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Privacy Policy

Privacy policy

At Citizens Advice 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.

We only ask for the information we need. We always let you decide what you’re comfortable telling us, explain why we need it and treat it as confidential.

When we record and use your personal information we:

  • only access it when we have a good reason
  • only share what is necessary and relevant
  • don’t sell it to anyone

We collect and use the details you give us so we can help you. We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. We’ll always explain how we use your information.

At times we might use or share your information without your permission. If we do, we’ll always make sure there’s a legal basis for it. This could include situations where we have to use or share your information:

  • to comply with the law – for example, if a court orders us to share information. This is called ‘legal obligation’
  • to protect someone’s life – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client was unwell at our office. This is called ‘vital interests’
  • to carry out our legitimate aims and goals as a charity – for example, to create statistics for our national research. This is called ‘legitimate interests’
  • for us to carry out a task where we’re meeting the aims of a public body in the public interest – for example, delivering a government or local authority service. This is called ‘public task’
  • to carry out a contract we have with you – for example, if you’re an employee we might need to store your bank details so we can pay you. This is called ‘contract’
  • to defend our legal rights – for example, sharing information with our legal advisors if there was a complaint that we gave the wrong advice.

We handle and store your personal information in line with the law – including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You can check our main Citizens Advice policy for how we handle most of your personal information.

This page covers how we, as your local charity, handle your information locally in our offices.

How Citizens Advice Mid Mercia collect your data

To find out how we collect your data, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy.

In addition to this, we also collect data through the following projects and processes:

Marketing and Fundraising

Our donation platform is provided by a third-party supplier called Just Giving. They collect information on our behalf to process your donation and they store it securely. We manage the relationship with them and their obligations through a legally binding data processing agreement. You can find the Just Giving privacy policy on their website.

The information they collect and store on our behalf is:

  • data to identify you, such as your name, username or your date of birth
  • your contact details, such as email address, postal address and phone number – for example, to be able to process a donation, claim Gift Aid or if you sign up to receive communications from us
  • financial data, such as your bank or card details – so that they can process your donation on our behalf
  • marketing data, such as your preferences for how we communicate with you.

We download the above information from the Just Giving platform to enable us to contact you if you have consented to receive marketing communications. We do not see any of your financial data (i.e., bank or card details) relating to your donations that Just Giving processes on our behalf.

What Citizens Advice Mid Mercia ask for

To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy.

How Citizens Advice Mid Mercia use your information

To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy.

Working on your behalf

When you give us authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim, we’ll need to share information with that third party.

We commonly share information with the following organisations:

  • South Derbyshire District Council
  • Derby City Council
  • Derbyshire County Council
  • Tamworth Borough Council
  • Staffordshire County Council
  • The Department for Work and Pensions.

How Citizens Advice Mid Mercia store your information

All personal client data collected as part of our advice services is stored within the national case recording system, Casebook. Certain information is also stored on Microsoft Office 365, a secure, cloud-based system.

All personal client data collected as part of the following projects is stored on encrypted and password protected servers, on Microsoft Office 365, a secure, cloud-based system, and may also have data stored in Casebook:

  • Digital Connect
  • Autism
  • Carers
  • Advocacy
  • Living With a Long-Term Health Condition
  • EUSS
  • Marketing, fundraising and campaigning activities.

How Citizens Advice Mid Mercia share your information

To find out how we share your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy.

Contact Citizens Advice Mid Mercia about your information

If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office.

Telephone: 01283 210108

Email: compliance@citizensadvicemidmercia.org.uk

You can contact us to:

  • find out what personal information we hold about you
  • correct your information if it’s wrong, out of date or incomplete
  • request we delete your information
  • ask us to limit what we do with your data – for example, ask us not to share it if you haven’t asked us already
  • ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold in a format you can use to transfer it to another service
  • ask us to stop using your information.

Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information

The national Citizens Advice charity and your local Citizens Advice operate a system called Casebook to keep your personal information safe. This means they’re a ‘joint data controller’ for your personal information that’s stored in our Casebook system.

Each local Citizens Advice is an independent charity, and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity. The Citizens Advice membership agreement also requires that the use of your information complies with data protection law.

You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.