebook. These cookies mean that we can tailor what message to serve you so that you get the most relevant information delivered to you when we advertise. The information collected is anonymous and does not identify a visitor.
We then use the Facebook Pixel and various Google Advertising cookies to track your responses to our adverts and ensure you are getting the right messages from us. You can opt out of these cookies by visiting Google Ads Settings and/or Facebook and changing your device’s settings.
We use various Google Advertising cookies to ensure you are getting the right messages from us. You can opt out of these cookies by visiting Google Ads Settings and changing your device’s settings.
Follow the link below for more information about Google Advertising:
We embed cookies from Facebook on this site. Facebook does not use cookies to create a profile of your browsing behavior on third-party sites or to show you ads, although it may use anonymous or aggregate data to improve ads generally, for example using custom audience pixel, lookalike audiences or email address matching. You can remove or block cookies using the settings in your browser, but in some cases, this may impact your ability to use.
Why do we process your data and what do we use it for?
Our aim when processing your data is to use it only in ways that you would reasonably expect and to provide you with the best possible service.
We may process your personal data because we need to fulfil a contract with you:
- Process donations you have generously given
- Fulfil ticket requests
- Supply CD/audio downloads
- Pay you for a performance or other service
We may process your personal data because it is in our legitimate interests to do so:
- To understand your interests and to make communications
- To conduct due diligence on major donors
- For market research, specific only to the RPO
- To invite potential supporters to special events or to join a supporter group
- To notify you of participatory workshops and record if you attend
We may also ask for your consent to process your personal data:
- To monitor diversity
- To provide you with information about products, services and fundraising activities
- To notify you of live performances
You can tell us how you would like to hear from us and the information that you want to receive at any time. Contact details can be viewed below.
We will always ask for parental or a carer's consent to process a child’s data. Young people aged 16-18 may give consent themselves for us to process their image data.
Do we share your information?
We will not share any personal details with any other third parties without your agreement, unless required in order to fulfil our contract with you, or allowed by law.
Instances where we may share your personal information with selected third parties include:
- Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you, including the RPO’s Box Office Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system Spektrix, our Email Service Provider DotDigital, our website management company Surrey Web Solutions and a venue where an event you are attending is taking place.
- Advertisers and social media sites for the purposes of data analytics and targeted advertising.
Is your data in safe hands?
If you have provided your data online or purchased a ticket then your personal details will be securely held on the RPO’s CRM and Ticketing System.
If you have provided your data on paper or by telephone, it will be transferred onto the RPO’s CRM system and all paper records will be shredded and securely disposed of.
Is your data used by the RPO for fundraising?
The RPO is a charity registered in England and Wales (Registered charity number 244533). We raise money to support the artistic programmes of the Orchestra, to make access to performances widely available and to enable projects in community, health and education settings.
We communicate to donors and potential donors about fundraising appeals, special events and joining supporter groups. As a charity, we have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for these communications. We will only email these invitations to support the RPO if you have given us permission to do so. We may use background information you have previously given us, to enable us to make our communications and invitations tailored to your interest
You may also opt-in to receive information and invitations related to our supporter groups and fundraising by registering on our website and indicating which information you would prefer to receive. Alternatively, by contacting the Development Team by emailing
How long do we keep your personal data?
We retain personal data only for as long as is needed. This can be for up to seven years after your engagement with us or for longer for historical, analysis or research purposes or to enable us to answer your enquiries.
What are your rights?
You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
- The right to access the data that we hold about you
- The right to require us to correct inaccuracies
- The right to request us to stop processing your personal data or to restrict it
- The right to require us to erase your personal data
- The right to withdraw consent
- The right to request a copy of personal information held about you in a reasonable format for the purposes of sharing it with another data controller
- The right not to be subject to automated decision-making or profiling
- The right to lodge a complaint with the RPO, the Information Commissioner's Office or the Fundraising Regulator
- There are some exceptions to the above rights, and the RPO may be entitled to refuse requests if exceptions apply.
Contact us
Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy, the information that we hold about you, or general data protection queries. You can also change your information preferences:
- The Data Protection Officer, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 16 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0QT,
- Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Telephone the Data Protection Officer, 020 7608 8800