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There are number of reasons for the joining date to be wrong.
We are looking at ways to make this information more accurate, however in the meantime, it does not have any affect on anything else.
Compass allows for exceptions to be made e.g. adult members who are suspended, in which case their personal details will be visible only to a very small select group of people with special roles, e.g. the safeguarding team. Other exceptions may also be possible dependent on the circumstances. These restrictions can be set by speaking with The Scout Association UK Headquarters to discuss the situation.
We have made a change to Compass and Atlantic Data and any applications not showing in Atlantic Data will be added in an overnight update. Please check in Atlantic Data tomorrow and if they are still not showing contact the Information Centre.
If you need to process the application urgently please contact the Scout Information Centre who will be able to remove and re-start the application.
Compass is a web-based membership system. It is therefore possible to access the system at any location with an internet connection. The following guidance highlights some simple security points that must be followed when accessing Compass:
| 1 | In public places
For example, an internet café or on public transport and at the campsite. |
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| 2 | In the office/your place of work |
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| 3 | At home |
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In addition to a Member’s responsibility to keep their own data for which they are responsible up-to-date, The Scout Association will annually run a set of general data cleansing routines dealing with issues such as duplication, addressing search returns which indicate that a member is ‘no longer at’ or has ‘gone away’ from the recorded address etc.
In the previous membership management system, MMS, Wood Badges were not recorded against a role whereas in Compass all Wood Badges must be associated with a specific role. Therefore, if a Wood Badge was not able to be matched to a role then it has been added to ongoing learning to ensure that it is still recorded on the members’ profile.
Whilst personal data should only be retained until no longer required and also kept up-to-date, the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) does enable the retention and use of personal information for statistical and research purposes if certain criteria and rules are followed.
Compass can produce certain statistical data. Local Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries may retain records simply for statistical/archive purpose and the Data Protection Act and GDPR states that personal data held for these purposes may be kept indefinitely as long as it is not used in connection with decisions affecting particular individuals or in a way that is likely to cause damage or distress. This does not mean that the information may be kept forever as it should be securely and safely deleted/destroyed when it is no longer needed for those historical, statistical or research purposes. If you are retaining records for archive or statistical purpose you must ensure that the data is kept very securely.
Provided you have the relevant authorisation, you can download details of members for taking to camp etc.
You must then follow any data protection and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) requirements, guidance and processes established by your Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) to handle the downloaded information in accordance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR. For example, the information should only be kept for the required purpose and time, after which it must be securely destroyed i.e. after the end of the camp or event.
For details of what the data held in Compass will be used for, please see The Scout Association’s privacy notice.
The data is held in the UK.
Since the re-introduction of Compass in January 2016 it has offered adult only functionality, and all the youth data that was previously held on Compass has been deleted.
The deletion of youth data was necessary as it was becoming increasingly out of date and in the absence of youth functionality there was no way of maintaining or ensuring its accuracy.
The only reason for adding someone who is not yet 18 to Compass is to start the application for a disclosure check. (This may be necessary for example when they are planning to go to camp on / shortly after their 18th birthday.) For more details about this topic please see this FAQ.
In the previous membership management system, MMS, modules and training courses were not recorded against a role whereas in Compass all modules must be associated with a specific role’s PLP. Therefore, if the ongoing learning module was not able to be matched to a PLP then it has been added to ongoing learning to ensure that it is still recorded on the members’ profile.
Members can manage how their personal information is used for certain communications from The Scout Association. They can control what communications content they receive by logging into their account via the Compass website and selecting the Communications Preferences section on their Profile.
This ability to manage how their personal information is used only applies to marketing-led content. The Scout Association and a Member’s local Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) will send Member communications about Scouting relevant to their role or association with Scouting. The communication will contain essential information and will not contain marketing content.
The Scout Association treats the safety and security of its member data as a main priority. For these reasons The Scout Association has spent considerable time and funds designing and testing Compass to ensure that data is held securely in accordance with the Data Protection Act, General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and industry standards. The two external companies contracted to host Compass both comply with international data security standards and, where applicable, are certified by the BSI (British Standards Institute) and have all achieved International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) certification status. The Scout Association has also employed highly regarded contractors to ensure compliance with data protection legislation, and also ensures that the system undergoes regular security testing.
The system has been designed to restrict access at different levels of the database to those that have authorisation to use it. The hierarchy of Scouting is reflected in the authorisation matrix and we have an inbuilt audit trail for all transactions so that users and their use can be identified. Every adult with a leadership role, and hence with access authorisation rights within Compass, would have gone through a stringent appointment process and will be subject to the Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) of the organisation which lay down strict guidelines in respect of use of their use of system and their duty to ensure compliance with data protection.
