Privacy notice and use of cookies
We can only achieve our vision of a world free from the pain, fatigue and isolation of arthritis with your help. Your ongoing support is invaluable to us and to the millions of people across the UK living with arthritis. That’s why taking good care of your personal information and treating it with respect is so important.
Personal data helps us to better understand our donors, beneficiaries and supporters. This in turn allows us to make our decisions, services, fundraising and information the best they can be and to do more to help people with arthritis to live full and active lives.
Being open and transparent about how and why we do things is central to our values as a charity. So, we’ve produced this privacy notice to explain how, why and when we collect and use your personal information and how we keep it safe and secure.
Before we move on to the detail below, here is our promise to you.
- We will respect your personal details and keep them safe and secure.
- We will never sell or exchange your information with another organisation for their own use.
- We will not send you information you have not asked for or agreed to receive.
- We will respond quickly if you ask us to change your details, stop using your information or if you no longer want to hear from us.
- We will be clear about how and why we will use your personal information when we collect your details.
Your consent matters
Sometimes we will ask for your consent directly, such as when we are processing a donation or when you sign up for a service or event. At other times your consent may be clear from the nature of your contact with us, for example if you email us with a question you are giving consent for us to reply. Where we process data without direct consent, for example where we have a legal obligation or a legitimate interest, we will respect your wishes where it is possible for us to do so.
We will be happy to answer any questions you have about how Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis and its trading company store and use your personal information. Just get in touch by leaving a message 01896 754041 (Tuesday to Friday) or email us at info@scottishbordersversusarthritis.org
Who we are
In this privacy notice, “we” means Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis, the local branch of Versus Arthritis. On 1 November 2017, Arthritis Research UK and Arthritis Care joined together to help more people with arthritis to live full and active lives, and Versus Arthritis was born on 19 September 2018. This means all data collected by or passed to Arthritis Research Melrose Branch before and after these dates will be managed by Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis as set out in this notice.
Versus Arthritis is a charity registered in England and Wales (number 207711) and in Scotland (SC041156), and a company incorporated in England and Wales (number 490500). Our registered address is Copeman House, St. Mary’s Court, St Mary’s Gate, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S41 7TD.
Changes to this privacy notice
We will regularly review this privacy notice. Any significant changes will be clearly described on our websites or we may contact you where we already hold your data and where the change affects you directly.
Your rights
At Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis we take your rights very seriously. You can ask us to delete copies of your personal data, stop particular activities, withdraw a consent you have given previously or challenge the results of any decisions or profiling. We will fulfil all requests, providing there are no legal and accounting requirements that stop us from doing so. If you are sure you don’t want to hear from us, either now or in the future, you can ask us to hold a record which will prevent us from contacting you. This may be more effective than completely removing your data. Please contact us at info@scottishbordersversusarthritis.org or leave a message on 01896 754041 (Tuesday to Friday).
You have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. To access your information, please send a description of the information you want to see and proof of your identity by post to Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis, c/o Volunteer Centre Borders, Riverside House, Ladhope Vale, Galashiels TD1 1BT. We cannot accept these requests by email as we want to guarantee that we only provide personal data to the right person.
If you discover that we are holding incorrect information about you, please let us know and we will correct this.
If you are not happy about how your data is managed, and wish to make a complaint, please contact us at info@scottishbordersversusarthritis.org or leave a message on 01896 754041 (Tuesday to Friday). If you are unhappy with how a complaint is handled, you are entitled to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You may also contact the ICO about a data protection issue without first making a complaint to us. You can find more information about the ICO and your rights on their website.
How we keep your data safe
We will only share your details in exceptional circumstances. This could be if we are under a duty to disclose your personal information to comply with any legal obligation (for example to government bodies and law enforcement agencies), where we have good reason to believe that a person’s vital interests are at stake (for example where a child reports abuse or someone reports serious self-harm or intends to harm someone else) or to enforce or apply our rights or to protect the organisation.
We will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your informed consent.
