Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy was last changed in April 2022.

1. Who we are

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) (we, us or our), is a global union federation. Its secretariat is based at ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR.

ITF is registered as a trade union with the UK Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations.

ITF is registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We are bound by and adhere to UK data protection regulation.

2. About this policy

We respect your privacy and value the trust you place in us when you share your personal data with us.

This Privacy Policy sets out the ways we, as the data controller, use your data: what we collect, how we collect it, how we use it, why we use it, who we share it with, and the rights to which you are entitled.

3. Information we collect and how we use it 


a) Information that we collect through your use of this website

What we collect
Details of your visits to our website e.g., the web pages or content viewed and language preferences.
Device information such as operating system, unique device identifiers, the mobile network system.
Hardware and browser settings.
The search engine terms you use.
Areas of the website you’ve accessed and third-party websites you have visited.
IP address.
How we use it
To analyse visits to our website, including web pages or content viewed.
To gain a better understanding of your needs.
For statistical analysis and research purposes.
To provide, develop, personalise and improve our services.
To identify issues with the website and users’ experience of it.
To monitor the way our website is used.
To allow you to share information from our website on third party social media platforms.
To allow you to interact on our website, for example by posting comments.

b) Information that we collect when you communicate with us

What we collect
Your contact details – this may include your full/part postal address, email address, telephone number and your social media account if that’s the way you communicate with us.
The details and contents of your communications with us and our messages to you.
Any comments that you post on our website.
Whether you’ve clicked on links in electronic communications from us.
How we use it
To provide information to you.
To respond to any queries, issues or concerns you may have.
To provide support and assistance to you.
To monitor communications for quality and training purposes.
To represent the interests of transport workers.


c) Information that we collect when you attend our events

What we collect
Your name, contact details and details of the organisation you are representing.
Practical details about your attendance, for example travel and accommodation provided by the ITF.
We may take photos, audio recordings or videos at our events. (Where this is the case, we will inform you in advance that the recordings will be taking place, inform of the intended purpose and, where possible, allow you to opt out).
How we use it
To administer your attendance at the event.
To promote the event and our work more widely, on our website and social media channels.
To keep an accurate record of any decisions made.
To help with the planning of future ITF events.

d) Information that we collect incidentally from other sources or public sources

What we collect
Information available in the media.
Information presented on our social media timelines.
Information collected by security systems.
How we use it
To maintain sector awareness.
To build and maintain our social media presence and awareness of our causes.
To provide security to our website.

e) Information that we collect on individuals representing organisations

What we collect
Contact details of individuals working for organisations.
Other personal information regarding such individuals.
How we use it
To build relationships with other organisations e.g., trade unions and trade union members/representatives.
To maintain sector awareness.

f) Exceptional cases

The ITF Agreements team occasionally receives documents which include personal data, for example names, employment contracts and / or passport details of seafarers. In such cases and when these documents need to be retained, they are saved in a secure database and access is restricted to authorised users only.

During the course of ITF’s varied and dynamic work, we may occasionally collect personal data not described in this Privacy Policy. In every instance of that happening, we will provide appropriate privacy information at point of data collection.

4. Special category information we collect and how we use it

Certain types of personal data are especially sensitive. These are called “special categories of data” under the GDPR and include information that reveals details about someone’s:

  • Trade union membership;
  • Racial or ethnic origin;
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs;
  • Genetic data;
  • Biometric data (where used for identification purposes);
  • Health;
  • Sex life or sexual orientation.

We may collect and receive special category data about you. As a trade union, this most often relates to your trade union membership, but it may also include other special categories.

