Last updated: 15 October 2026
1. Who we are
This website is run by the Michael Ball Fan Club (“the club”, “we”, “us”). We are the “controller” of the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used. You can contact us at mbfc@mbfc.uk.
2. What information we collect, and why
We keep this to the minimum needed to run the club and its website.
- Newsletter sign-up. If you join our newsletter we collect your name and email address and the fact that you agreed to receive it. We use them only to send you the club newsletter and related club news. Our legal basis is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time using the unsubscribe link in every email or by emailing us. The sign-up is handled by our own mailing software, which is hosted on the same server as this website – we do not pass your details to an outside mailing company.
- Emails you send us. If you contact us we keep your message and our reply so we can help you and keep a record. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running the club and answering questions.
- Members’ Area. The Members’ Area is unlocked with a shared password sent in the newsletter. We do not ask you to create an account or give us any personal details to use it.
- Visitor statistics. If you allow it, we count visits to our pages (which page, the type of device and browser, the country or general region, and the website you came from). These statistics use no cookies, do not store your IP address and cannot be used to identify you. Our legal basis is your consent, or our legitimate interest in understanding which parts of the website are useful. You can change your choice at any time using “Cookie settings” in the footer.
- Server logs and security. Like every website, our web server automatically records technical information about each request (such as IP address, date and time, page requested and browser) for security, fault-finding and to prevent abuse. These are kept for a short period by our hosting provider and are not used to profile you.
- Donations. If you donate through the “Support Us” page you are taken to PayPal. PayPal handles your payment details; we never see or store your card or bank information. PayPal tells us that a donation was made, and we keep a record of your name, email address, the amount and date and any message you added, so we can account for donations, thank you and meet our record-keeping duties. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running the club and our legal obligation to keep accounting records. PayPal is responsible for the payment data it holds under its own privacy policy.
3. Cookies and similar technologies
Cookies are small files saved on your device by a website. The only cookies this site uses are those listed below. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
| Name | Set by | What it does | How long | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mbfc_consent | This website | Remembers whether you accepted or declined the optional statistics, so we do not ask you again. | 365 days | Essential |
| mbfc_members | This website | Only set if you unlock the Members’ Area with the newsletter password. Keeps it unlocked while you browse. | Until you close your browser | Essential |
| mbfc_admin, mbfc_notrack | This website | Only for the club’s administrators: keeps them signed in to the admin area and stops their own visits being counted. Visitors never receive these. | Browser session / up to 1 year | Essential (administrators only) |
| Google reCAPTCHA (_GRECAPTCHA and similar) | Only on pages with a sign-up form. Protects the form from spam and bots. Set by Google, not by us – see Google’s privacy policy. | Up to 6 months | Essential (security) |
Statistics. The visitor statistics on this site are collected by our own software on our own server. They use no cookies and do not store your IP address or anything that identifies you. If you decline statistics in the cookie banner, your visits are not counted at all.
You can choose your settings at any time with “Cookie settings” in the footer of every page. You can also delete or block cookies in your browser settings, but parts of the site (such as the Members’ Area) may then not work.
4. Other companies whose services are used on this site
- Google Fonts – the text styles on this site are loaded from Google’s servers, so your browser sends your IP address to Google when a page loads.
- Lucide icons (unpkg) – the small icons are loaded from the unpkg content delivery network, which likewise receives your IP address.
- Google reCAPTCHA – used on forms to stop spam, as described above.
- PayPal, Facebook and other sites we link to – if you click a link to another website you leave this site and that site’s own privacy policy applies. We do not control them.
Some of these companies are based outside the UK (for example in the USA). Where that happens, they rely on approved legal safeguards for international transfers.
5. How long we keep your information
- Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them.
- Emails and correspondence: normally no longer than three years after our last contact with you.
- Donation records: up to six years, to meet accounting and record-keeping requirements.
- Visitor statistics: anonymous totals are kept for up to about 13 months.
- Your cookie choice: the period shown in the table above.
6. Who we share it with
We do not sell your information and we do not share it for advertising. We only share it with the companies that host and secure this website for us, and where we are legally required to.
7. Your rights
Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) you have the right to:
- be told what information we hold about you and get a copy of it;
- have wrong information corrected;
- have your information deleted (“the right to be forgotten”);
- restrict or object to the way we use it;
- withdraw your consent at any time (this will not affect what we did before you withdrew it); and
- receive your information in a portable format where that applies.
To use any of these rights, email mbfc@mbfc.uk. We will reply within one month.
8. Keeping your information safe
This website is protected by encryption (HTTPS) and by limiting who can sign in to the administration area. No system is perfectly secure, but we take sensible technical and organisational steps to protect your information.
9. Children
This website is aimed at the general public and is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has given us their details, please email us and we will remove them.
10. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please talk to us first at mbfc@mbfc.uk and we will try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, telephone 0303 123 1113.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed. If we make an important change we will ask for your cookie choice again.