Privacy Policy

About this policy

Introduction

We take your privacy very seriously and want to be as transparent as we can about how and why we use your personal information.

Carers Support West Wales is committed to protecting your privacy and the security of the data we hold, ensuring you remain informed and in control of the information you supply to us.

This privacy policy will help you understand:

• How we collect, use and protect your personal information.
• The rights you have around your data, including your right to access it.
• Your right to object to the way it is processed.

We, Carers Support West Wales, are the ‘controllers’ of the information (‘personal data’) which we collect about you (‘data subject’). Being controllers of your personal data means we are responsible for how your data is processed. The word ‘processed’ covers most things that can be done with personal data, including collection, storage, use, sharing and destruction of that data.

If you would like to know more or have any concerns about how your information is being processed please contact: [email protected].

Who we are

Carers Support West Wales provides information, advice and support to unpaid carers in West Wales (Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire).

Our contact details

• Address: PAVS, 36-38 High St, Haverfordwest SA61 2DA
• Phone Number: 01437 769422
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: carerssupportwestwales.org

You can contact us at Carers Support West Wales, if you have any queries about this privacy notice or anything related to data protection and how we process your data.

Your information and why we collect it

Our legal basis for processing your information

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing your information are:

• Your consent. You have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose such as receiving our monthly email newsletter.
• We have a contractual obligation. The processing of data is necessary for us to fulfil our contractual obligations with funders and other stakeholders.
• We need it to perform a public task. The processing of data is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions.
• We have a legitimate interest. We will process your data in ways you would reasonably expect in order for us to support you in your caring role.

You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting us.

The types of personal information we collect

Personal information is anything that relates to a living, identifiable person. We collect and process the following personal information:

• Name, surname, address, postcode, email address, telephone numbers, date of birth, gender, Carers Emergency Card number and NHS number.
• Name, surname, date of birth and gender of the person you care for.

This list of personal information is not exhaustive or limited to the information detailed above.

For monitoring purposes we also collect ‘special categories’ of data.

• Information about your caring role including details on the illness/condition of the person(s) you care for.
• Information on any health issues you may have.
• Your race or ethnic origin.
• Your sexual orientation.

The collection and use of these types of data is subject to strict controls and will only be held with your explicit consent.

We are committed to protecting all your personal data, and we only process data if we need to for a specific purpose, as explained in the section ‘Our legal basis for processing your information’.

How we collect your personal information and why we need it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

• In order to provide you with support.
• To personalise the service we offer you as a carer.
• For statistical purposes when reporting to our stakeholders or applying for funding.

We collect your personal data mostly through our contact with you, and the data is usually provided by you. However in some instances we may receive data about you from other people/organisations, for example, if you are referred to us by another organisation. We only use information from third parties once the organisation has gained your consent to pass that information on to us and on understanding that you will benefit from our support. These organisations may include but are not limited to:

• Providers of health services including GP Surgeries, community and occupational health, mental health services and ambulance services
• Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire County Councils
• Schools and colleges
• Hospitals and hospices
• Charities
• Employers
• Friend or family member
• Voluntary and community organisations that may be able to help support you in your caring role

If you are a donor, we will collect financial information (direct debit/standing order details) and whether your donations are gift-aided.

When we collect information about you

We collect data about you and your caring role at many points throughout our contact with you, the below list details how we receive your data but is not limited to:

• When you register with Carers Support West Wales
• When you contact us for support
• When you are referred to us from a third party as mentioned in the section above
• When we carry out a health and wellbeing or full carer assessment
• When you register as a volunteer
• When you register for and attend a Carers Support West Wales event or group activity
• If you register and subscribe to our publications and communications
• Entering a competition or taking part in a survey
• If you make a donation or undertake fundraising in our name
• Recruitment processes
• When you provide feedback or make a complaint
• When you provide consent for a photograph or a video of you to be used for Carers Support West Wales communications including our website, media and social media
• When you provide consent for your story to be used in the media and in Carers Support West Wales communications, including our website and on social media

Information for parents and guardians

• We take great care to protect and respect the rights of individuals in relation to their personal data, especially in the case of children. If your child is under 16, we’ll only use their personal data with your consent.
• If a young carer turns 18 and wishes to continue to access our services as an adult, the personal data we hold about that individual will be carried over to their adult record and they will need to provide updated consent for us to continue supporting them and be able to process their data.