As part of the transfer of training data from the previous membership management system (MMS) to Compass, it was identified that there was insufficient data in MMS to be able to associate training courses and Wood Badges to particular roles. Therefore, in order to ensure that this historical training information was recorded on Compass the information was added into the Ongoing Learning section of members’ training records.
If the information that has been added as an Ongoing Learning record is incorrect it may be due to the fact that some of the data recorded in MMS was not accurately entered.
If you are aware that some of the information recorded on your profile is incorrect, you can add a new ongoing learning record to your profile with the correct information. Guidance on how to add a new Ongoing Learning record can be found in the user guide: Adding ongoing learning hours for a single member.
Once you have added the new ongoing learning record you can delete the incorrect one from your record.
Important note: once an Ongoing Learning record has been deleted the information cannot be retrieved so please take extra care when deleting the historical training information.
We have ensured that as much of the training data as possible has been transferred from the previous membership management system (MMS) to Compass. However, there may be still be cases where it has not been feasible to transfer all the information about a member’s training due to the quality of data held in MMS.
Where you are aware of training information that is missing from members’ Compass records, this can be added in locally. The following guidance may assist with adding in historical training information.
If a member has previously been awarded a Wood Badge that is not recorded on their Compass profile, this will need to be added in locally. If the role that the Wood Badge relates to is still active, a Wood Badge can be recommended once all modules on the PLP have been validated. Guidance on how to recommend a Wood Badge can be found in the user guide: Recommending a Wood Badge.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to add a Wood Badge to a closed role. Therefore, if the role that the Wood Badge relates to has already been closed, it is recommended that the Wood Badge is recorded in the Ongoing Learning section of the member’s training profile to ensure that it is still recorded somewhere on their record. Any details of the Wood Badge which are known, such as the role, Wood Badge date and Wood Badge number, should be recorded in the notes section of the Ongoing Learning record and the related module should be left blank. Guidance on how to add Ongoing Learning can be found in the user guide: Adding Ongoing Learning to a Single Member.
It is recommended that any details held locally of training completed before the modular scheme was introduced are added to the Ongoing Learning section of members’ training record. This will ensure that the information is recorded on their record for future reference. Any details of the courses completed, such as course dates or modules completed in a particular course, can be included in the notes section of the Ongoing Learning record. Guidance on how to add Ongoing Learning can be found in the user guide: Adding Ongoing Learning to a Single Member.
In order for a Wood Badge to be visible on Compass, the PLP must contain at least one validated module. For historical Wood Badges that were transferred from the previous membership management system (MMS), the details of the specific modules that had been completed to earn the Wood Badge was not always available.
If the module information was not available or the Wood Badge was not completed under the modular scheme, it was necessary to add a new module called “Wood Badge Pre-2014” to the PLP to ensure that the Wood Badge displays correctly on the member’s Compass record.
This module must not be deleted otherwise the Wood Badge information will no longer show on the member’s training record.
On 15th May a new training module was added to Compass in order to record learners’ completion of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) training module.
GDPR Training is a mandatory module for all appointments. New roles added after 15th May will have the GDPR training module automatically added to their PLP on Compass.
Existing members will need to have the module manually added to their training record. Guidance on how to add this module to a member’s training record can be found in the userguide: Adding a Module for a Single Member.
Notes for adding the module to members that already have a wood badge:
– The module can be added to member’s PLPs even if they already have a wood badge
– Adding a module to a PLP that already has a wood badge does not affect the wood badge status
– Once the member has validated the GDPR module the County Training Manager will be notified again that the PLP has been completed. However, they do not need to recommend another wood badge for the role.
The following FAQs related to GDPR are also available on the Compass Support Site:
For further support and advice with regards to these changes please contact The Scout Information Centre.
We have ensured that as much of the training data as possible has been transferred from the previous membership management system (MMS) to Compass. However, there may be still be cases where it has not been feasible to transfer all the information about a member’s training due to the quality of data held in MMS.
Where you are aware of training information that is missing from your Compass record, this can be added to Compass by your local training team. Guidance on adding historical training information can be found in this FAQ.
It is appreciated that this information is important to members. This error in data, however, does not restrict members from undertaking Scouting now, and it for this reason that our priority is to fix the last few remaining issues which affect members abilities to undertake the responsibilities of their current appointment.
Some Members may find that their Wood Badge, achieved prior to the current Modular scheme, is not showing on Compass.
We have ensured that as much of the training data as possible has been transferred from the previous membership database (MMS) to Compass. However, there may be still be cases where it has not been feasible to transfer all the information about a member’s training due to the quality of data held in MMS.
