Privacy policy

Last updated: October 2023
 

At Contact, we are committed to protecting your privacy. Whenever you share personal data with us we aim to be clear with you and not to do anything with your data that you wouldn’t reasonably expect us to do. 

We will never sell your personal data to other organisations and only ever share it in appropriate, legal or exceptional circumstances. 

We will only send e-newsletter and marketing communications to those that have explicitly stated that they are happy for us to do so via their preferred channel(s) (e.g. email, SMS, phone) or where we have a legitimate interest reason for doing so. These communications include information about Contact’s services supporting families with disabled children (including organisations that are now part of the Contact family and whose services Contact runs, such as Hemihelp and Fledglings), and information about how you can get involved, including through fundraising, campaigning and volunteering. 

Our fundraising is legal, open, honest and respectful. We adhere to the Code of Fundraising Practice. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which sets and maintains the standards for charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

If you would like to receive communications but have not opted in, contact us on 020 7608 8700 or [email protected] 

If you are from a parent carer forum please also see our additional notice for parent carer forums. 

In this article

1. What type of information do we collect and where from?

When you give it to us directly 

We may ask for personal information about you, including your name, date of birth, email address, postal address, telephone number, the local authority that you live in and demographic information such as ethnicity and gender. 

Times when we would do this include when you:

This includes information that you may have provided to organisations that are now part of the Contact family and whose services Contact runs, such as Hemihelp and Fledglings. 

In some circumstances, such as when you get in touch with the Contact helpline or access Contact’s services, we may ask about your children, including their ages, names, disability or medical condition, other people in your household, the type of education your child receives and your housing costs. You will always have the option to”prefer not to say”.  

You may also provide personal information directly to us when you get in touch with our helpline team by email or through social media. We collect this data to understand who we are helping with each service and if there are groups of families with disabled children that we are not reaching. 

Occasionally, it may be useful for us to find out why you are supporting us. This helps us understand the benefits of our work. You do not have to answer this question. We only want you to answer if you are happy doing so. 

When you give it to us indirectly

Independent event organisers, such as Virgin London Marathon, or fundraising sites like Justgiving or Virgin Money giving, may share your information with us. These independent third parties will only do this if you’ve indicated you’re happy for them to do so. You should check their privacy policy when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data. 

We may get your information via a referral from a third party, such as another charity or local authority. They should ask for your consent before sharing that information with us. We will seek confirmation that they have done so. 

When we collect your information as you use our websites or applications – Cookie use 

At Contact, we are committed to maintaining the confidence of everyone who uses our services. It is important that you know we record your personal data when you do things like visit our website or use our services. We want you to trust us with that information, as we’ll only ever use it to provide you with better services and information.  

Our website uses cookies – small text files placed on your device when you visit a website containing standard information such as your IP address, browser type and language, access times and referring website addresses. Based on the International Chamber of Commerce’s Guide for Cookie categorisation, we use the following cookies types: Advertisement; Analytics; Functional; Performance.    

We use both first-party (we own them) and third-party (our partners own them) cookies, trackers, pixels and similar technology

We recommend that you review the privacy policy or cookie policy for any search engines or websites that have linked you to our website. This is so that you may fully understand the privacy policies they currently have in place. 

Managing cookies

We ask visitors to our site to consent to all cookies or manage their cookie settings when they first visit our site and every 365 days thereafter.

You can use the button below to manage the cookies we place on your device when you use this website. However, if you choose to prevent cookies, it is possible that core features of our website will not work. You may experience limited functionality from the website as a result.  

MANAGE COOKIES

It is possible to prevent your web browser from accepting cookies. You can find details of how to change your local settings on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can control what information your social media accounts gather about you from external websites by visiting your social media account settings.  

To find out more about cookies, including details of cookies and how to manage and delete them, please visit the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office

When you make a purchase through our Fledglings Shop 

When you purchase items from Fledglings, as part of the shopping process we will collect personal information from you. This information allows us to process the order and inform you of any product changes, order delays or other issues as they arise. 

When you provide us with your personal details as part of the order transaction, we will assume that you consent to us using and collecting this information in order to complete your purchase (and for this reason only). 

