Privacy Policy
If you wish to update your communication preferences with us, please complete the following form and press submit.
Please note, the vast majority of communications we send you will be to do with support for you as a carer and your caring role.
Your information will be processed securely and in line with current data protection legislation.
Our full privacy policy
Find our full privacy policy here:
Our privacy policy in summary
Communications with you
We will only initiate contact with you if you have given your consent to hear from us or if you have contacted us directly. If you decide that you would like to use our services, we will use your personal data in order to provide support to you as a carer (a ‘public task’ task under the data protection legislation).
Using your information
Your personal information is used for the purposes of providing, advice, information and support to you in your caring role. As a core part of our service we will send out newsletters and emails detailing events and activities of interest to you as a carer.
From time to time we may also seek your views on our services.
The type of information we collect
The types of personal information we may collect includes your name, address, email, telephone and mobile number, your age or date of birth and your GP Surgery. We may also ask for other related information, which may be relevant to your caring role. These may include whether you are from an armed forces household, services that may be involved in your support and more detailed questions about your caring role or situation, e.g. practical, physical, emotional, family relationships and finance. For young carers and young adult carers we may ask for the school or college attended.
If you have been referred by another professional this information may be supplied to us by them with your consent.
As part of our services, we may obtain sensitive information, e.g. information about your race, ethnic origin, religion, health, or sexual orientation (or similar information about the person you care for). We will only collect and use this kind of personal data about you if you have given your consent for this information to be shared with us, or if you share this information with us directly. If we collect this kind of information about the person you care for, we will always ensure that we have a substantial public interest to use their personal data in this way in order to provide our services to you.
If you have any specific communication, religious or cultural needs – you can choose whether you wish to advise us about these.
Your preferences for how we communicate information
You can choose the method we communicate with you and can change your preferences at any time.
Sharing information
If you are receiving a service from us we may ask you to consent to information about you being shared with other professionals or organisations to help provide you with support. These may include but not exclusively: GPs and Health Professionals, Employers/Employment Service, Housing Providers, Colleges and Training Providers, or other voluntary/charitable organisations. We may also ask your permission to share with Adult Social Care or Children’s services, to arrange, for example, a carer’s assessment. We will not share information with these organisations without your explicit consent except where disclosure is necessary for the purpose of safeguarding or as required by law.
Some of our data processing services (including IT, Database and Website support, mailing services and event organisers), are provided by consultants or contractors. Where we chose to use these services we do so in accordance with current legislation and take all reasonable precautions regarding the practices employed by them to protect personal information.
Data retention:
We have a retention policy for adult carer records of 7 years from ceasing a service and for young carers until age 25, unless required otherwise in the event of safeguarding. This is in line with Surrey County Council’s retention policies.
Other ways you may choose to be involved:
We raise awareness of carer issues locally and nationally and invite you to participate in consultations and campaigns to help improve services for carers, or our own activities.
We may invite you to share your story as a carer, to show others how we help, and this could include photos, videos, or written content. We would always ask for a separate consent for this sort of activity. If you do change your mind and want to withdraw your consent after we have used your image, we can only control our own website and publications. We cannot control what happens to your image/story/video/audio once it has been published online or on social media and cannot be held liable for the use of images/stories by third parties without our knowledge/consent. If your photo has been used in one of our publications such as a leaflet, it will continue to appear until we print a new version of the publication.
Your rights, and to change your preferences
Under data protection legislation you have the right to be informed, the right to restrict processing, the right to data portability, and the right to object. You also have a right to know what personal data Action for Carers (Surrey) holds about you, to change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time and to have your data corrected or deleted. (More on these rights on the ICO’s website www.ico.org.uk).
To change your preferences, please call us on 0303 040 1234, option 1. The Admin team can update your preferences, or you can ask to speak to the Data Protection Officer.
Alternatively email [email protected] or write to FREEPOST Action for Carers Surrey, FAO Data Protection Officer
Other stakeholders
We offer support, including training to Surrey professionals, and to do so, we collect personal data, with the same rights as outlined for carers above.
We also collect personal information from supporters (donors, fundraisers, volunteers) and keep them updated about our activities and events. They have the same rights as outlined for carers above.