Where you are aware of training information that is missing from members’ Compass records, this can be added in locally. The following guidance may assist with adding in historical training information.
If a member has previously been awarded a Wood Badge that is not recorded on their Compass profile, this will need to be added in locally. If the role that the Wood Badge relates to is still active, a Wood Badge can be recommended once all modules on the PLP have been validated. Guidance on how to recommend a Wood Badge can be found in the user guide: Recommending a Wood Badge.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to add a Wood Badge to a closed role. Therefore, if the role that the Wood Badge relates to has already been closed, it is recommended that the Wood Badge is recorded in the Ongoing Learning section of the member’s training profile to ensure that it is still recorded somewhere on their record. Any details of the Wood Badge which are known, such as the role, Wood Badge date and Wood Badge number, should be recorded in the notes section of the Ongoing Learning record and the related module should be left blank. Guidance on how to add Ongoing Learning can be found in the user guide: Adding Ongoing Learning to a Single Member.
It is recommended that any details held locally of training completed before the modular scheme was introduced are added to the Ongoing Learning section of members’ training record. This will ensure that the information is recorded on their record for future reference. Any details of the courses completed, such as course dates or modules completed in a particular course, can be included in the notes section of the Ongoing Learning record. Guidance on how to add Ongoing Learning can be found in the user guide: Adding Ongoing Learning to a Single Member.
If you know that you previously had a Wood Badge recorded against a role but it is no longer showing it is likely to be due to there being no validated modules associated with the Wood Badge.
In order to for a Wood Badge to be visible on compass there needs to be at least one module recorded in the PLP for that role. If a role is closed and there were no validated modules recorded in the PLP then the PLP and the Wood Badge are removed from the training page of the members’ profile.
We are aware that there will be some members in this situation and we are looking to make these Wood Badges visible again by adding in a module that will allow the Wood Badge to be shown on Compass. In the meantime, if you have the details of the Wood Badge and would like to ensure that it is recorded somewhere on your record it can be added into the Ongoing Learning section at the bottom of the training record. Once we have made this fix to make the Wood Badge visible we will post information on the Compass Support Website Latest Updates page.
Whilst a lot of work has taken place to make training information as correct as possible, there are some updates which require local knowledge to complete. To amend this click ‘Edit’ next to the relevant role on the Member’s record, go to the ‘Approval’ page and validate the relevant Getting Started training modules. Alternatively, you can open the members PLP in the ‘Training’ tab, click on “update” and enter the information required – this will have the same outcome.
This will usually resolve the problem. If the problem persists, please contact the Scout Information Center.
This is a known issue which we are aware of. Please contact the Scout Information Centre to confirm which address is correct and they will amend your record accordingly. Once your record has been updated, the old or incorrect address will no longer be visible on Compass.
If you have an award showing which is incorrect, this is because it was incorrect on the old MMS system. Please contact the Awards Team via the Scout Information Centre who will be able to make a note and arrange for it to be changed.
A small number of members may find that their record is showing the correct role, but just in the wrong Section. The relevant line manager can click on “Edit” next to the role concerned and change the “Location” drop down box to the correct section.
Some members may find their appointment is still showing on Compass as “Provisional” rather than “Full”, even though they have cleared the National Vetting Process and completed the relevant training for the role. Those members with access to edit appointments will be able to click on “Edit” next to the role and then click “Save” to update the appointment status.
A small number of roles, which already had a future end date recorded on the appointment in the old MMS system were moved across to Compass as closed appointments. As Compass recognises these roles as already ended, the button is not visible. These will be amended in bulk in the future.
Adult members are responsible for maintaining their own data e.g. name, address, contact details either directly or via a nominated individual. Certain other data may only be updated/maintained by authorised persons e.g. roles, training records, permits etc. All membership data should be checked as regularly as possible to ensure it is correct and factually accurate and must, in any event, be checked on an annual basis.
Whilst a lot of work has taken place to make training information as correct as possible, there are some updates which require local knowledge to complete. Simply open the members PLP in the ‘Training tab’, click on “update” and enter the information required.
Please see The Scout Association’s privacy policy.
This has not changed the remit of the role, if there is an issue this will be with the old role and so the Commissioner needs to add the appropriate role.
Only current permit types are now available on Compass, anyone who was showing with an old permit title has been transferred across to the new titles. At B1 level this has no change to the remit, at B2 upwards this may have changed the remit. If this is wrong members will need to contact the the Scout Information Centre or their Commissioner to have the correct permit added.
If the Appointment is either pre-provisional or provisional (due to the appointment process boxes being un-editable) a new appointment will need to be added to the members record. If the appointment is already Full, then no changes are required.
A Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR) is when a person requests a copy of all their personal data from either The Scout Association UK Headquarters or a local Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) or Country, under the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). As the Data Protection Act and GDPR applies to both The Scout Association UK Headquarters as well as Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries (as each is created and operates as an independent charity in its own right) both must comply with any DSAR it receives.
Of course, whilst the data held on Compass will be the same for both The Scout Association UK Headquarters and the local Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland), each may also hold certain other information which may also need to be disclosed e.g. emails, letters, reports etc. Guidance about how to respond to an DSAR can be found online.
Personal permits are for under 18’s only. All personal permits issued to adult members have been removed from Compass. You will need to be assessed by an Assessor for a Leadership or Supervisory permit. Please speak to your County Activities team to arrange this.
Only members with suitable authorisation have access to member data which is relevant to their role in Scouting. For example, a Section Leader only sees the data for the adults in their Section and a District Commissioner will only see the data for adults within the District etc. At UK Headquarters, only authorised staff have access to membership data as required by their role for Headquarter administration purpose.
In the previous membership management system (MMS), Wood Badges were not linked to specific roles on members’ records. For example, a member could complete the training for a Cub Scout Leader Wood Badge without holding a Cub Scout Leader role. There were also no checks in MMS to make sure that the date entered for a Wood Badge matched to a role.
However, in Compass all Wood Badges must be linked to a specific role in order to be recommended. Therefore, when the Wood Badge data was transferred from MMS to Compass, Wood Badges were mapped to the correct role type on a member’s record without looking at the role start and end dates.
This means that some members may find that they have a Wood Badge associated to a particular role that shows a date that is before the role start date or after the role end date. Whilst the dates may be inconsistent the Wood Badge is still correct for that role.
With the introduction of Compass, the opportunity was taken to tidy up some appointments which are no longer required or were duplicated by other similar appointments. This work has been completed and members will see the role of “Migrated – ….” has been ended. If any member still has an open role, this can be closed in the normal way. If the appointment that has been closed was the only appointment held, and the member wishes to continue in Scouting, another appropriate appointment will need to be opened.
There is a module as part of the Adult Training Scheme which covers data protection and Scouting. This is part of the getting started training a member will complete within the first five months of taking on an appointment. Compass as a system however, does not require specific training, however support user guides, videos and quick hint sheets are available.
Executive Committees have always have been and will remain responsible for ensuring that proper systems are in place locally for Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) compliance – which includes ensuring that their personnel are reliable in handling personal data and are aware of their responsibilities. Further support is available online www.scouts.org.uk/dataprotection
Members should be directed to POR Chapter 2.
Permits are hierarchical so where we have found a member with all permit types (e.g. Leadership and Supervisory) listed we have removed the lower level permits as the highest permit issued covers all levels below.
The Scout Association, local Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries as separate charities/organisations, are each Data Controllers under the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Each is responsible for the personal data it handles. Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) and Country Executive Committees, as the Charity Trustees, are responsible for ensuring that proper systems are in place locally for their relevant Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) or Country and that any personal data is collected, managed, shared, kept and generally handled locally in compliance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR.
The same applies to The Scout Association’s Board of Trustees who, as Charity Trustees, are responsible for ensuring that proper systems are in place for The Scout Association. Local Scouting must comply with the Data Protection Act and GDPR when using The Scout Association’s Membership System ‘Compass’. Please see Chapter 2 of Policy, Organisation & Rules.
With regard to personal data stored on Compass, The Scout Association is a Data Controller in Common with Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries. Data Controller’s in Common may each use and access a shared database but each remains responsible for the personal data within its own control and capacity. Accordingly, local Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) or Countries remain responsible for ensuring that their handling of personal data locally is in compliance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and POR (which includes uploading and maintaining such data onto Compass) and The Scout Association remains responsible for ensuring that its handling of personal data nationally is also in compliance with the Data Protection Act, GDPR and POR (including its particular responsibilities for data held on Compass – see Chapter 2).
Whilst the general data protection responsibilities of both parties towards the data it handles are similar in nature, there are differences according to the level of control each has over the data e.g. whilst The Scout Association will not be responsible for how personal data is handled locally, likewise, local Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) or Countries will not be responsible for the technical or security aspects of Compass which are not within their control.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates data protection in the UK, provides guidance as to the procedures in the event of a security breach which will be followed by The Scout Association.
This guidance should also be followed by Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries who, as part of their responsibilities for data protection awareness, should incorporate these into their general handling data of the personal data they are responsible for. More guidance on what do locally if there is a data breach can be found in the GDPR toolkit.
