About us 

Capital Theatres is a registered charity in Scotland (SC018605). We manage the Festival Theatre, the King’s Theatre and the Studio Theatre in Edinburgh. 

We are committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information that we collect about you in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. 

We aim to be clear about when and how we collect your data and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect us to. Developing a better understanding of our customers and supporters through their personal data allows us to make better decisions about shows and programming and fundraise more efficiently so the charity is financially secure. 

This privacy policy sets out the ways in which we use your data and how you can hold us to account.

What data do we collect? 

The information that we gather falls broadly into two types: 

• Information that relates directly to you (e.g. your name and contact details) 
• Information that does not directly identify you (e.g. your IP address through the placement of cookies) 

How do we collect your data? 

We collect data when you directly provide us with it, such as when you:

• buy a ticket over the counter, by phone or online via our website 
• sign up for one of our events or workshops 
• update your preferences on our website;  
• make a donation or sign up to one of our membership programmes 

We also collect data about how you interact with us. For example: 

• Online, we collect information about how you interact with our content on our website and our advertisements on other websites or social media. 
• When we send you a mailing we store a record of this, and in the case of emails we keep a record of which ones you have opened and which links you have clicked on 
• We use closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all of our premises for the purposes of crime prevention and public safety. CCTV cameras are in operation at the front-of-house (i.e. all areas that are used by the public), back-of-house (i.e. areas closed to the public) and to the exterior of the premises. This is for security purposes only and the footage is automatically deleted after 28 days.

Information we collect from third parties 

• Service providers: We collect personal information from our pre-order bar booking service and agents who sell tickets on our behalf (they provide only the name of the ticket booker). 
• Publicly available information: To better serve people who engage with the charity, including audience members and supporters, we occasionally research publicly available information on individuals’ potential interest in different areas of our work or our membership and donor programmes. This may include philanthropic activities, trusteeship, and job history. 
• We also sometimes contract external security personnel who use body worn CCTV cameras (or ‘bodycams’) on our premises for the purposes of crime prevention and public safety. The bodycams are used to record incidents involving the public which warrant a recording to be made. An incident is considered as any engagement with a member of the public which in the opinion of our security personnel is confrontational and may involve instances of aggression, threats, or physical or verbal abuse. Prior to the commencement of a recording, the security personnel will, where possible, make a verbal announcement that recording will be carried out

How will we use your data? 

Situations when we might use your data include: 

• If we need to fulfil any contractual obligations we may have with you (e.g sending you tickets for a show you have booked, processing gift aid, providing you with assistance). 
• When you have specifically given us consent to do so (e.g. you have requested to receive certain information from us). 
• Analysis of your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information most relevant to you. 
• To show you relevant advertising on Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram or via other third-party advertising such as google, that may appear on other websites you use.  
• To help make your experience of using our website better and to personalise the information you get from us. 

If you do not want to receive information by post or email about events, offers, our fundraising activities or customer research, you have the option to change any of your contact preferences at any time by logging into your account online, or by contacting bxo@capitaltheatres.com. 

If you do not want to see adverts from us on social media channels and websites that are tailored to your interests, you can prevent this by changing your settings in the Ad preferences area of the relevant social media or advertiser (such as google) Privacy section (please note that you may not see fewer ads, but they will be less relevant to your interests).

We have data sharing agreements in place with Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and National Theatre of Scotland. 

Your personal data, including your booking data for their productions, will only be shared with these organisations if you have explicitly consented to such sharing. Please review their respective privacy policies to understand how they process your data.

For Scottish Opera performances, we also share all anonymised booking data, including postcode, event attended, seat details, and ticket type, to support their audience analysis.

We use data processors who are third-party providers of elements of our services. These include: 

• Ticketing System provider 
• Digital service providers, to fulfil email and SMS communications 
• Digital marketing agency to advertise our shows and activities
• Mailing house to fulfil postal communications 
• Research agencies for audience insights and analytics 

We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do so. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct. 

We will never share, sell, rent or trade your personal information to any third parties for marketing purposes without your prior consent. When booking a ticket, you may be given the choice to also hear from the artistic company you have booked to see. If you consent, we will send your personal data securely to the relevant company. If you decide further down the line you no longer want to hear from them, please get in touch with them directly.

How long do we keep your data? 

We will keep your information only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice and to fulfil our legal obligations. We will only keep the information we need. The retention period will vary according to the purpose, for example, if purchasing a ticket only, we will typically keep your data for up to ten years from the date of your last point of engagement whereas if you have pledged a legacy to Capital Theatres, we will hold your details until notified by your executors.

You have the following rights related to your personal data: 

• Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. 
• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. 
• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances. 
• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances. 
• Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances. 
• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances. 

If you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please contact: gdpr@capitaltheatres.com.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we will respond to you within 2 working weeks.

Changes to our privacy policy 

We keep our privacy notice under regular review to make sure it is up-to-date and accurate. If we update our privacy policy, we will post the changes on this page.

This privacy policy was last updated in July 2024.