Of Trust and of the Register
Last revised: 1 January 2026. The Royal Chambers is the controller of the personal data described below.
The Royal Chambers ('the Chambers', 'we', 'us') is the controller of the personal data described in this notice. Enquiries concerning this notice, or the exercise of the rights described below, should be addressed to the Clerk of the Register, acting on behalf of the Private Council, at chancery@royalchambers.example.
Discretion is not a courtesy of this society but a duty of it. The data a petitioner entrusts to the Chambers is held with the same confidentiality as the Golden Register itself, and is never offered for sale, exchange or public display.
This notice describes the personal data the Chambers holds, the purposes for which it is held, and the rights every individual retains over it.
From a petitioner: name, email address, telephone number, country of residence, the rank of distinction sought, and the statement of merit submitted to the Council.
From a portal member: the credentials used to sign in, dates of access, and correspondence exchanged with the Clerk.
From every visitor: the technical data a web server necessarily logs — network address, browser identification and pages requested — held solely for security and the proper functioning of the site.
We use personal data to examine a petition and lay it before the Council; to prepare letters patent, insignia and the register entry; to operate the private portal through which a nominee follows the progress of a petition; to respond to correspondence; to keep the accounts and records required by law; and to protect the site against misuse.
The lawful bases relied upon are performance of the arrangement between the Chambers and the petitioner (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR), our legitimate interest in the sound and secure conduct of the society (Article 6(1)(f)), and, where a duty is imposed upon us, compliance with a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)). We do not process special category data, and petitioners should not include such data in a statement of merit.
The Chambers does not sell personal data and does not disclose the identity of a petitioner or recipient to any enquirer save the individual concerned or a person the individual authorises in writing.
Data is shared only with the artisans who engross letters patent and strike insignia, the carriers who convey them, the processors who host the register and the portal, and a payment provider, in each case to the minimum extent necessary and under a duty of confidence. Beyond this, disclosure occurs only where required by a court or by law.
A declined or withdrawn petition is deleted twelve months after the decision, unless the petitioner asks that it be kept for a fresh application.
An entry in the Golden Register — the name, rank and date of conferment — is kept in perpetuity, as a register that could be erased would be no register at all. Financial records are kept for seven years as required by law. Portal accounts are closed and deleted upon a member's request.
Data is held on encrypted infrastructure, with access restricted to those officers of the Chambers who require it. Access to the portal is protected by individual credentials, and each record may be read only by the member to whom it belongs. Payment card data is never held by the Chambers.
Any individual may ask the Chambers for a copy of the data held about them, its correction, its erasure where no register entry or legal duty requires its retention, the restriction of its use, its transfer to another controller, or may object to a specific use. No fee is charged, and requests are answered within one month.
Requests should be addressed to the Clerk of the Register at chancery@royalchambers.example. An individual who considers their rights have not been respected may complain to the supervisory authority of their country of residence; in the United Kingdom, that authority is the Information Commissioner's Office.
The site sets only those cookies strictly necessary to keep a member signed in and to protect submissions against fraud. No advertising, profiling or third-party tracking cookie is set. Where any analytics tool is introduced in future, it will be limited to aggregated, non-identifying statistics unless separate consent is obtained.
This notice may be revised from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The date below records the version currently in force.
