Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how and why we use it, who we may share it with, and your rights under UK data protection law.

For questions about this policy or the way MAFA handles personal information, please contact us at compliance@mafa.org.uk.

Who we are

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) is an independent, artist-led organisation founded in 1859.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, MAFA is the data controller for personal information covered by this Privacy Policy.

Information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with MAFA and may include:

  • your name and contact details, including your email address;
  • information you provide when contacting us through our website or by email;
  • information you provide when joining our mailing list;
  • information supplied as part of membership, Associate Membership, exhibition or other enquiries and applications;
  • information relating to your membership of MAFA;
  • information supplied when participating in exhibitions, events, awards or other MAFA activities;
  • photographs, biographies, artwork information and other material supplied for publication on the MAFA website or in connection with MAFA activities;
  • technical and usage information collected through Google Analytics; and
  • other information you choose to provide to us.

We may also hold information about artists, members and MAFA’s activities as part of our historical and organisational records.

Website forms and enquiries

Our website contains forms that allow you to contact MAFA and make enquiries about our activities.

Depending on the purpose of the form, this may include general enquiries, membership enquiries, exhibition enquiries or other enquiries relating to MAFA’s activities.

These forms are provided using WPForms. Information submitted through a form will be used to respond to and administer your enquiry and will be made available only to the MAFA officers, administrators or other authorised individuals who need it for that purpose.

Form submissions may be sent to an appropriate MAFA administrative email address and retained for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and any resulting correspondence or activity.

How we use your information

We may use personal information to:

  • respond to enquiries and communicate with you;
  • administer MAFA membership and Associate Membership applications;
  • organise and administer exhibitions, events, awards and other activities;
  • publish information about MAFA members, artists, exhibitions and activities where appropriate;
  • send newsletters and other communications where you have asked to receive them;
  • maintain MAFA’s organisational and historical records;
  • manage, secure and improve our website;
  • understand how our website is being used; and
  • meet our legal, financial and regulatory obligations.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those for which it was collected unless permitted or required by law.

Our lawful basis for using your information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

Consent – for example, where you choose to join our mailing list or have given permission for specific information to be used.

Contract – where processing is necessary to provide something you have requested or to fulfil an agreement with you.

Legitimate interests – where processing is reasonably necessary for MAFA to operate, administer its membership, organise and promote its artistic activities, maintain its records or communicate effectively, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Legal obligation – where we are required to process or retain information to comply with the law.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

Mailing list and communications

You can choose to join MAFA’s mailing list through signup forms on our website.

We use the information you provide to send you news about MAFA, exhibitions, events, artists and related activities.

Our mailing list is managed using Mailchimp. Information submitted through our mailing-list signup forms is therefore processed by Mailchimp on MAFA’s behalf.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in our emails.

Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal information.

We share personal information with service providers only where necessary for them to provide services to MAFA. These include:

  • 34SP.com, which provides hosting for the MAFA website;
  • Mailchimp, which manages our mailing list and email communications;
  • WPForms, which provides forms used on the website; and
  • Google Analytics, which provides website usage analytics.

We may also use other professional, administrative or technical service providers where reasonably necessary to support MAFA’s activities.

These organisations are provided only with information necessary to perform the relevant service.

We may also disclose personal information where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

International data transfers

Some service providers used by MAFA may process or store information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take appropriate steps to ensure that it is protected in accordance with UK data protection law, including relying on applicable adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards where required.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting and reporting requirements.

Different types of information may therefore be retained for different periods.

Enquiries submitted through the website will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and any related activity.

Mailing-list information will normally be retained until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it, subject to any limited information we need to retain to record your communication preferences.

Some records relating to MAFA’s members, exhibitions, artists and activities may be retained permanently where they form part of MAFA’s historical or archival record. Where appropriate, we will limit the personal information contained in such records.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

Our website is hosted by 34SP.com, a UK-based hosting provider, and we use appropriate security measures to protect information transmitted through and stored in connection with the website.

However, no website, electronic communication or data-storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Cookies and website analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to provide essential website functionality and to help us understand how visitors use the site.

We use Google Analytics to collect information about website usage. Analytics cookies are used only in accordance with applicable law and, where consent is required, after you have made a choice through our cookie controls.

MAFA does not use advertising cookies on this website.

For further information about the cookies we use and how you can control them, please see our Cookie Policy.

Links to other websites

The MAFA website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.

MAFA is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites. We recommend reviewing the privacy information provided by those organisations when visiting their sites.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law gives you rights over your personal information. These may include the right to:

  • be informed about how your information is used;
  • request access to the personal information we hold about you;
  • ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances;
  • ask us to restrict the way we process your information;
  • object to certain types of processing;
  • receive certain information in a portable format; and
  • withdraw consent where we rely on consent as our lawful basis.

Not all of these rights apply in every circumstance.

To exercise your rights or ask a question about your personal information, contact compliance@mafa.org.uk.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how MAFA has handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to address them.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent regulator for data protection.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to MAFA’s activities, website, services or legal obligations.

The date at the top of this page shows when the policy was last updated.