Citizens Advice Charnwood
Privacy Policy
At Citizens Advice Charnwood, 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 Charnwood. Citizens Advice Charnwood 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.
1. 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.
How Citizens Advice Charnwood collects your information
Depending on how you access our service we collect your information in the following ways:
- If you come into our office for face to face advice, we will ask you to complete a Client Details Form
- If you call us on our Local Advice Line we will ask you to supply the information verbally
- We also collect information as part of the advice giving process
- If we have authority to act on your behalf, we may contact third parties to gather information
- Information is also gathered through our secure email system
What information we collect
We'll only ask for information that's relevant to your problem. Depending on what you want help with, this could include:
- your name and contact details – so we can keep in touch with you about your case
- personal information – for example about family, work, or financial circumstances
- Details of who you owe money to if we are providing debt and money advice
- details about services you get that are causing you problems – like energy or post
- details of items or services you've bought, and traders you've dealt with
- information like your gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation
If you don't want to give us certain information, you don't have to. For example, if you want to stay anonymous, we'll only record information about your problem and make sure you're not identified.
What we use your information for
To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy notice.
How Citizens Advice Charnwood stores your information
See our national Citizens Advice privacy notice about how your information is stored on our national case recording system.
We use Microsoft 365 and Gmail for our emails, and Microsoft OneDrive for other personal data. These are secure cloud-based systems.
If we are providing you with debt casework we may also store your information in paper files that are securely held at our office.
All advisers and staff accessing data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.
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
If we need to act on your behalf or share information with a third party we will ask for your authority to do this. For example, we may need to share information with Charnwood Borough Council if you have a council tax issue, or if your enquiry relates to benefits then we may need to share information with the DWP or Jobcentre. We may also share information if we need to refer you to another organisation.
Our lawful basis for using your information
Please see the table at the bottom of this policy.
2. How we use your data for research, feedback and statistics
This section covers how we use your data to carry out our research, feedback and statistical work.
National Citizens Advice covers their use of data for this purpose in their privacy notice.
How we collect your information
- If you come into our office for face to face advice, we will ask you to complete a data collection form
- If you call us on our Local Advice Line we will ask you to supply the information verbally
- We also collect information as part of the advice-giving process
What information we collect
- information – for example about your housing, family, work, or financial circumstances
- information like your gender, disability, health issues, ethnicity or sexual orientation. You don't have to provide us with this information and it does not affect the advice you receive. You can tell us that you prefer not to say
What we use your information for
- to help us ensure that we are delivering our service in a way that supports everyone and that we are reaching people from all backgrounds
- to provide statistical information to our funders
- to inform our research and campaigns activity
Who we share your information with
We may share anonymised data with our funders and other organisations, such as Charnwood Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council. This is shared to demonstrate the impact of our service, and that we are reaching all members of our community.
Our lawful basis for using your information
Please see the table at the bottom of this policy.
3. How we use your data for fundraising and donations
This section covers how we use your data to carry out our fundraising activities.
National Citizens Advice covers their use of data for fundraising in their privacy notice.
How we collect your information
If you choose to support us we will ask you to supply your personal details on a direct debit form.
What information we collect
We collect personal details such as your name, address and details of your bank account.
What we use your information for
We use your information for processing information internally.
Who we share your information with
We might share your information without your consent if we're required to by law, for example:
- to assist police enquiries
- in response to court orders
- to prevent fraud
- to protect your safety or the safety of others
Our lawful basis for using your information
For the purpose of fundraising we have a legitimate interest to process your personal data.
We'll sometimes pass on personal information to comply with our legal obligations. For example, providing tax and gift aid information to HMRC in the UK.
4. How we use your data when applying to work or volunteer
How we collect your information
When you apply, we collect your personal information through your application form, interview or references so we can process your application. We have a 'legitimate interest' to do this under data protection law. We need to use your personal information to recruit people and make sure our recruitment processes are inclusive.
We keep your information securely on our internal systems.
What information we collect
We'll collect personal information such as name, address, telephone number and email address, previous job history and experience, qualifications, and any support needs you may have.
We'll treat any diversity information you give us as strictly confidential. We'll anonymise this information and only use it to look at trends. This means we won't look at your information individually or compare it to other people and we won't use it as part of the recruitment selection process.
We might collect other information depending on whether you've applied for a staff or volunteer role.
