We take your privacy very seriously and we are committed to ensuring we keep your information safe.

Who is Together Co?

We are Together Co, a local charity connecting people to reduce social isolation and improve wellbeing. More information about the services we provide can be found here.

Our registered charity number is 1083390. We are also registered as a limited company in England and Wales under registration number 03895574.

 

What does this privacy notice cover?

This privacy notice sets out what information we collect from you and why, how we process it and how we store it securely. We’ll keep this notice updated so that you can be confident when sharing your information with us that it will only be used for what we say here.

We aim to protect all the information we hold, in line with legal requirements and to maintain high standards of confidentiality, integrity and availability at all times.

We may obtain information by phone, text, email, online, and other methods like application forms and references. When collecting data, we will ensure that individuals:

• Understand why the information is needed and what it will be used for.
• Give consent, wherever possible in writing, for their data to be used.

 

Principles of data processing and lawful basis

When we collect and process your personal information we will also do this according to at least one of the legal grounds permitted under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The typical methods we will be relying on are:

• Where you have given your consent, e.g. if sensitive personal data is collected to provide a service, or when you signed up to volunteer with us.
• Where we are fulfilling a contract, e.g. to send you information about something you’ve asked for or as part of delivering a service you have requested.
• Where we have a legal obligation, e.g. if you have generously agreed to gift aid a donation to us or in cases where we are worried about someone’s safety or if we receive information about a crime.

In certain instances, we may collect and use personal information where this is necessary in our legitimate interest as a charity, this includes being able to:

• Send direct marketing material to supporters by post or contacting them by telephone for fundraising purposes (subject to checking against the Telephone Preference Service and any existing marketing preferences).
• Maintain and administer our donor database and systems. This means we may hold a minimised amount of information on a suppression file to ensure there is a record of an individual’s objection to direct marketing.

In all cases, we balance our legitimate interests against your rights as an individual. We would always conduct an assessment to ensure we were balancing our legitimate interest to send you something with your right to privacy (get in touch if you’d like to know more about this).

We make sure we only use personal information in a way, or for a purpose, that you would reasonably expect in accordance with this notice. We will not intrude on your privacy or previously expressed marketing preferences.

 

What information do we collect about you?

Together Co delivers a number of different services, usually involving volunteers, to a range of adult service users in Brighton & Hove. The type of data collected and its use may vary from service to service.

It is likely to include some, or all, of the following information; collected on paper in person or by post, digital sources such as our website or social media sites, telephone or text:

• Identifiable – containing details that identify individuals
• Pseudonymised – about individuals but with identifying details (such as name) replaced with a unique code
• Anonymised – about individuals but with identifying details removed
• Aggregated – anonymised information grouped together so that it doesn’t identify individuals (e.g. to report back to our funders about our work).

For example, we will collect:

Information you send us, or a referral agency has had your permission to send us:

• Name
• Address
• DOB
• Contact details (email and/or phone)
• Medical conditions/ disabilities/ mental health.

Info you have given us permission to get and hold in relation to:

• Your health complaint
• Your health and/or social care needs
• Your child’s care proceedings.

Data includes images of individuals that might be used by Together Co for communication purposes, such as on our website or social media, in our annual report or in a newsletter. We will get the permission of all identifiable individuals who appear in a photo or video before storing or using any footage. Getting permission involves making it clear what the individual’s image will be used for and why, and who might look at the pictures.

We may receive your information indirectly from independent fundraising sites such as Just Giving and Give as You Live, as well as social media applications including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hootsuite and other applications like Google Analytics, MailChimp, SurveyMonkey and Wufoo. These companies will only provide details if you have given them permission to do so. Please check their privacy policy to see how they process your information.

 

What do we do with your information?

Employees’ personal data will be kept securely and will only be accessed when there is a clear business need to do so. Personal data obtained by Together Co from volunteers, supporters or service users will be used to help Together Co in the efficient running of services. This data is stored and may, depending on the service concerned, be processed for purposes that include:

• Recruiting and selecting employees and volunteers
• Coordinating criminal record checks
• Training and managing volunteers
• Assessing and supporting service users
• Managing the work and performance of employees
• Communicating about what we do, fundraising and other areas we think may be of interest to you
• Providing reports to funders and commissioners.

For our website, we want to provide a positive experience for you, as well as use our resources effectively. Therefore we may:

• Analyse how visitors use our website to improve the user experience of website visitors. We use Google Analytics to do this.
• Contact you if you complete but don’t submit an online form to see if we can assist with any problems you may be having with our website.

 

Who do we share your information with?

Your information may be shared with specific volunteers or partner organisations where necessary to deliver the service requested. At the point of referral, you will be informed of the details relating to any data sharing agreements with relevant partners. This will either be on your consent form, or in discussion with staff about specific onward referrals.

We may need to disclose your details if required to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors. Further details on breaching confidentiality can be found in our Privacy Policy. You can request a copy of this by emailing hello@togetherco.org.uk

How long do we keep your information for?

We hold your information only as long as necessary for each purpose we use it. Personal data held on paper is destroyed securely when it is no longer needed. Data held electronically is regularly reviewed and data that is no longer needed will be deleted.

Personal data will be stored for as long as:

• A service user accesses our services and may be retained for up to seven years after they cease to use our services.
• A volunteer is being considered for, or fulfils a role.
• An individual is classified as a Together Co employee unless longer or shorter retention is required by law or by a funder.
• Emergency contact information is only held for up to two years after we stop providing a service to you then this information is removed from our systems.
• For marketing and fundraising purposes we would balance the charity’s legitimate interest to contact you about our work – based on your recency of support and level of engagement with the charity – with your rights as an individual to be forgotten.
• Under current HMRC rules we will need to retain your gift aid declarations and details of any gifts for six years after the date of your last gift to the charity.
• If you request that we stop sending you marketing materials we may, if you agree, keep a record of your contact details and appropriate information to enable us to comply with your request not to be contacted by us.

