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FAQ: About the Crockford web site
Does the Crockford web site provide details of every Anglican clergyperson in the UK?
The online directory contains the name of every Anglican clergyperson in the United Kingdom. However, in line with data protection guidelines, individuals do have the right to request that their details be withheld. Where such a request has been made, you will not be able to search for that individual by name and their contact details will be withheld.
Does the Crockford web site include everything that is available in the book?
Yes.
How far back in time do your listings go?
The web site carries information that goes back as far as 1968 since that was the first time that the database was put in an electronic form. There are no current plans to do the retrospective work on earlier editions although if the web site proves popular, we may carry out this work in the future.
How often is the information on the site updated?
The Crockford department continually update the main database with any amendments needed. The Crockford web site is then updated with these amendments on a weekly basis. Information in the Guides is updated less frequently, as and when this is needed.
Why do I need to pay to search for details on the web site?
Crockford's Clerical Directory has a history stretching back over 150 years, testament to its interest and usefulness to all those working with the church. Crockford's Clerical Directory provides a valuable service to the church and is much appreciated by its purchasers. The provision of such a service, in terms of maintaining the accuracy and currency of the data, producing the book, and running the web site requires investment. Sales of books and online subscriptions help to cover the costs incurred and enable Church House Publishing to continue providing this service to the Church of England and the Anglican Communion at large. You have the choice of paying for the book or paying for a web site subscription, or both; it would not be fair for one group of users to subsidise the other.
Can I email clergy directly from the Crockford web site?
Email addresses, where known, are listed within an individual's contact details. Each email address is hyperlinked so that you can click on it to send an email directly to that person.
Won't listing email address put clergy at increased risk of 'spam' or junk emails?
The site does not allow email to be sent to more than one person at a time, so there is no way to automatically bulk email or 'spam' the people listed on the site. A determined 'spammer' could try to search for every listed email address in turn, one by one, just as they could by using the book. However, this will in fact be a harder task online, as there is no way to 'page' through all the details listed; you need to know a person's name or post in order to search for their details.
What safeguards have you built in to stop marketers stripping out contact details to create mailing lists and labels? Will clergy be at greater risk of receiving junk mail and scam letters?
As required by UK Data Protection legislation, we follow strict security procedures with regard to the storage and disclosure of personal information, to prevent unauthorised access. Information is stored securely on servers protected by a central firewall and back-up firewall that monitor activity and hostile attacks. The premises are secured by CCTV and a monitored alarm connected directly to the police.
Further measures have been taken in the design of the web site itself. No single page of the site lists more than one individual's contact details. As a result, it will be difficult to quickly copy and paste contact details for a large number of individuals from the site into any other document. Additionally, the site does not list all the names contained in the directory. You have to conduct a search to find each individual's details. So, if you do not know that the Reverend John Crockford (for example) exists, you will not know to search for him and will not find his details. Obviously, for common names like 'Smith', this offers only limited protection, but it does mean that it is impossible to use the web site to simply lift out every entry in the directory name-by-name, as would be possible from the book.
Finally, both the book and the web site include a handful of dummy clergy names and addresses. Any mail sent to these addresses is monitored and any unauthorised use of the information is always followed up.
As the Crockford web site is online, it is available internationally. Could this put at risk the ministry of clergy serving overseas in areas where the fact that they are ordained is not known and may not be welcomed?
Crockford's Clerical Directory primarily lists clergy serving or living in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. In addition, any clergy who have served in the UK or Republic of Ireland at some point but since moved overseas are also usually listed. There is also a comprehensive list of overseas bishops. If a situation arose where the publication of a clergyperson's details were to put them at risk, we would take that issue seriously and take steps to remedy it. It is also worth noting that, in accordance with data protection regulations in the UK, we will always suppress an entry if the person concerned asks us to do so.
Will the web site enable people to target specific groups, such as single women priests?
No. There is no way to conduct a search on the site that would filter the results by marital status or gender. The site has been built to serve the needs of those conducting legitimate searches for individual clergy, and mechanisms have been built in to prevent people from interrogating the data in order to create mailing lists.
Why do some individual's names not link to a biography page?
Where an individual has requested that their details be withheld from the online directory, their name may be listed in search results or Listings pages but it will not be linked because at their request no further information will be made available.
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