If you are requesting a referral for made to measure products or specialised items we will request your permission to pass on your contact details on to the supplier or service if appropriate. 

Please note: information may be disclosed by Fledglings if we are legally obliged to do so. 

Our Fledglings’ online shop is hosted by Shopify Inc who enable us to provide product solutions to you via their e-commerce platform. Your data is therefore stored on Shopify’s data storage system and Shopify application via a secure server and firewall. 

Shopify Terms of Service 

Shopify Privacy Statement 

When you use our social media platforms 

We use third party providers, such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck, to monitor and manage our social media interactions. These services are governed by the privacy policies of these platforms. For more information, view the Hootsuite privacy policy and the Twitter privacy policy.  

If you post on Contact’s social media pages, mention Contact on social media platforms or send us a private or direct message via social media, we will assume you give permission for us to respond. Messages posted on our social media pages are available publicly. We can’t take responsibility for those messages, which are subject to the privacy policies of the application provider and the specific privacy account settings of the user. 

We may use messages posted on Contact’s social media pages to better understand our audiences, supporters and their concerns. As part of this, we may scrape, anonymise and aggregate information that users post on our social media pages and community pages. We may then publish this information as a study or share it with partners. We will only do this in line with the privacy policies and terms and conditions of those platforms. If we seek to use attributable quotes from people using our social media channels, we will always seek their permission first. 

When it is publicly available and wealth screening 

We use data you provide for the purpose of managing our fundraising efficiently and effectively so that we can raise more to spend on families with disabled children. 

We may gather information about you from publicly available sources to help us to understand more about you as an individual and your ability to support Contact. Occasionally we may contract a trusted third-party supplier to carry out a wealth screen to help us gain a better understanding of current and/or potential new supporters. 

This data is gathered entirely from publicly accessible and robust sources such as: 

This research helps us understand more about you as an individual so we can focus conversations we have with you about fundraising and volunteering in the most effective way and ensure that we provide you with an experience as a donor or potential donor that is appropriate for you. 

You have the right to opt out of this processing at any time should you wish to. Please call 020 7608 8700 or email [email protected]

2. How we use the information collected

We use your personal information to: 

We may contact you about our services and the work that we do either because you have said you would like to hear from us or because we believe we have a legitimate interest in doing so. But we will only contact you about things that you would expect us to contact you about. This can include our work, activities, campaigns and how to support us. We include information on how to opt-out in all direct marketing that you receive.

Keeping a record of your contact with us

Information about the services you have accessed, including advice you have received from us, may be kept as a record of your contact with us where it is in our legitimate interest to do so, for instance to provide you with a better service if you get in touch again. This may include information you have given us in the course of receiving advice, such as about your child’s age and disability.

We may combine information you provide to us with information available from publicly-available sources, for example listed Directorships or typical earnings in a given area. We may also use publicly-available information to find new potential supporters and invite them to be involved in supporting our cause through tailored communications that may be of interest to them. This is so that in some certain cases we can build a profile, better understand you and target our communications with the most relevant information. For example, we may wish to send you invitations to attend special events or to discuss specific fundraising projects. Where we use such profiles it enables us to cost-effectively and efficiently raise funds to support our work. We also use publicly-available sources to carry out due diligence on donors in line with our Gift Acceptance Policy and meet money laundering regulations.

Developing a better understanding of our supporters through your personal data means we can make better decisions, fundraise more efficiently and, ultimately, support families with disabled children more effectively.

Sending newsletters and other communications

Contact issues a range of materials for supporters and subscribers for distribution, both electronically by email and in hard copy by post, and we may also seek to promote our services by phone and text message.

We will only contact you with such material by each channel if you have asked us to do so or where we believe you would reasonably expect us to. 

We might use personal information you have provided to us to select which communications you receive, or to tailor our communications to you. This may include:

We will always use this information with care and consideration. If you’d like to change how we communicate with you, or would like us to remove your details, please call 020 7608 8700 or email [email protected]

What you’ll receive when you opt into our latest news and updates

When we invite you to opt into our communications, we will offer you a choice of communications channels (email; phone; SMS; post). We will also give you some options of what you’d like to hear about. These options are:

Information & advice for parent carers (previously News updates)

Includes our weekly newsletter What’s new – a round-up of news for parent carers from the disability sector and information about Contact’s projects, activities and services – alongside other ad hoc communications about our projects, activities and services for parent carers, sometimes based on your location.

