5. Entry
Entrants must always be treated properly, fairly and in accordance with the rules/terms and conditions.
5.1 Restrictions on entry
Normally all BBC competitions should be open to all audience members. However in a few cases there may be very strong editorial reasons to use a competition to attract interaction from specific sections of the audience, such as people from specific geographical areas.
If this is proposed, prior referral must be made to the Controller or equivalent Senior Editorial Manager who is responsible for the approval of competitions, who may consult with Programme Legal Advice and Editorial Policy.
The best way to use a competition to attract interaction from a specific section of the audience is to design a competition which is particularly likely to attract those groups to enter; this could be because of the editorial nature of the competition itself, the type of prize, the programme or website on which it is being promoted. However it is never acceptable to reject a legitimate winner or entrant who has complied with the rules just because they do not fit the target profile.
Any acceptable restrictions on entry must be made explicit to the audience at the outset. Any such restrictions must be reflected in the terms and conditions and these must be approved by ITACU Legal & Business Affairs who will consult Programme Legal Advice.
BBC staff are not normally eligible to enter a BBC viewer, listener or online competition. Any rare exceptions must be referred to Editorial Policy.
5.2 Online Entry forms and the Data Protection Act
Entrants to an online competition should normally complete an electronic “entrance form” which should only request the minimum amount of personal information necessary to enter the competition. The reasons for requesting any additional information should be declared under the Data Protection Act. The user must be offered a clear option to enter without providing the additional information, for example by putting an asterisk in the fields which are optional.
Personal information (which can be as little as a name and address) must not be passed on to third parties without the user's prior knowledge and consent.
Competition entries should be retained for 2 years in case there are any complaints or queries following the competition and to facilitate audits.
The correct answer and limited details of winners (usually name and town) must be made available on request and our terms and conditions must advise entrants of this requirement.