What we collect
Trade union membership information and details of any trade union positions you hold. This may be provided by you or by your union.
Information you have provided us about your political and / or philosophical beliefs and details of your political or campaigning activities.
Information you have provided us about your health, including any disability you may have.
Information you have provided us about your sexual orientation.
Information you have provided us about your race.
Information you have provided us about your ethnicity.
Information you have provided us about any criminal offences, or alleged criminal offences, that may be connected to you.
Information you have provided us about your religion.
How we use it
To provide support and services to you. (Special category data is often relevant when we provide assistance to transport workers relating to their employment).
Where ITF is not the best organisation to provide support, signposting you to other organisations that may be better placed to help, for example local trade unions or charities.
To enable appropriate adjustments to be made so that you can participate in our services and events.
To help our affiliated unions defend the interests of their members.
To provide research and information services to our affiliates.
For equalities and diversity monitoring.

5. Your data rights

ITF recognises the importance of always upholding data rights. You have the following rights in relation to how we process your personal data:

  • The right to be informed about how your personal data is processed. If you have any questions about this that are not covered by this Privacy Policy, or by privacy information at point of data collection, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to access your personal data. If you would like to access your personal data that is held by ITF, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to correct your personal data if our records are wrong. If you believe we hold incorrect information on you, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to request that ITF delete your personal data. If you would like to do this, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to restrict ITF processing your personal data. You can ask us to stop processing your data completely, or to stop doing a specific processing activity. If you would like to do this, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to data portability. This means you can ask us to provide your information to another organisation in an easily readable format (for example on an Excel spreadsheet). If you would like to do this, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to object to how we are processing your personal data. If you would like to do this, please email dataprotection@itf.org.uk.
  • The right to complain about our data protection practices, either in relation to your personal data or generally, to a supervisory authority. As ITF is based in the Untied Kingdom, the relevant supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

These rights will apply in nearly all circumstances. They will, however, not generally be available if there are outstanding claims between us, or if the information is relevant to an ongoing legal dispute.

You also have rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling, but the ITF does not currently engage in these activities.

6. Data retention and security

We will keep your information for no longer than is reasonably necessary and in line with ITF’s Retention Schedule. You can request a copy of ITF’s Retention Schedule by emailing dataprotection@itf.org.uk.

We are committed to keeping your personal data safe. We have physical, technical and organisational measures in place to prevent unauthorised access, deletion or use of your information.

We routinely refresh and cleanse the data we hold to ensure we keep it up to date.

7. Legal requirements

Your personal data may also be processed if we have a legal obligation to do so, for example on reasonable request by a law enforcement body, or in the defence of legal claims.

8. Information we share

There are certain circumstances where we may transfer your personal data or information to third parties.

Most often, this involves sharing information about you with our affiliate members so we can provide the best service to you.

We may also share your information with certain contractors or service providers. They may process your personal data on our behalf, for example if we use:

  • Marketing agencies;
  • Advertising agencies;
  • Database providers;
  • Backup or disaster recovery specialists;
  • Email providers.

Our suppliers and service providers will be required to meet our standards on data processing and security. The information we provide them, including your information, will only be provided in connection with the performance of their contractual function.

We may also share your personal data with our legal advisors if we are defending a legal claim.

In every case, we will share the minimum of your personal data required to achieve the desired outcome. We will also anonymise data prior to sharing where this is possible.

9. Where your information will be held

Your data may be transferred to, stored or processed at a location outside of the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area by the ITF or third parties acting on our behalf.

We will only transfer data to jurisdictions outside the scope of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and / or the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) where the appropriate safeguards set out in the GDPR are in place.

10. Updates to the policy

This policy will be updated from time to time.

11. Links to third party websites

Our website may contain links to and from the websites of third parties. The personal data that you provide through these websites is not subject to this policy and the treatment of your personal data by such websites is not our responsibility. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies regarding data usage.

12. Cookies

This website uses cookies. Cookies are small files stored on your computer's hard drive which are used to collect your personal data. We use cookies that identify your browser or device. They collect and store information when you visit our website about how you use it.

For more information about cookies, the types of cookies we use and how we use them please see our: Cookie Policy.

13. How to contact us

If you have any questions about this policy please contact: dataprotection@itf.org.uk or +44 (0) 20 7940 9319, or Legal Department, ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR.