Bethel Baptist Church (‘Bethel’) is committed to protecting the confidentiality of Personal Information collected from its Members and Visitors. This Privacy Policy explains how Bethel collects and stores Personal Information.

1. Definitions

In this Privacy Policy, the words and phrases below have the meaning set out after them.

Personal Information : information provided in the Member/Visitor Information Form by a Member or Visitor. This information is retained by Bethel.

Member: a person who joins the membership of Bethel by baptism or transfer from another Baptist church.

Member/Visitor Information Form: the form set out in Appendix 1 which may be updated by Bethel periodically.

Visitor: a person who visits Bethel for a Sunday service or other event.

2. Bethel’s Need for Personal Information

In order to fulfill our ministerial and administrative responsibilities, Bethel is interested in creating a profile of each Member using the Personal Information.

3. Collection and Use of Personal Information

Personal Information is initially collected from a Visitor to Bethel or when a Member joins Bethel. Bethel obtains the consent of the Visitor or Member for the collection and use of the Personal Information in order to provide proper support and care. Bethel will update the Personal Information periodically by collecting information directly from the Member. The Personal Information is collected and controlled by designated officers of Bethel.

1. What we collect: The information that Bethel collects appears in the Member/Visitor Information Form and includes legal name, home address, phone number, email address, gender, date of birth, marital status and next of kin.
2. How we collect: We collect information completed in the Member/Visitor Information Form by a Visitor or Member. Thereafter, a Member can request access to his/her records online and update these records remotely.
3. Where we store Personal Information: Personal Information is stored in a database on a web server located on the compound of Bethel at 6 Hope Road, Half Way Tree, Kingston 10, Jamaica.
4. Safeguarding the Rights of Our Visitors and Members with respect to Data Protection

The Data Protection Act, 2020 (a copy of which can be downloaded here), defines and establishes the general scope and principles for the treatment of personal information collected from Jamaicans by any institution and seeks to safeguard the privacy and protection of this information.

The Act seeks to impose the following eight data protection standards for processing personal information:

1. Personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully; which essentially amounts to ensuring that the consent of the data subject (i.e. the person to whom the personal data relates) is obtained prior to processing the data or that there is a legitimate basis for processing the data.
2. Personal data is only to be obtained for specified purposes and is not to be processed for any other purposes.
3. Personal data is to be adequate, relevant, and not excessive in relation to the purpose for which it is to be processed. This essentially prevents data controllers from obtaining more information from data subjects than is necessary for the intended processing purposes.
4. Personal data must be accurate, and, where necessary, kept up to date.
5. Personal data must not be kept for longer than is necessary to satisfy the intended processing purposes and must be disposed of in accordance with regulations to be promulgated under the legislation.
6. Personal data must be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the legislation.
7. Personal data is to be protected by taking the appropriate technical and organizational measures and by prompt notification of security breaches to an Information Commissioner to be established under the legislation.
8. Personal data must not be transferred outside Jamaica to another state without adequate levels of data protection for Jamaican data subjects.
4. Security of Personal Information

Bethel recognizes our obligation to protect the Personal Information of both its Members and Visitors. We have made appropriate technical and organizational arrangements to secure against unauthorized access, collection, use, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of the Personal Information. However, Bethel does not make any representations or warrants that the Personal Information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of such safeguards. Bethel will notify our Members immediately in the event of a security breach and will maintain an incident response policy that includes notifications consistent with applicable laws.

The Personal Information provided by Members and Visitors will not be sold, rented or leased to third parties. Bethel will not share the personal information provided with any other institutions without the consent of the relevant party.

5. Request for Access To Personal Information

Members are welcome to view their Personal Information. If a Member needs to see his/her Personal Information, he/she must send a request to our Church office. Upon receiving this written request, we will:

Activate the relevant account at the Members Login link on Bethel’s website https://bethelbaptisthwt.com with the email address that the Member has given to Bethel. We will respond to all requests received within 5 working days. Members must follow the instructions given after clicking the Members Login link to get to his/her account. Any Member can request that his/her account be deactivated online at any time.

6. Changes to the Privacy Policy

Bethel may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. To ensure that Members are always aware of how Bethel uses the Personal Information received, Bethel will update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect any changes to our use of the Personal Information. Bethel may also make changes as required to comply with changes in applicable laws or regulatory requirements. Where it is practicable, Bethel will notify the Members of any significant changes.

7. Links to Third Party Websites

Bethel’s emails and other communications may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of others. The information which our Members provide through these websites is not subject to this Privacy Policy and the treatment of our Members’ information by such websites is not our responsibility.

8. Applicable Law

This Privacy Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Jamaica.

9. Contacting or Communicating with Us

Please contact us if you have any questions or comments about our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy. Our contact information is set out below:

Bethel Baptist Church
6 Hope Road
Kingston 10,
Email: bethelbaptisthwt.ja@gmail.com
Phone: (976) 960-5658