Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland Data Protection & Privacy Policy

• Requesting Support–Registering with us to request access to our services can be done via our Helpline. Our request process involves providing us with your name, address, telephone numbers and email address. We also ask for your data of birth, GP details and information on the bereavement (who has died, when and cause of death). We may also request information on your availability and other details which we deem relevant to processing your request.
• Initial Assessment Appointments–At an initial appointment we ask about your current personal, social and medical circumstances. We may also ask about your background and family history, as well as the issues which are affecting you now. We require this information so that we can decide whether we are the right organisation to support you and to assign you to an appropriately trained volunteer should it be deemed you require our support.
• Volunteer Placements–Counsellors, receptionists and other volunteers may apply for placements by letter or email to our HQ. They may also be interviewed. We may ask about your background, qualifications, experience, and professional memberships. We also ask for your name, address, telephone numbers, email address, and address and telephone details for referees and people we may need to contact for you in emergencies.
• Employment–In order to apply for job opportunities advertised on our website and elsewhere, and to become an employee of the charity, you will be required to provide your contact details and other personal information contained in your CV (such as employment history and qualifications), as well as contact details of referees. This information is only processed for the purpose of considering your job application, making any offer of employment, and administering your contract of employment.
• Donors–The information you give us when making a donation may include your name, postal address, email address, phone number, amount donated, Gift Aid status, and messages.
• Website–We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous data relating to user behaviour and ‘web traffic’ statistics. The collection and use of this data by Google Inc. is subject to their own Privacy Policies.
• Other Forms–The information you give us on our forms (including all enquiry and application forms) may include your name, postal address, email address, phone number and other messages to us

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• To provide clients with the professional services requested from us.
• To enable us to offer appropriate opportunities and support to our volunteers.
• To offer suitable appointments, and to allocate clients to appropriately trained volunteers.
• To notify you about changes to your appointments and other changes to our services.
• To seek feedback from you on your experience of counselling with us.
• To improve our service to ensure that it is provided in the most effective manner for you and for us.
• To administer our service, including the arrangement of appointments, the handling of donations, and for financial control, data analysis, research, statistical and survey purposes.
• To keep in touch with those who consent to this, for the purposes of organisational, service and professional development.
• To fulfil our administrative, legal and contractual obligations as an employer.

We will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

• Serious harm–Cruse Scotland may share your information with the relevant authorities if we have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.
• Compliance with law–Cruse Scotland may share your information where we are required to by law or by the regulations and other rules to which we are subject.
• It is necessary to provide your employee details to our payroll management company.
• As part of the backups of encrypted data processed and held by professional IT security companies.

All information you provide to us is stored as securely as possible. All paper forms and correspondence are kept in locked filing cabinets on our premises. All electronic records are stored on our own computer server, all access to which requires password-protected authentication, or by reputable service providers using secure internet ‘cloud’ technology.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your information using industry-standard protocols and encryption, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us via email, including forms completed on our website which are transmitted by email any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access. Your identifiable personal information is kept separately from any other descriptive material. All paper documentation is destroyed immediately after your support ends. Gift Aid declarations are destroyed/deleted after 7 years.

You have the right to ask us to provide a copy of the information held by us in our records. You also have the right to require us to correct any inaccuracies in your information. If you would like to do this, please contact us support@crusescotland.org.uk You may withdraw your consent for us to hold and process your data at any time. However, if you do this while actively receiving support from Cruse Scotland, your support would have to end. You can withdraw your consent by emailing support@crusescotland.org.uk. Alternatively, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) by calling 0303 123 1113. The ICO is the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights. You can find out more about the ICO on its website (https://ico.org.uk/)

We may edit this policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes we will notify you by posting a prominent announcement on our website