Lodge Maxwell No. 1837 S.C., Marsh Harbour, Abaco, The Bahamas. Last updated: 17 October 2026.

This policy explains what personal information the lodge's website and members' portal collect, why, who can see it, and how you can ask for it to be corrected or removed. Lodge Maxwell No. 1837 S.C. ("the lodge", "we") looks after it. You can contact us at secretary@lodgemaxwell1837.com.

1. The public website

Anyone can visit the public pages. We do not ask visitors for personal information. If you contact the lodge by email, we use your details only to reply. Our website provider (Wix) may use standard cookies to run the site and measure visits.

2. The members' portal

The portal is for the brethren of the lodge. A brother can use it once the Secretary has added him. It holds:

• your name, login email, phone number, the island or country where you live, your occupation and a short note about yourself;

• your Masonic record: mother lodge, the dates of your initiation, passing and raising, and any office you hold;

• your date of birth, only if you choose to give it (see section 4);

• your dues and payments, merchandise orders, meeting RSVPs, and photos you choose to share;

• messages and requests you make through the portal.

We use this to run the lodge: to keep the register, collect dues, arrange meetings, verify brethren, and keep in touch.

3. Who can see it

• Other brethren see your name, island, occupation and short note. They see your email and phone number only if you leave "Let other brethren see my email and phone number" ticked on your profile. Officers can always see them.

• The Treasurer and the Master see dues and payment records. The Secretary sees records needed to verify brethren and run meetings.

• Welfare records are confidential. Only the Almoner, the Master and the Secretary can see them, and they are not shown anywhere else in the portal.

• The lodge's website administrator can see the information when needed to keep the portal working.

• Photos you share are seen by the lodge officers. A photo goes on the public website only after the Master approves it and everyone shown has agreed.

4. Your birthday

You may add your date of birth. If, and only if, you tick "Share my birthday with the brethren", your name and the day and month of your birthday appear on the Home page in the month it falls. Your year of birth and your age are never shown to other brethren. You can untick the box or remove the date at any time.

5. Payments

Card payments are handled by an outside payment service. The lodge never sees or stores your card number. The payment service receives what it needs to take the payment, such as your name, email and the amount. The lodge keeps a record of what you paid, when, and how.

6. Services we use

To run the portal we rely on outside providers: Wix (website, logins and database), Microsoft 365 (lodge email), a payment service (card payments), and an email delivery service. Some office holders may also connect a Gmail account to the portal's Mail tab (see section 7). We do not sell your information and we do not use it for advertising. We share it with these providers only so they can do their job for the lodge, and where the law or Grand Lodge requires it.

7. Google user data (the Mail tab)

An office holder can connect his own Gmail account to the portal's Mail tab so that he can read and send lodge mail from it. If he does, the portal accesses that Gmail account only to show his messages to him and to send messages he writes. We use Google user data only to provide this feature. We do not sell it, do not use it for advertising, and do not use it to train any model. Only that office holder can see his mailbox in the portal, and he can disconnect it at any time. Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

8. How long we keep it

We keep your information while you are a member. After you resign or pass away, we keep the Masonic and financial records the lodge needs for its own history, for its audits and for Grand Lodge rules. Other details, such as your phone number and photos, can be removed on request.

9. Keeping it safe

The portal requires a personal login. What each person can see depends on his role, and only a few officers can see sensitive records. Records are not deleted when corrected; the change is kept with the reason, so the books can be audited.

10. Your choices

You can change your profile at any time. You can ask the Secretary to show you the information we hold about you, to correct it, or to remove what we no longer need to keep, under the data protection law of The Bahamas. Write to secretary@lodgemaxwell1837.com.

11. Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top. Brethren will be told of important changes through the portal.