Last updated: 2026-03-20

The Secret Society of BBS SysOps (SSBBSS) is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

DATA CONTROLLER

Secret Society of BBS SysOps
ssbbss.org
Contact: [email protected]

WHAT DATA WE COLLECT

• Account data: email address, handle, BBS name and address
• Certification data: exam attempts, scores, rank, member number
• Payment data: product purchased, amount, date (card details are processed by Stripe and never stored by us)
• Communications: posts made on the SSBBSS message board
• Technical data: session cookies required for login
• Server logs: IP address, request path, timestamp, HTTP status code (standard web server access logs)

WHY WE COLLECT IT

• To operate the certification programme and membership registry (contractual necessity)
• To process payments and maintain financial records (legal obligation)
• To send transactional emails: email verification, exam results, membership notices (contractual necessity)
• To operate the message board (legitimate interest)

HOW LONG WE KEEP IT

• Account data: retained while your account is active
• Payment records: retained for 6 years (HMRC legal requirement)
• Board posts: retained indefinitely but anonymised if you delete your account
• Server logs: retained for 90 days then automatically deleted

WHO WE SHARE IT WITH

• Stripe (payment processing) — Stripe Privacy Policy
• Our email provider (transactional email delivery)
• We do not sell your data or share it with third parties for marketing

YOUR RIGHTS

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
• Access — request a copy of all data we hold about you
• Portability — download your data in a machine-readable format
• Erasure — request deletion of your account and personal data
• Rectification — correct inaccurate data via your profile page
• Object — object to processing based on legitimate interest

You can exercise your access, portability, and erasure rights directly from your dashboard. For other requests, contact [email protected].

COOKIES

We use a single session cookie required for login. We do not use tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or third-party analytics.

COMPLAINTS

If you have concerns about how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.