Employees will remove personal data from Together Co databases and destroy personal data held on paper or in electronic form if asked to do so by a former volunteer or service user, or if an organisation that has provided personal data ceases to exist.

In the instance where a volunteer, who has been working with service users (who are potentially vulnerable), wishes to withdraw their consent for us to store data relating to them, we have a legitimate interest to maintain a record of their volunteering in line with our data retention policy in case of allegation or investigation. We will store the minimum information required for the purpose and will inform volunteers if this happens. This data will not be processed for any purpose (such as marketing or promotion) other than that intended (in case of allegation or investigation relating to a vulnerable service user).

 

How do we keep your information safe?

We are committed to keeping your personal data safe and secure and we take all necessary steps to make sure your details are held securely. We will never sell or share your information with other charities or organisations unless stated for the purposes of providing a service.

Personal data held on paper will be stored in locked cabinets and only accessed when needed. We will ensure that all personal information held electronically – including that held on our database Simply Connect, in e-mails and letters – is accessed and secured by minimum strength passwords or encryption and appropriate anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software.

We use industry standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information on our website.

When we use external organisations and companies to collect or process personal data on our behalf, we check they have security and privacy notices in place before we work with them. For service delivery, we also put a contract/service agreement in place that sets out our expectations and requirements.

 

How is your data from our website used?

Information you supply using any electronic form(s) on this website will only be used for the purpose(s) stated on the form.

Information you provide in emails to us, from our website and directly, will only be used for the purpose (which we reasonably believe) that you give it to us for.

Information you provide us with may be used for statistical research but will not be used in any way (beyond its original purpose) which enables you to be identified.

Security and virus protection

Together Co uses industry standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of your personally identifiable information on our website, such as firewalls and virus protection.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the material produced on this website is checked it is always wise to run anti-virus software before downloading any material from this website.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system whilst using the material on this website.

Cookies

When visiting the Together Co website, cookies are used to store certain information to make the site function and improve your overall experience of our site.

Cookies are used to help us understand how people use our website so that we can enhance the user experience. They provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. For example, to capture which pages are most popular, how long people spend on each page and what links they use to access the information they are seeking.

We may also use cookies to enable the website to ‘remember’ details that you voluntarily give, such as when you complete online forms, so that you do not have to repeat the information next time you use the website.

On occasion, we may embed content from another website, for example, a YouTube video. When using a page with such content you may be presented with cookies from the third party website. Together Co does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the third party websites for more information about these.

You can set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, or you can set it to automatically reject them. Rejecting cookies may inconvenience you in browsing our website.

You may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the BBC Webwise guide which offers guidance for all modern browsers.

External links

External links are provided on this website to provide users with additional information. Together Co cannot guarantee that such links will always work and are not responsible for their content.

We cannot be held responsible for the privacy policies of third party websites and we advise users to read the privacy policies of other websites before registering any personal data.

Disclaimer

Together Co is committed to the highest standards of information quality and every attempt has been made to provide up to date and accurate information.

However, we give no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of the information on this website, that this site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site is free of viruses and accepts no liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of reliance on such information.

 

Marketing and fundraising

Please note that the term ‘Marketing’ includes news and information about:

• The work we do at Together Co.
• Volunteering opportunities with Together Co and the services we provide.
• Our supporter events, activities and groups.
• Appeals and fundraising (including donations and also competitions, raffles etc).
• Leaving a gift in your will.

When you receive a communication, we may collect information about how you respond to or interact with that communication, and this may affect how we communicate with you in future.

Fundraising

As a charity, we rely on donations and support from others to help us fund the work we do. From time to time, we will contact supporters and volunteers with fundraising material and communications. This might be about an appeal, a competition we’re running, or to suggest ways you can help us to raise funds (e.g. a sponsored event or activity).

We will only contact you about getting involved in this way if you have either given your consent or if there is a balanced legitimate interest to do so. See ‘Legal basis and legitimate interest’ for more information.

You are in control and you can change your contact preferences at any time, but we hope that you will find our communications useful and informative. You can decide not to receive communications or change how we contact you at any time. If you wish to do so please email us at hello@togetherco.org.uk or write to the Fundraising Manager at:

Together Co, Projects The Lanes, Nile House, Nile St, Brighton BN1 1HW.

 

What if any of my information needs correcting?

The accuracy of your information is really important to us so if you spot any mistakes, please let us know and we will correct them. We want to ensure that we are able to communicate with you in ways that you are happy with and to provide you with information that is of interest. If you wish to change how we communicate with you or update the information we hold, then please contact us:

• Email us at: DPO@togetherco.org.uk
• Write to us at: FAO Data Protection Officer, Together Co, Projects The Lanes, Nile House, Nile St, Brighton BN1 1HW

You may also choose to stop receiving further emails from the charity at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the foot of marketing emails from the charity, but please be aware we will still email you with updates about any service-related information you require.

 

Can I access my information?

You have a right to ask to see a copy of the information we hold about you. If you want a copy of your personal information, send a description of the information you want to see and proof of your identity by post or email.

• Email us at: DPO@togetherco.org.uk
• Write to us at: FAO Data Protection Officer, Together Co, Projects The Lanes, Nile House, Nile St, Brighton BN1 1HW

We will respond within one calendar month, from the day after receiving your request.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise Your Rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances. Please refer to the following guidance: Information Commissioner’s guidance