Seeing.org and Bates Method International - Vision Education PRIVACY POLICY

Last updated: 31 October 2026

This privacy policy explains how Seeing.org and Bates Method International collect and use personal information when you use our website, contact us, enquire about services, or take part in meetings and educational activities.

1. Who we are

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Seeing.org and Bates Method International (BMI). References to our website mean seeing.org. Seeing.org is operated by BMI, a not-for-profit organisation involved in vision education.

Bates Method International
23 Guy Court, King Street
Oxford OX2 6DB
United Kingdom

We process personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information we collect

Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect:

• Your name, email address, postal address, telephone number and other details that you provide voluntarily.
• Messages, enquiries and information submitted through our contact, teacher-enquiry and other forms.
• Mailing-list subscription requests and communication preferences.
• Questions, subject categories, choices about sharing names, and related information submitted for meetings or discussion groups.
• Technical data, such as IP addresses and server log information, used to operate and protect the website.

Communications and discussion questions may include information about health or other personal circumstances that you choose to disclose.

3. How we use information

We use personal information to answer enquiries, arrange requested contacts with vision teachers or other providers, administer educational and membership activities, deliver requested communications, prepare meetings and discussions, send submission receipts, and maintain records necessary for those purposes. Technical information may also be used to maintain website security and prevent abuse.

Submitting a question or enquiry does not, by itself, add you to our marketing mailing list. We do not sell your personal information.

Legal basis

We process information only where an applicable legal basis permits us to do so. For voluntary meeting-question submissions, we rely on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) in organising educational discussions, replying to contributors, keeping a submission record and administering the meetings. We consider the necessity and impact of this processing on participants and provide choices about naming and disclosure of health information. For other activities, the basis may instead be consent, taking steps at your request for a service, or compliance with a legal obligation, as applicable.

Where a question contains personal health information voluntarily provided by the contributor, we rely on that contributor's explicit consent under Article 9(2)(a) for the health-related processing described below. This consent is distinct from our Article 6 basis for ordinary meeting administration.

4. Meetings, discussion groups and educational events

Seeing.org and BMI organise or support meetings, discussion groups and educational activities relating to vision, health and wellbeing. Participants may be invited to submit questions or other contributions before or during these activities.

Questions and contributions

Depending on the activity, we may collect your name, email address, the text of your question, selected topics or categories, your choice about whether your name may be shared, and a submission timestamp and reference number. This information helps organisers and speakers prepare, select topics, respond to enquiries and, where appropriate, produce educational material.

Submitted questions may be shared with panellists or speakers in preparation for meetings and selected for discussion. Questions may be edited for clarity or length without intentionally altering their meaning. Submission does not guarantee that a question will be discussed or answered.

When the submission form provides an email receipt, a copy of the question and its reference details is sent to the email address supplied. Organisers also receive notifications and retain private contact information where follow-up may be necessary.

Privacy and sharing names

Where a submission form offers a choice about whether to share your name, we respect that choice. If you ask not to be identified, we will not deliberately include your name when circulating or discussing your question. Organisers may nevertheless retain your name and email address privately for administration and follow-up. We do not include your email address in question material circulated to panellists.

We review material before sharing it, especially where anonymity has been requested. However, the content of a question may itself indirectly identify someone, so please avoid unnecessary identifying details about yourself or others.

Health-related information

Questions about vision and health may include information about a person's diagnosis, treatment or experiences. This can be special-category personal data requiring additional protection. Please provide only what is necessary for your question and avoid identifying medical details about other people.

For the glaucoma question-submission form, contributors are asked whether their question includes personal information about their own health. If it does, we request separate, affirmative and explicit consent to collect, store, review and use that health information to prepare and conduct the discussions, and to share the question with panellists and discuss it according to the contributor's choice about sharing their name. This is our Article 9(2)(a) condition for those voluntary disclosures. Those who do not wish to give this consent can submit a general question without personal health information.

