Privacy notice
Introduction
At Citizens Advice Eastleigh, we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people's lives.
This privacy policy explains how we use your information and what your rights are. We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection law and our confidentiality policy. The following pages tell you more about how we use your information in more detail.
Our network
Citizens Advice is a membership organisation made up of the national Citizens Advice charity and many local offices across England and Wales, including Citizens Advice Eastleigh. Citizens Advice Eastleigh is an independent charity and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity.
All members of the Citizens Advice network are responsible for keeping your personal information safe and making sure data protection law is followed.
Members of the network also run some jointly designed services and use some of the same systems to process your personal data. In these instances we are joint data controllers for these activities.
Jointly controlled data
All offices in the Citizens Advice network use some joint systems to carry out our activities. These include joint case management systems, telephony platforms and more.
Staff from a different local Citizens Advice can only access your personal information in a joint system if they have a good reason. For example when:
- you go to a different office to seek advice
- more than one office is working together in partnership
- they need to investigate a complaint or incident
We have rules and controls in place to stop people accessing or using your information when they shouldn’t.
Tell an adviser if you’re worried about your details being on a national system. We’ll work with you to take extra steps to protect your information - for example by recording your problem without using your name.
National Citizens Advice has a privacy notice available on their website that covers general advice and nationally managed systems, including our case management systems. This policy covers the processing we carry out in our office.
How we use your data for advice
This section covers how we use your data to provide you with advice.
For general advice and nationally funded advice programmes please see the national Citizens Advice privacy notice here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/
How we collect your information
We do this via the information individuals and referrers give us. This information is volunteered or can be requested as enquiries dictate. This information can be collected verbally or in writing.
What information we collect
We collect information on contact details, circumstances, income, preferences and indicators of vulnerability. For some funded projects and sensitive matters we also collect information to inform us of any conflicts of interest.
What we use your information for
We use this information to ensure that we give you the best possible information and advice, tailored to your circumstances. We also use demographic data we collect to inform future service delivery, ensuring that our services are aligned with what our community needs from us. We also use it to predict advice trends, ensuring that our team are well trained and informed to give you the advice you need for the problems you face.
Our confidentiality policy
At Citizens Advice we have a confidentiality policy which states that anything you tell us as part of advice will not be shared outside of the Citizens Advice network unless you provide your permission for us to do so.
There are some exceptions to this such as needing to share:
- to prevent an immediate risk of harm to an individual
- In select circumstances if it is in the best interests of the client
- where we are compelled to do so by law (e.g. a court order or meeting statutory disclosures)
- where there is an overriding public interest such as to prevent harm against someone or to investigate a crime
- to defend against a complaint or legal claim
- to protect our name and reputation for example to provide our side of a story reported in the press
Who we share your information with
We share top-level information with funders and in documents such as our annual report.
Our lawful basis for using your information
We use a number of different conditions to process data, depending on the purpose.
These include legitimate interests, public tasks, legal obligations, vital interests, establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, substantial public interest, archiving, research and statistics, as well as consent and explicit consent.
How we use your data for research, feedback and statistics
National Citizens Advice covers their use of data for this purpose in their privacy notice here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/
How we collect your information
We use local feedback forms to collect information, as well as communications from the public and clients.
What information we collect
We enquire about ways in which we can improve, take information in from complaints and compliments and messages from social media.
What we use your information for
To improve our services to our community, ensure that we are aware of and can influence decision makers and publicise our impact to funders and stakeholders.
Who we share your information with
Data is always anonymised. We commonly share information of this nature with funders, stakeholders and within our established networks.
Our lawful basis for using your information
We use a number of different conditions to process data, depending on the purpose.
These include legitimate interests, public tasks, legal obligations, vital interests, establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, substantial public interest, archiving, research and statistics, as well as consent and explicit consent.
How we use your data when applying to work or volunteer
How we collect your information
We collect your information via application forms, via interview and via references and enrollment forms.
What information we collect
We collect data on contact details and preferences, life experiences, conflicts of interest, emergency contact details and special category data as related to EDI considerations, reasonable adjustments and emergency planning.
What we use your information for
We use this information to ensure that we take on the right people for our service and ensure that we are as inclusive as possible.
Who we share your information with
We share information with referees and with future employers. We also use anonymised data to share EDI characteristics of our team with funders and our national organisation.
Our lawful basis for using your information
We use a number of different conditions to process data, depending on the purpose.
These include legitimate interests, public tasks, legal obligations, vital interests, establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, substantial public interest, archiving, research and statistics, as well as consent and explicit consent.
How we use your data when using our website
What information we collect
We collect information on the pages visited and routes through the website.
How we collect your information
Via cookies, which users are able to opt out of.
What we use your information for
To help us keep our website up to date and relevant for users.
Who we share your information with
We share this information with funders and stakeholders where required.
Our lawful basis for using your information
We have legitimate interest to carry out statistical analysis and research.
How we use cookies on our website
Our cookie policy (and how to opt out) can be found here: https://www.citizensadviceeastleigh.org.uk/cookies/
How long we keep your data for
National Citizens Advice is responsible for managing any data in joint client case records. For more information please see their privacy notice here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/
Third party processors
Third party processors are other organisations that carry out data processing on our behalf. Third party processors don’t use data for their own purposes and we have agreements in line with data protection law.
Your data protection rights
You have rights in relation to your personal data that we hold. Your rights include being able to request:
- Access to copies of your data
- Corrections are made to inaccurate data
- Deletion of your personal data
- Object to how we use your personal data
These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every circumstance. For more information about your rights you can visit the ICO website here: https://ico.org.uk/
To make a data protection rights request you can do so by emailing help@caeastleigh.org
Raising a concern about how we use your information
If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information please contact us at help@caeastleigh.org
You can also contact the national charity if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data or wish to raise a concern about how a local office has handled your personal data. To do so you can email us at DPO@citizensadvice.org.uk
Contacting the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
You can also raise your concern with the Information Commissioner's Office which regulates data protection law in the UK if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information. They will normally expect you to have made a complaint to us directly in the first instance.
Visit the ICO website here: https://ico.org.uk/
Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113