Our What’s new newsletter occasionally includes updates on our fundraising and campaigning activities. However, we will never send you direct appeals or emails specifically dedicated to those topics unless you’ve subscribed to our other updates (see below).

Local office updates

If you subscribe to updates from a particular Contact office – for example “News updates from Contact Cymru” – we’ll send you regular updates for parent carers from the disability sector with a local focus, alongside national stories and updates on contact’s IAS projects and activities.

Updates for campaigners

Dedicated communications about opportunities to contribute to our campaigning work, including by signing petitions, contacting your MP or local authority, or becoming a media case study to bring to life the important issues we’re fighting.

Updates on our work and how to support us (previously Supporter updates)

Updates about our latest work and activities, including how donations are contributing to our work; giving appeals; opportunities to take part in fundraising events; and tips and suggestions for organising your own.

Fundraising updates

Dedicated communications about opportunities to take part in our fundraising events, tips and suggestions for organising your own fundraising activity, and appeals in which you can make a financial contribution to our work if you’d like to.

Workshop updates

We’ll send you communications about our new and upcoming workshops. You can choose which topics you’d like to hear about or we can tell you about all our sessions.

Practitioner updates

Information, news and offers around the services we provide to professionals working with families with disabled children.

News and offers from our Fledglings shop

We’ll send you a dedicated newsletter with the latest offers from our Fledglings shop, where you can find toys, clothing & sensory products for disabled children.

Updates about parent carer participation

We’ll send you key information about our work supporting parent carer forums, including updates about health, special education and social care in England, news for local forums, Department for Education grant information, forum success stories, the latest news from the NNPCF and opportunities for forums to participate and shape policy and legislation.

Hemihelp updates

Communications from our Hemihelp team, including news, events, campaigns and activities and a regular Hemihelp newsletter.

Rare Conditions Network updates

Regular updates for rare conditions groups on funding and networking opportunities, details of our workshops, information to help support families and updates from the rare community.

Communication by email

We may use email to give updates about or to ask for feedback on our services, in respect of an entry for an event and to thank our supporters. Our helpline will sometimes email people back with additional information or to confirm a call-back appointment with a parent adviser where you have agreed to a call-back appointment. Similarly, if you are receiving support from one of our family workers, they may email in relation to your appointment or with additional information.

We may use email addresses and first name / last name details to identify ‘lookalike’ audiences on social media channels to provide information, services, or products that we feel may be of use or interest to those audiences. This involves uploading these supporter details to third-party social media organisations, including Facebook and Twitter, from which they identify ‘lookalike’ cohorts. This upload is governed by terms and conditions restricting the processing and use of the data and can be viewed on Facebook Business and Twitter Business.

Communication by post

If you receive information by post from our helpline, we will never use your address to send you information unless we have your explicit consent to do so. We send magazines, publications, event information and invitations and fundraising materials by post to people who have asked to receive post from us. All such communications include details on how to stop receiving these in future by phoning, emailing or writing to us.

We very occasionally use third-party companies for large-scale mailings who would receive your contact details for this purpose only. These arrangements are governed by appropriate contracts that protect your personal data. Before such mailings, we carry out screening to avoid the distress caused to families receiving mail intended for a deceased loved one. This is carried out by a third-party supplier and is subject to a Data Processing Agreement.

Communication by phone

We only phone people who have consented to hear from us by phone, and this may be to give updates about or to ask for feedback on our services, in respect of an entry for an event and to thank our supporters. The helpline will sometimes phone people back with additional information, or to confirm a call back appointment with a parent adviser. All these appointments are by telephone. Call back appointments are only made with the agreement of the individual. Similarly, if you are receiving support from one of our family workers, they may telephone in relation to your appointment or with additional information.

Processing donation data

If you donate money to Contact we will record your personal details, which enable us to process your donation (for example if made by credit card or direct debit) and to claim Gift Aid where relevant. This may include some or all of your: name, address, telephone number, email, amount of donation, reason for donation, bank details, if you are a tax payer for Gift Aid purposes. We may contact you using these details in respect of your donation (for example to send an acknowledgement or receipt, to give notice of direct debit collection).

