Carers Information Service: Website Privacy Policy
The following information refers to our website. To find out more about how the Carers Information Service looks after your personal data, please download our full Privacy Statement (opens as PDF file). You can also request a copy by emailing email hidden; JavaScript is required or visiting the Carers Support Centre.
Cookies
We also have a website (www.carersinfo.org.uk) which automatically collects information on how you use it via ‘cookies’. We use cookies to measure how people use our website, which helps us improve our website and your experience as a user. Cookies do not allow you to be personally identified.
We will ask you to consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy when you first visit our website. By using our website and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.
Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites. If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.
For more information on cookies, visit: www.cookielaw.org/the-cookie-law
Google Analytics
When you use our website, we use Google Analytics to collect anonymous information about your computer, including your IP address, operating system and browser type. This means we can monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it.
You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking your website use by using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Hosting
We use a third-party provide to host our website. This site is hosted by GoDaddy: https://www.godaddy.com/en-uk
Emails
If you fill in the email sign-up form on our website, we will capture your full name and email address. When you sign up, you can select which emails you wish to receive from the options provided. If you submit your details, you will receive regular emails from the Carers Information Service according to your selected preferences.
You may also have selected to receive emails from us via completion of our registration form or a verbal request. We will then sign you up by adding your full name and email address on your behalf, and you will receive regular emails from us according to your selected preferences. You can update your preferences at any time.
Your data will be stored securely on the third party provider, Mailchimp. We also gather statistics on email opening and clicks using Mailchimp. For more information on how Mailchimp stores your data, read their privacy policy.
You are welcome to unsubscribe at any time and your details will then be deleted from the Mailchimp database. Your data will not be passed on to third parties. To unsubscribe, scroll to the email footer and click unsubscribe.
Photography and film
As part of our marketing and communications activity, the Carers Information Service uses digital media for publicity purposes. This includes photography, video footage, sound recording and stills from video footage. This helps us raise awareness about our work with carers, the general public, professionals and funders.
We will only use photography or film footage of you in our publicity with your explicit, informed consent. If you give us consent to use your photography or video footage, it may be used in our publications, website, social media, written press articles, broadcast and radio interviews and other publicity material. The image(s) and/or footage will remain the property of the Carers Information Service and The Whitgift Foundation.
The Carers Information Service and The Whitgift Foundation will ensure as far as possible that your images or video are not used inappropriately by third parties and will take all reasonable steps to make sure that they are not used by third parties without our permission. However, we cannot guarantee that third parties will always request our consent or use images or video as intended.
Consent can be withdrawn at any time with written notification. Please email email hidden; JavaScript is required to withdraw your consent. If you withdraw consent, The Carers Information Service and The Whitgift Foundation will delete your photograph or video from our photo library and other storage and it will not be reused in publications or publicity materials. It will also be removed from our website and future social media posts. Whilst we will take all reasonable steps to remove an image or video, we are unable to guarantee its removal once the photograph or video is in the public domain. Your contact details will remain strictly confidential and will not be passed on to third parties without your consent.
Why does the Carers Information Service process personal data?
We need to process data to provide services to you that you have requested. Our services include advice, information and casework; publications; health and wellbeing activities; advice surgeries; workshops and support groups.
For example, we need to process your data so that we can send you Carers News, our quarterly newsletter, or email you our monthly e-bulletin, What’s New for Carers. You can unsubscribe at any time from these by either clicking on the unsubscribe button or by contacting us.
In other cases, we process personal data in order to provide you with support that you have requested, for example a referral to another organisation, or a form that you have asked us to complete on your behalf. We also operate and keep a record of health and wellbeing activities and workshops that you book to attend.
Some special categories of personal data, including information about health or medical conditions, are processed to provide services such as form completion and referral letters. Where we process other special categories of personal data that you have provided, such as information about ethnic origin, or religion or belief, this is done for the purposes of equal opportunities statistical monitoring that is requested by our funders (Croydon Council and The Whitgift Foundation). You do not have to provide us with this data in order to receive our services.
Data we hold about carers, such as age range, gender and ethnicity is also used to create an anonymous statistical profile of carers in the borough, known as the Register of Carers. We use these statistics in our publicity to raise awareness of carers in the borough.
Who has access to your personal data?
Your information may be shared internally with members of the Carers Information Service staff team if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles, for example to provide you with advice or casework support.
We will also share your data with third parties, in order to provide services you have requested, such as referrals to other organisations for support.
In some cases, we are required to share data with third parties to ensure that we are complying with legal obligations, such as adult or child safeguarding.
We are also legally required to share data with Croydon Council, with whom we have a contract to provide information and advice; carer’s assessments; and health and wellbeing activities for carers. This is to enable Croydon Council to comply with the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which gives the NHS powers to require and request provision of information from a health and social care body or any person (other than a public body) who provides health services, or adult social care in England.
How does the organisation store and protect your personal data?
Data that you have given us will be stored electronically (in our secure database) and in a paper or electronic file if we have provided you with casework support. Our ICT systems are secure and ensure access to personal data stored electronically is restricted to authorised staff only; any hard format data is stored in secure filing cabinets.
How long do we keep your data?
We hold your personal data indefinitely to comply with regulatory and statutory requirements. You have rights regarding your personal data, including seeing what data we hold and updating your information. Furthermore, you have the right to request that the data we hold on you is erased, although there may be some statutory or other reason that supersedes this.
Further information
If you would like to view any information that is held about you by the Carers Information Service, please contact Tanya Fitzgerald, Manager at email hidden; JavaScript is required so that a convenient time can be arranged for you to do so.
The Data Controller for the Whitgift Foundation is Emily Boynton, the Interim Chief Executive of the Whitgift Foundation.
If you believe that the organisation has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s office on 0303 123 1113.