Information for children and young people

• You also have the same rights as adults over your personal data. See section: ‘Your data protection rights’ for further information.
• If you are aged 16 and over you are able to provide consent for us to support you and process your data without the need for parental consent.
• If you are under the age of 16 when registering with Carers Support West Wales we will contact your parent or guardian for consent to store your details and process your data in line with this privacy policy.

Data Sharing

We will never sell your personal data.

Why we share your data

We will do this for a variety of reasons:

• To ensure you receive the services you need to support you in your caring role – before we pass information on we will ask your consent.

The information we may share with third parties may include your name, address, age, date of birth, gender, GP surgery, contact details and if applicable, details of your caring role and your cared for person.

For monitoring purposes this can also include ‘special categories’ of data, which is information about a person’s race or ethnic origin, religious, political or other beliefs, physical or mental health, or sexual orientation.

Who we share your data with

This is a list of organisations we may share personal data with:

• Providers of health services including GP surgeries, community and occupational health, mental health services and ambulance services
• Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire County Councils
• Schools and colleges
• Hospitals and hospices
• Charities
• Voluntary and community organisations that may be able to help support you in your caring role
  
• Employer
• External suppliers used for distributing our newsletter mailings

Storage and retention

How we store your personal information

Your personal data is held primarily in electronic formats, however if paper records are held they are securely filed away and shredded when we no longer have need of them.

Electronic data, including emails, is stored on our secure servers which are located in the UK.

Backups of our database are held securely on servers hosted by our IT provider and are kept on a rolling two year basis.

How long we keep your data

We will only hold personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes detailed in the section ‘Your information and why we collect it’.

We keep your personal information for six years from the date of no contact with you, or three years following you informing Carers Support West Wales that you are no longer a carer.

If we have not heard from you in three years we will contact you to see if you still wish to remain registered with Carers Support West Wales.

After three years without contact from you or if we hear from you that your caring role has ended we will make your record inactive.

Three years after we have made your record inactive we will anonymise your record on our database. (Remove any personally identifiable information from your record)

A copy of our retention schedule is available on request.

How we delete your data

We will dispose of unnecessary personal data using secure deletion methods (electronic) or shredding.

With data stored on our database system we use an anonymization tool which removes all personally identifiable information from your record.

More about data protection rules

ICO, Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR 2016

At all times, Carers Support West Wales will comply with the legal requirements set out by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018 in relation to the collection, holding and processing of your personal data.

We have registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and adhere to the following principles:

• Access to your information is restricted to our relevant trained staff and volunteers only;
• Where any hard copies are created, the hard copies of your information and confidential documents are kept securely;
• All our relevant employees and volunteers have received training in how to handle your information. This includes ensuring they are aware of the importance of handling your information safely and securely, and understanding the procedures in place to ensure this happens;
• We will periodically evaluate our database and securely delete any contacts no longer engaged with us or any information no longer needed by us;
• We have measures in place to keep your information safe and secure.

If you require general information about the GDPR, information is available from the Information Commissioner. ICO website: www.ico.org.uk

Your data protection rights

We want to ensure you remain in control of your personal information. Part of this is making sure you understand your legal rights.

As a data subject, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data processed by us:

• To be informed about how your data is handled;
• To object to the processing of your personal data for marketing purposes or when the processing is based on the public interest or other legitimate interests;
• Rights around how you are affected by any profiling or automated decisions.

