Policy Ethos
One Spirit Alliance (OSA) recognise the issues around privacy, and that legislation (GDPR and previous) have been required to protect individuals from abuses, predominantly by large organisations using private information (data) for personal profit and gain. This is in the business / economic sphere where profits are considered key to survival, and where practice has unfortunately often put personal gain above service.
We also recognise that there is the social / cultural sphere where profits should not be a driving factor. Take the arts, education or small scale local social clubs or groups as examples. In these, selfless sharing is the ultimate ‘life blood’ where it is in the nature of them to share and expand on networks of interest, sharing common themes, joys and concerns of the heart. It is what brings life into a community.
The GDPR pays some lip service to this need of social endeavours in allowing lists to be maintained for ‘legitimate interests’. This again is already being abused by profit oriented larger organisations. Facebook and Google, for instance, amongst the two largest world-wide organisations for mining personal data, simply update their privacy policies: if you use the service in any way, even if just a search, you are in effect a customer of theirs, and they can claim legitimate interest, thus continuing to use your private information in far reaching ways for vast profits, most of which we are unaware unless reading x pages of fine print.
Meanwhile very small social and cultural non-profit groups are often diligently applying the yes-no rule which the large corporations have largely by-passed, and are thereby limiting their level of contact within a social network.
OSA wishes to use ethical, transparent principles in applying the law in ways appropriate for very small, non-profit, social/cultural community organisations, using the principle of legitimate interest.
Transparency
The OSA wishes to work with the GDPR regulations using the principle as stated of legitimate interest for the purpose for which it is most eminently suited and appropriate: the social and cultural sphere of activity, where the building of relationships is key for the life and health of the individuals involved. This combats isolationism which has been found to be so detrimental to health, and which ‘data protection’ used in the wrong sense can further: by making it more difficult for people to be or stay in contact with others of common social interest.
It is essential within this context to be fully transparent manner. Openness is part of the OSA ethos for building relationships.
None of the sharing of information on initiatives, events or issues to ‘participants of the OSA social network’ (our network mailing list) is for profit or personal gain of the OSA. Those receiving are in turn encouraged to share information about what they are doing – it is part of a sharing ethos. In this sense, the purpose of the OSA mailings is not for the OSA but for all those who receive – though, more accurately said, we consider all those who receive and give to be the One Spirit Alliance, i.e. participants in a social network. Any participant is encouraged to also share the mailings with friends interested, building a network of shared values: this is how the cultural sphere grows.
As part of the clarity and transparency of keeping cultural and business needs separate, if at any time in the future, OSA becomes involved with a business venture or initiative, the ‘participants of the OSA social network’ will be fully informed and a separate list created and maintained with those who express an interest in that venture.
Data Protection
Participants of the OSA social network are principally made up of those who have attended OSA organised or co-sponsored events and as such have shown shared valued and interests.
At any point in time, participants of the network may unsubscribe by clicking on the relevant links at the bottom of the newsletters or my emailing or mailing One Spirit Alliance (email: [email protected]). Members of the public may join as participants at any time by visiting the One Spirit Alliance website, https://onespiritalliance.net. At any point in time, participants of the network may inquire as to what information is held by OSA, this in most instances limited to first and last name and an email address.
Data on participants is held securely on a computer of the OSA core group. Newsletter data is also held securely by MailChimp servers, and OSA has complete control of this list. We are confident that MailChimp is also following proper GDPR procedures and policies.
Any organisation names and website addresses noted in the newsletters or on the OSA website are in the public domain; web surfers can access these in any number of places and they are therefore out of the privacy domain of OSA.
OSA fully respects individual privacy and will not share participants’ personal email addresses with third parties without the permission of the person involved.
If OSA hears of someone whom we believe may be interested in receiving the newsletter, in the ethos of sharing within the social /cultural sphere as outlined above, we may send a trial issue, leaving absolutely open the option for not continuing.
We welcome contributions and feedback from OSA network participants and further members of the public at any time!
“A person is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
“When people have light in themselves, it will shine out from them. Then we get to know each other as we walk together in the darkness without needing to pass our hands over each other’s faces, or to intrude into each others hearts.” (Albert Schweitzer)
“We need each other, to share the mysteries of life and death, to give substance to our joy and sorrows, to help us on our journey.” (author unknown)