Issue No: 1.0

Last Review: July 2020

Review Due: April 2023

 

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about you, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how we keep it safe and secure and your rights and choices in relation to your information.

 

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How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you in the following ways:

• Information you give us directly i.e. through our website 

• Information you give us indirectly 

• When you visit our website

• Social media

• When you apply for a job with us

• When you tender for a contract with us

 

What type of information is collected from you?

The personal information we collect, store and use might include:

• your name and contact details (including postal address, email address and telephone number)

• your year of birth

• questions, queries or feedback you leave

• how you use our emails - for example whether you open them and which links you click on

• information about your activities on our website and about the device used to access it, for instance your IP address and geographical location

• any other personal information you have shared with us.

 

Data protection laws recognise certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring greater protection, for example information about your health, ethnicity and religion.

We do not collect sensitive data about you unless there is a clear and valid reason for doing so, data protection laws allow us to, and you consent to sharing that data with us.

Where appropriate, we will make it clear why we are collecting this type of information, what it will be used for and ask for your explicit consent to share it with us.

 

How and why is your information used?

We may use your information for different purposes, which may include:

• Send you communications which you have requested or that may be of interest to you. These may include information or surveys about crime prevention, campaigns and activities, our newsletter and promotions of goods and services provided by our sponsors

• Provide you with other services, products or information you ask for

• Keep a record of Watch schemes, coordinators, supporters and members

• Improve the website by monitoring how you use it

• Gather feedback to improve our services, 

• Notify you of changes to our services

• Respond to any feedback you send us

• Carry out our obligations under any contracts entered between you and us

• Process job applications.

 

How long is your information kept for?

We keep your information for no longer than is necessary for the purposes it was collected for. The length of time we retain your personal information for is determined by operational and legal considerations as outlined in our Retention Schedule. For example, we are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory and regulatory obligations (e.g. health/safety and tax/accounting purposes).

We review our retention periods on a regular basis.

 

Who has access to your information?

If there is a Watch scheme in your area, your details will be visible to the local coordinator who runs that scheme and the Force Area or District Lead for your area (if there is one).

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We do not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

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Lawful Processing

Data protection law requires us to rely on one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. We consider the following grounds to be relevant:

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• Specific consent

• Performance of a contract

• Legal obligation

• Vital interests

• Legitimate interests

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Communications

We may use your contact details to provide you with information about the work we do, crime prevention advice and opportunities to support us, as well as the products and services offered by our sponsors, if we think it may be of interest to you. We do this through our e-newsletter and other people who have agreed to receive information from us.

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Your choices

We are committed to putting you in control of your data so you are asked when you register your details on our website to give your explicit consent to receive communications from us, which may include marketing material from our sponsors. If you do not want to continue to receive communications from us about the work we do and the products and services provided by our sponsors, you are free to change your preferences at any time.

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Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have certain rights over the personal information that we hold about you. Here is a summary of the rights that we think apply:

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• Right of access to personal data held about you

• Right to have your inaccurate personal information corrected

• Right to restrict use of your personal data

• Right of erasure of your personal data

• Right for your personal information to be portable

• Right to object to the processing of your personal data.

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Keeping your information safe

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that appropriate technical and organisational controls are in place to protect it through compliance with our internal Data Protection policies and practices. We also make sure that any third parties that we deal with keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure.

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Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where you have chosen a password which enables you to access certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

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Keeping your information up to date

We take reasonable steps to ensure your information is accurate and up to date.

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Use of 'cookies'

Like many other websites, our website uses cookies. 'Cookies' are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. For example, we use cookies to store your preferences. This helps us to deliver a more personalised service when you browse our website and improves our services.

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Links to other websites

Our website contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other websites even if you access those using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the privacy policy of that third party site.

 

16 or Under

We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

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Vulnerable circumstances

We are committed to protecting vulnerable supporters and members and appreciate that additional care may be needed when we use their personal information. In recognition of this, we observe good practice guidelines in our interactions with people we know to be vulnerable.

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Transferring your information outside of Europe

As part of the services offered to you through this website, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EEA. You should be aware that these countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EEA in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this notice.

If you use our services while you are outside the EEA, your information may be transferred outside the EEA in order to provide you with those services.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your personal data is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

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