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
• Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Exercising your data protection rights

Please contact us if you wish to exercise your rights:

See contact details above.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us by contacting us.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: www.ico.org.uk

Changes to this privacy policy

Carers Support West Wales will continually review and update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our services and feedback from carers, as well as to comply with changes in the law. If there are substantial changes to this statement or in how Carers Support West Wales will use your personal information, we will advertise the updated notice both on the front page of the Carers Support West Wales web site and update you via service delivery.

Carers Support West Wales encourages you to periodically revisit this page to review this notice and to be informed of how Carers Support West Wales is protecting your information.

Cookies on our website

Cookies are small files which websites store on your computer and which contain various types of information about your visit to a website. They are not viruses or malicious software but they are generally aimed at providing you with a good experience when browsing a site by, for example, remembering your preferences so that you do not need to reset them every time you visit the website.

Cookies can record information about how you browse the internet. They can therefore be used by websites to advertise goods and services which, based on your browsing history, are similar to goods and services which you have previously searched online. This is why some users reject or delete cookies.

Cookies normally expire after a length of time which can vary from a few minutes to more than a year. Some cookies are ‘session cookies’ which are deleted when you close your internet browser or after a period of inactivity. Others are ‘persistent cookies’ which remain on your computer until their expiration date.

We do not store cookies on your computer without your consent, unless they have the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of communications or they are strictly necessary for providing an online service.

You may restrict or block cookies which are set by any website through your browser settings. Your browser settings also allow you to clear your browsing history and delete cookies. Information about how you can do this can be found on this link https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies. Mobile devices may have their own settings and you need to refer to the manual of the device.

Please note that restricting or disabling cookies may impact the functioning of parts of our website.

Our website uses the following cookies:

Cookie – Universal Analytics (latest version)

_ga This is used by Analytics to calculate visitors, session, campaign data, etc. Expiration time is set to two (2) years and it resets each time when a visitor hits a page. No personal information or data is stored. Used to distinguish users.

This cookie enables us to estimate our audience size and usage pattern

See weblink below:

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage

_gat Described by Google as “Used to throttle request rate”(no more information is available about this cookie). Expires in ten (10) minutes. This cookie enables us to limit the number of times information is recorded. See weblink below:

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage

_gid This is used to distinguish users but has a 24hours expiration time. See weblink below:

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage

How to manage cookies

Our cookies do not store financial information, or information which is capable of directly identifying you (such as your name or address). Cookies simply allow our website to retrieve this information in order to personalise and improve your experience of our website.

However, if you wish to restrict, block or delete cookies provided by our site – or any other website – you can use your browser to do this. Each browser is different so check the ‘Help’ menu of your particular browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences, or use the following weblinks:

Microsoft Internet Explorer: Help: http://support.microsoft.com/?ln=en-gb

How to manage Cookies in IE 11:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies

Mozilla Firefox: Help: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/home?as=u

Cookies: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Cookies?s=manage+cookies&r=0&e=es&as=s

Google Chrome: Help: http://support.google.com/chrome/?hl=en-GB

Manage Cookies: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=95647

Our analytics partner also provides the ability for users to opt-out using the following links:

Google Analytics: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Further information on cookies is available online at: www.aboutcookies.org

Please bear in mind that if you do this, certain personalised features of this website and others cannot be provided to you.

Third Party Cookies

To help improve your experience of our site we use content from other sites to help users and improve usability for example Google Maps for store locators. We also use social sites such as Facebook and Twitter to allow businesses to communicate with their clients along with analytics to help improve user experience. We do not control these social media websites and we suggest you read their cookie policy to see which ones they use and how to manage them.

What their cookies are used for

Google We use Google Maps to show our location.

Googles privacy policy:

http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/policies/privacy/

Social Tools: We take advantage of social networks and like to share our content with friends across these networks, such as twitter, you may receive cookies from these websites. We are not in control of these third-party cookies, if you’d like to learn more about them – visit their websites.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation

Twitter: https://twitter.com/en/privacy

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/static?gl=GB&template=termsCarers Support West WalesCarers Support West Wales