To ensure consistency, any actual or potential data breach concerning the use of Compass should be reported to The Scout Association UK Headquarters.
A Breach Notification Form (available for download by Executive Committees from the GDPR toolkit) should passed to The Scout Association via the following email address dpa.alert@scouts.org.uk.
NOTE – This email address is only for reporting a breach and there will be no remediation guidance as a direct result. The information will be used by The Scout Association to monitor any trends in breaches being reported and update the GDPR Toolkit with further guidance.
To make it easier for mistakes to be corrected, modules which have already been validated but can now have the details edited by Members who hold relevant roles (see details of who can do what here.) Please follow the user guide “Editing validated training records for a single member” for guidance on how to make these amendments.
Data protection aims to protect an individual’s rights to privacy by regulating how organisations obtain, store and use their personal data. So, data protection rules provide individuals with certain rights whilst also imposing certain duties and obligations on organisations. Young people and adults have the same data protection rights under the law. Data protection is governed by the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which is overseen and Regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Data protection law applies to The Scout Association as well as all Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) and Countries which are each created and operate as independent charities and are likely to collect and store personal data about members and perhaps other individuals involved with local Scouting. Local Scouting must comply with the Data Protection Act and GDPR when using The Scout Association’s Membership System ‘Compass’. Please see Policy, Organisation & Rules (POR) Chapter 2.
The Scout Association provides guidance and best practice to assist members meet their data protection obligations.
The ICO also provides general guidance on how to comply.
The Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) enables the sharing of sensitive personal information in the event of an emergency – i.e. where the sharing is necessary in order to protect the ‘vital interests’ of the person.
You must follow any data protection requirements, guidance or processes established by your Scout Group, District, County/Area/Region (Scotland) to ensure such sharing is done in accordance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR. For example, the sharing must be done securely, and only share the information required to assist with the emergency.
As smaller ‘not-for-profit’; organisations, Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) do not have to register provided they do not hold personal data about anyone other than members or potential beneficiaries. However, they are still subject to the rules of the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). As a larger organisation, The Scout Association UK Headquarters is registered as a Data Controller with the ICO.
Please see POR Chapter 2 and the guidance available to Scout Groups, Districts, Counties/Areas/Regions (Scotland) online.
It is appreciated that this information is important to members. This error in data, however, does not restrict members from undertaking Scouting now, and it for this reason that our priority is to fix the last few remaining issues which affect members abilities to undertake the responsibilities of their current appointment.
Whilst a lot of work has taken place to make training information as correct as possible, there are some updates which require local knowledge to complete. Simply open the members PLP, click on “update” and enter the information required, usually making sure the validation on the ‘Getting Started’ modules is correct solves this issue.
The members disclosure is being handled by the Vetting team. The local Commissioner or Appointment Secretary should be aware of this and can contact the Vetting team who will provide them with an update.
Please speak to your relevant Commissioner who can then contact the Awards Team at UKHQ to request a replacement.
Compass uses the term “member” to mean any person with a record on Compass.
This would include Occasional Helpers, Training Advisers, Administrators and other roles where “Membership” or “Associate Membership” of The Scout Association is not needed, but where a record on Compass is a requirement.
The use of the term “member” in a Compass context does not confer or imply any “Membership” or “Associate Membership” of The Scout Association
Please contact the Scout Information Centre who will be able to update the record.
It is appreciated that this information is important to members. This error in data, however, does not restrict members from undertaking Scouting now, and it for this reason that our priority is to fix the last few remaining issues which affect members abilities to undertake the responsibilities of their current appointment.
The person may have more than one Compass membership number (this could have been due to the person having duplicate records in MMS) – contact the Scout Information Centre who will be able to merge the two records and ensure only one disclosure request is available. If the person has had more than one disclosure check, processed through Atlantic Data, they will have more than one disclosure record on Atlantic Data – this is normal functionality.
Please log into Compass and add your correct address by editing your Personal Details. If this is stopping you from registering for Compass someone with the appropriate permissions can update your address for you, allowing you to register with your postcode.
The member may have an outstanding disclosure from MMS which has not been migrated correctly (these are quite rare cases now) – please contact the Scout Information Centre who will either fix this or pass onto the Vetting team to fix. The member may have an outstanding disclosure from the old MMS system which is being handled as part of a Vetting case. The local Commissioner or Appointment Secretary should be aware of this and can contact the Vetting team who will provide them with an update. Their disclosure may not have been sent to Atlantic Data yet from Compass – we run an automatic upload to Atlantic Data 2-3 times a week, if the disclosure needs to be processed sooner, contact the Scout Information Centre who will be able to click the button to send the record to Atlantic Data.