What information we collect and how

This site uses cookies, but they do not identify users and we only use them to gather statistical information. Unless input from a user directly into a form, the site does not capture and store any personal information about individuals who access it.

The information we collect via the Website may include:

• Any personal details you knowingly provide us with through forms and via email, such as name, address, telephone number etc.
• Your preferences regarding your use of email updates, (if you select to receive email updates on products and offers).
• Your IP Address, this is a string of numbers unique to your computer that is recorded by our web server when you request any page or component on the Website. This information is used to monitor your usage of the Website.
• Data recorded by the Website which allows us to recognise you and your preferred settings, this saves you from re-entering information on return visits to the site. Such data is recorded locally on your computer through the use of cookies. Most browsers can be programmed to reject, or warn you before downloading cookies, information regarding this may be found in your browsers help facility.

What we do with your information

Any personal information we collect from this website will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, UK General Data Protection Regulation other applicable laws. The details we collect will be used for the following:

• We may use your email address to send you information about products and services. In such a case you will be offered the option to opt in/out of these emails.
• We may need to pass the information we collect to other companies for administrative purposes. We may use third parties to carry out certain activities, such as processing and sorting data, monitoring how customers use the Website and issuing our e-mails for us. Third parties will not be allowed to use your personal information for their own purposes. When we are sharing information with other organisations we will have an information sharing agreement or contract in place that ensures compliance with data protection legislation.
• We use MailChimp and Dotdigital as our marketing automation platform. If you receive a newsletter from us, the information you provide when subscribing will be stored by MailChimp and Dotdigital in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms. You can change your mind at any time and unsubscribe.

We may also share your personal information when we feel there’s a good reason that’s more important than protecting your privacy. It is unlikely, but possible that we may share your information:

• in order to find and stop crime and fraud; or
• if there are serious risks to the public, our staff or to other professionals;

For all of these reasons the risk must be serious before we can override your right to privacy.

If we’re worried about your physical safety or feel we need to take action to protect you from being harmed in other ways, we’ll discuss this with you and, if possible, get your permission to tell others about your situation before doing so. We may still share your information if we believe the risk to others is serious enough to do so.

There may also be rare occasions when the risk to others is so great that we need to share information straight away. If this is the case, we’ll make sure that we record what information we share and our reasons for doing.

How do we protect your information?

We’ll do what we can to make sure we hold records about you in a secure way, and we’ll only make them available to those who have a right to see them. Examples of our security may include:

• encryption, meaning that information is hidden so that it cannot be read without special knowledge (such as a password);
• pseudonymisation, meaning that we’ll use a different name so we can hide parts of your personal information from view. This means that someone outside of the organisation could work on your information for us without ever knowing it was yours;
• controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people who are not allowed to view your personal information from getting access to it;
• regularly training for our staff allows us to make them aware of how to handle information and how and when to report when something goes wrong;
• regular testing of our technology and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates (commonly called patches).

We only use what we need

We will only collect and use your personal information for specific reasons as listed above. If we need to retain your information for research or service planning reasons we will remove any information that identifies you personally.

How long we keep your personal information

Our services will need to retain your information for as long as they are working with you. Our records retention schedule sets out how long each service will retain information when the service ends. Legislation tells us how long we need to keep some information.

Access to your information

You have the right to make a request for personal information about yourself, or another person if they have given their consent. This is called a subject access request. Find out how to make a subject access request.

If you have any concerns or questions about how we look after your information, please contact us at ig@westofengland-ca.gov.uk or write to us at 70 Redcliff Street, Bristol, BS1 6AL and we will be pleased to help you.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
K9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number.

Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk or email casework@ico.org.uk.

Other websites

This privacy notice only covers this website. Any other websites which may be linked to by our website are subject to their own policy, which may differ from ours.