If you've applied for a staff role and we offer you a position, we'll ask for:
- references for your previous and current work
- proof of your right to work in the UK, like a valid UK passport or visa
- your national insurance number and P45
- your bank details, so we can pay you
- details of your student loan if you're paying one back
What we use your information for
The main reasons we ask for your personal information are to:
- check you've got the right skills for a role when you apply
- arrange an interview
- contact you to tell you the result of your application
- do checks when we make an offer, for example contacting your references or checking your right to work in the UK
- send you an offer letter or contract
We'll only access your information for other reasons if we need to and we have a legitimate interest to do this under data protection law.
Who we share your information with
If you accept an offer to work for us we'll:
- get your permission to share your information with your references
- add your information to our staff records and your personnel file
- share your details with our payroll provider
Our lawful basis for using your information
Please see the table at the bottom of this policy.
5. How we use your data when using our website
We do not collect personal data on our website.
How we use cookies on our website
Details of how we use cookies can be found on our website cookies
6. 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.
If we hold a paper file for your enquiry, for example if we are providing debt casework, we will keep your information for 6 years. If your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute we keep the data for 16 years.
7. 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.
To make a data protection rights request you can do so by emailing admin@charnwoodcab.co.uk
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 admin@charnwoodcab.co.uk
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.
- Address: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
- Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Summary of legal bases:
Activity | Lawful basis for collecting personal data | Lawful basis for collecting special category or criminal convictions data |
Advice, information and guidance provision | Legitimate interests - we have a legitimate interest to provide advice to our clients. | Establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims - where we are helping clients establish their legal rights Substantial Public Interest (provision of confidential counselling, advice or support) - where we are providing advice to clients which doesn't relate to their legal rights. |
EDI monitoring | Legitimate interests - we have a legitimate interest in processing EDI data to ensure we are promoting equity and diversity in our service. | Substantial Public Interest – to enable, promote or maintain equality of opportunity or treatment. |
Accessibility and reasonable adjustments | Legal obligation - we have legal obligations in accordance with the equalities legislation. | Substantial public interest (statutory obligation) - obligations under equalities legislation. |
Statistical purposes and research (including feedback) | Legitimate interests - We have a legitimate interest to understand how our service is working and to understand the issues which underlie the problems people are facing. | Archiving, research and statistics. |
Maintaining quality and standards | Legitimate interests - we have a legitimate interest in ensuring that our service is run properly and that standards are maintained. | Establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims. Substantial public interest (protecting the public against dishonesty etc) - where we are carrying out functions to protect against: - dishonesty, malpractice or other seriously improper conduct - unfitness or incompetence - mismanagement in administration |
Complaints | Legitimate interests - we have a legitimate interest to investigate complaints to ensure our service is run properly Legal obligation - in some circumstances we are also legally obliged to investigate complaints | Establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims - Citizens Advice Charnwood needs to be able to investigate complaints to defend against claims of malpractice or negligence. Substantial public interest (Protecting the public against dishonesty etc) to protect against dishonesty, malpractice or other seriously improper conduct; unfitness or incompetence, mismanagement in administration. |
Legal claims | Legitimate interests – we have a legitimate interest in defending our organisation agains legal claims. | Establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims – We need to be able to adequately defend our organisation against legal claims. |
Individual rights requests | Legal obligation – we have a legal obligation in accordance with data protection law. | Statutory and governmental purposes to comply with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. |
Safeguarding | Public task - in complying with safeguarding obligations. | Substantial public interest (Safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk) |
Fraud prevention | Legitimate interests - we have a legitimate interest in defending against fraudulent activity. Legal obligation - in some circumstances there are legal obligations to disclose actual or suspected cases of fraud. | Substantial public interest - (preventing and detecting unlawful acts, preventing fraud, Suspicion of terrorist financing or money laundering). |
Responding to an life threatening emergency | Vital Interests – where a person's life may be in danger. | Vital Interests where a person's life may be in danger and the use of special category data is necessary. |
Recruitment of volunteers | Legitimate interests - for assessing suitability of candidates. Legal obligation - for carrying out legal checks as part of employment screening. | Employment, social security, and social protection - carrying out DBS checks |
Recruitment of staff | Legitimate interests - for assessing suitability of candidates. Contract - for entering an employment contract. Legal obligation - for carrying out legal checks as part of employment screening. | Employment, social security, and social protection - for complying with legal requirements as an employer including DBS checks. |