You can withdraw health-information consent for future processing by contacting us through the contact form and supplying your question reference, or other information that helps us identify it. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal. We will explain where any information must be retained under another lawful basis; copies already circulated or discussed may not always be fully retrievable. Health-information consent does not authorise publication of identifiable audio or video recordings.

Recordings, transcripts and publication

Meetings may be recorded for transcription, summarisation and preparation of educational or reference material. Participants will be informed when recording is planned and what the intended use is.

Written summaries or other materials derived from meetings may be prepared for publication, subject to appropriate review, agreement and privacy safeguards. Identifiable quotations or contributions may need further permission or another suitable lawful basis before publication.

Recording a meeting does not automatically grant permission to publish its video or audio. If publication of a recording or substantial excerpt is proposed, we will seek additional permission from the participants concerned.

Original audio and video recordings will normally be deleted within 12 months of each meeting, once transcription, summarisation and any necessary review have been completed, unless further retention has been specifically agreed. Recordings and associated working materials are accessible only to authorised organisers and people assisting with their preparation.

Retention of question submissions

Identifiable question submissions, including associated names, email addresses and administrative records, will normally be retained for up to 12 months after the final meeting in the relevant series or project, unless a different period is communicated or a lawful reason requires longer retention.

At the end of that period, identifiable records will be securely deleted or anonymised. Genuinely anonymised questions may be retained for educational or reference use. Copies in email systems and backups will be addressed under our applicable retention and backup procedures.

5. Mailing lists

If you request updates from Seeing.org or BMI, we use your contact information for the relevant communications. Where required, we ask you to confirm your subscription. You may unsubscribe from marketing messages using the instructions provided or by contacting us. Unsubscribing does not necessarily erase records lawfully retained for separate purposes.

6. Sharing information

We may share the information needed to fulfil a request, for example when forwarding a teacher enquiry to the teacher concerned. Questions may be shared with meeting panellists under the arrangements described above. Our technical services include UK2 for website hosting, Stackmail for email delivery, Cloudflare Turnstile for spam protection, and Zoom for online meetings. These providers may process information needed to deliver their services. We may also disclose information where legally required.

We do not sell or rent personal information. Where service providers process information for us, we seek to apply appropriate data-protection safeguards.

7. Security and international transfers

We use proportionate measures to protect information, including restricted access to administrative records and protective measures for online forms. Question-submission records are held in restricted storage associated with our UK2 hosting. Organisers may also hold relevant information on secure, backed-up local computers, with access restricted to authorised individuals. No electronic system is entirely free from risk.

Some services, organisers, speakers or panellists may be based outside the UK. Where sharing information with them constitutes a restricted international transfer under UK data protection law, we will use an applicable lawful transfer mechanism. Please contact us if you would like further information about the arrangements relevant to your information.

8. Cookies, analytics and spam protection

Our website uses technical services supporting its operation and security, including Cloudflare Turnstile on certain forms to protect against automated submissions. These services may process browser, network or device information.

Our website includes a Stats2 traffic-measurement service, which may collect technical information about website visits. Cookies or similar technologies may also be used by the website or embedded services. Where applicable law requires consent for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, that consent must be obtained before they are used.

9. Your rights

Subject to applicable conditions and exemptions, you may have rights to be informed, to access and correct personal data, to request erasure or restriction, to object to certain processing, and to data portability. Additional safeguards apply to certain automated decisions. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out beforehand.

To exercise your rights or discuss the handling of your information, please contact us using the details below. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

10. Other websites

Our website may link to third-party websites, whose privacy practices are governed by their own policies. We encourage you to review them before providing information.

11. Contacting us about privacy

Privacy
Bates Method International
23 Guy Court, King Street
Oxford OX2 6DB
United Kingdom

You can also use our contact form to make a privacy enquiry.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our activities or legal obligations change. The latest version will be displayed here with its revision date.