Processing resource orders

A range of advice and fundraising resources are available to order on our website. If you order any of these resources we will collect information from you necessary for fulfilment of that order including mailing to you, emailing to you and phoning you. Fulfilment may be carried out on our behalf by third-parties to whom we would pass your details for that purpose only. Such arrangements are governed by appropriate contracts with clauses included to protect your data. We will not use your details for other purposes unless you have given separate permission for us to do so.

3. Legal basis and legitimate interests

When we collect and use your personal information, we will make sure we do this only in accordance with at least one of the legal grounds available to us under Data Protection law.

Consent

One of these is where we have obtained your specific consent to use your information for a previously notified purpose, such as to send you email/text marketing or to provide you with a product, service or information at your request.

Legal obligation

Another is where we have a legal obligation to use or disclose information about you – for instance, where we are ordered by a court or regulatory authority or we are legally required to hold donor transaction details for Gift Aid or accounting/tax purposes.

Legitimate interest

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:

In all cases, we balance our legitimate interests against your rights as an individual. We make sure we only use personal information in a way or for a purpose that you would reasonably expect in accordance with this policy. We would also not intrude on your privacy or previously expressed marketing preferences.

Where we process sensitive personal data, we will make sure that we only do so in accordance with one of the additional lawful grounds for processing such as where we have your explicit consent or you have made that information manifestly public. When we do this, we will tell you what sensitive personal data we are collecting and why.

4. Who we share your information with

We will not sell your details to any third parties. We may sometimes share your information with people or organisations authorised to act on Contact’s behalf. For example, we may share your information with people or organisations who:

In all of these instances, we remain the data controller. The protection of your data will be covered by written agreements with any person or organisation who acts on our behalf, ensuring that they treat your data in a safe and legal way.

In addition we may exchange your personal information with other organisations for the purposes of fraud and credit risk reduction. In these circumstances, we always require strict compliance from these organisations and require that your personal information is not used for their own business and marketing purposes.

Breaking confidentiality

There are a few exceptional situations where we may have to breach confidentiality and pass on your details without your consent.

Situations where we might need to break confidentiality:

If a decision is made to break confidentiality, we will make reasonable effort to keep your informed of what we intend to do. We will only ever share your data in circumstances outside of this if we have explicit and informed consent.

5. How we keep your data safe

Contact is responsible for collecting your personal information. We use rigorous procedures when we collect your personal information in order to prevent unauthorised access. 

Any donation payment details are encrypted. The forms you complete on our site are transmitted through a secured connection (known as SSL). However, no data transmission over the internet is 100% secure. Although we try to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk. 

We have appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details. We ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors with whom we have contracts that are compliant with data protection regulations. 

6. How you can access and update your personal information 

If you would like to update the information that we have on our records, please email [email protected] 

You have a right to ask us to stop processing your personal data, to restrict how we process your data or to delete your data. If it’s not necessary for legal reasons or for the purpose you provided it to us for (e.g. processing your donation or registering you for an event) we will do so. Contact us on 020 7608 8700 or [email protected] if you have any concerns. 

You have a right to request access to any information we hold about you. 

If you wish to access your information, please contact us at [email protected]. We will ask you to complete a subject access request form in order to confirm your identity if necessary and provide you with the data you need. 

If there are any discrepancies in the information we provide, please let us know and we will correct them. 

For further information, we recommend reading the Information Commissioner’s guidance

If you have any concerns with the way we have handled your personal information, you can contact the ICO.  

7. How long we keep your data for

We keep your personal information only for as long as required to operate the service in accordance with legal requirements and tax and accounting rules. When we no longer require your information, we will ensure it is disposed of in a secure manner.

8. How we handle children’s data

We never use children’s data for marketing purposes. None of our services or the support we offer to parents is reliant on children’s data being shared with us. We use the data to ensure that we give the best possible support to the parent. We also use data on children for our own research purposes and to ensure that the services we offer are as effective as they can be in supporting parents.

9. Changes to the policy

We review this policy annually and may update it from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information, we will make this clear on our website or by contacting you directly. 

If you have any queries about this Privacy policy, please contact us on [email protected]