We keep records for as long as legal requirements and tax and accounting rules demand. We retain contact details for both marketing and suppression purposes until a request is made to remove information. We may also keep internal records of any contact with you indefinitely. Where your information is no longer required, we will ensure it is disposed of in a secure manner.
Children’s data
Any information collected from or about children will be managed in a way appropriate to the age of the child. This information is usually collected when children attend our events or fundraise for us.
Wherever possible and appropriate we will seek consent from a parent or guardian before collecting information about children and we will make sure advertising for events is age appropriate.
How we collect information about you
- When you give it to us directly
You may give us your details when you fundraise for us or generously donate, volunteer with us, join one of our networks, enter our raffle or lottery, tell us your story, donate, or communicate with us.
We will collect and process all the information you give us, as well as responses given to you by our volunteer staff. This may include sensitive personal data where you volunteer this information.
We may also collect and retain your information if you send feedback about our services or make a complaint.
- When you use our websites
When you visit our websites, information about your visit is recorded and stored on your own computer, using cookies. Cookies are text files which identify your computer to our server. Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, just the computer used. You can find more information on how we use cookies below. Beyond this you will remain anonymous unless you log in.
- When you give it to us indirectly
Your information may be shared with us by independent event organisers, for example fundraising sites like Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving. These independent third parties will only do so with your consent. Please check the privacy notice of these organisations when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.
Your personal details may also be collected if they are included in other information that is sent to us. For example, if you are named as a third party in an email we receive, or you are a co-beneficiary of a legacy request. In these cases, we will not add your details to our direct records but may keep copies of the information for up to 10 years.
When you give permission to other organisations to share your details
Information we get from other organisations may depend on your privacy settings or the responses you give, so please check them regularly. This information comes from the following sources: third party organisations – you may have provided permission for an organisation to share your data with third parties, including charities. For example, when you buy a product or service, register for an online competition or sign up with a comparison site.
- When you use social media
Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services, either directly or indirectly. Where you follow us via social media we will not automatically add you to our own records. However, if we receive a direct request from you (for example to make a donation, use one of our services or request a booklet) we will treat your details as having been received directly.
- Public information
We may also obtain and store information about you that is available publicly from third party sources, such as from Companies House or details published in the media.
Your supporter record
If you support us, for example sign up to receive regular news and updates, make a donation, volunteer, register to fundraise, sign up for a workshop or an event, lobby or campaign for us or buy something from us, we keep a record of your support.
The law may require us to store information for up to seven years. Though we know some people will not want us to keep hold of their data indefinitely, keeping a record of past support does help us to maintain and build good relationships with people with an interest in our work.
If you choose to leave us a legacy in your will we will keep a record of you and your pledge indefinitely. This will help us to manage your wishes when the time comes and ensure the process runs smoothly for your family.
Our standard data retention policy is to keep your personal information for 10 years, from your most recent active support. After this point we will normally remove any information that may identify you personally. However, if you ask us to hold your details to block marketing communications, either directly or via the Fundraising Preference Service, then we must keep a record indefinitely.
We apply a similar 10-year rule to personal data collected as part of our work. This may include information gathered through legitimate activities via contractors, suppliers or third parties.
If you do not want us to keep a record of your personal information, or want to discuss our data management, then please contact us at info@scottishbordersversusarthritis.org or leave a message on 01896 754041 (Tuesday to Friday).
Information about our use of cookies
When you visit a website your computer or device may automatically be issued with a cookie. Many sites use cookies to track traffic flows. A cookie is a small text file that, with your consent, we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies do not identify the person visiting the site, they identify your computer or device to our server.
Our websites use cookies to distinguish you from other users of our websites. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our websites and allows us to improve our sites. By continuing to browse the sites, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
- Strictly necessary cookies are required for the operation of our websites. For example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our websites, use a shopping cart or use e-billing services.
- Analytical/performance cookies collect anonymous information, allowing us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our websites. These cookies help us to improve the way our websites work, for example, making sure users find what they are looking for easily and quickly.
Please note third parties for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are usually analytical/performance or targeting cookies
Scottish Borders Versus Arthritis 