Who we are
Our website address is: www.youngcarersmatternorfolk.org.
Carers Matter Norfolk, Young Carers & Families Privacy Notice
Carers Matter Norfolk, Young Carers & Families is committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we process your personal information. This document describes what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, how we keep it secure, and the conditions under which we share it. It also outlines your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018. It contains important information about your rights as an individual and how to contact us. Further information is available on the Privacy section of our website www.youngcarersmatternorfolk.org
What is Carers Matter Norfolk, Young Carers & Families?
Carers Matter Norfolk, Young Carers & Families (YCF) is a service funded & commissioned by Norfolk County Council to provide information, advice, positive activities and support to young carers and their families.
Voluntary Norfolk is the lead provider of this service for young carers and their families and works with The Benjamin Foundation to deliver the services.
Voluntary Norfolk is a charity registered in the UK (registered charity number 1112017, company registration number 05616120). Our registered address is: St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ.
Voluntary Norfolk is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), reference no: Z632337X
Voluntary Norfolk is the Data Controller in relation to the processing of your personal data for the purpose of delivering this service. In this notice, the term ‘we’ means Voluntary Norfolk and the Benjamin Foundation who together run the service.
How do we collect personal information about you?
We will collect personal information about you:
- When you give it to us directly
For example, personal information that you provide when you self-refer to one of our services, or any personal data that you share with us when you communicate with us in person, by email, phone or post.
- When we obtain it indirectly
Your personal information may be shared with us by third parties, including our delivery partners.
- When you visit our website
Voluntary Norfolk uses cookies to improve your experience on our website. Please refer to our cookies policy for details on the way our use of cookies may affect your personal data.
The types of information we use
The types of information we may collect and keep on record about you includes:
- Personal details such as your name, address, date of birth and contact details
- Physical and mental health conditions
- Family details e.g. information about the person(s) you care for
- Information about your caring role
- Information regarding your lifestyle and social circumstances
- Details of your GP and school
- If you provide it, socio-demographic information such as your ethnicity, gender, religion, employment and accommodation details
- Information about your computer/ mobile device and your visits to and use of this website, including, for example, your IP address and geographical location; social media identity
We process your information in order to provide you with the best possible support whilst with the service, as well as to meet the requirements of our contracts and other legal obligations.
We cannot process your information without having a valid, lawful reason for doing so.
How and why we collect your information
The law protecting your personal information is the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. As custodians of your personal information, Voluntary Norfolk are committed to ensuring that your personal data is processed lawfully and respectfully, and by ensuring that we are compliant with the law.
In accordance with the UK GDPR, Voluntary Norfolk and its partners must have one or more lawful grounds to collect and process your information. We consider the grounds listed below to be relevant:
Consent
Where we need your agreement to process your information, for example, to pass your contact details to someone offering a specific service, we will ask for your consent, and will clearly state why your information is needed and who we will share your information with. If you agree to your information being shared, we will record your consent on your record. We will regularly review consent to make sure that the relationships, and purposes for processing, have not changed.
Right to Withdraw Consent
Where you have provided consent for us to share your information with a specific organisation or individual, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Should you wish to withdraw your consent, please tell a member of staff, or, send a written request to the Data Protection Lead (privacy@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk), who will process your request.
As Data Controller we consider the additional grounds listed below to also be relevant:
- Legal obligation
- Legitimate interests
- Vital Interests
- Performance of a task in the public interest
If you want to know more about these legal bases for processing your information, please go to: https://www.voluntarynorfolk.org.uk/about/privacy-policy/
Special categories of data
Certain categories of personal information are sensitive, and therefore require more protection. These categories of data include information about your health, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
We may process special categories of data but will only process this data if there is a valid reason for doing so and where the UK GDPR allows us to do so.
We will seek your explicit consent to use such data (or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent), unless:
- processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity;
- processing is necessary for the purposes of the provision of health or social care
- processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest whilst safeguarding the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
Key reasons for processing your information are:
- To bring you into the service we will receive information including name, address, date of birth, and further information
- Maintaining contact with you throughout the support process
- If required, refer you to Norfolk County Council for a Young Carers Needs Assessment, Family Needs Assessment or Young Adult Carers Transition Assessment or a Care Needs Assessment for the person(s) you care for
Referrals are made to us in 2 ways:
- Self-referral from the person providing care
- Referrals, from family, friends, school, GP surgery, Norfolk County Council Children’s Services, other health professionals or other organisations
We endeavour to provide you with the highest quality of service and therefore need to keep information about you, your health, and the services we have provided and those which we plan to provide to ensure that:
- We provide a good basis for any support services we offer to you
- The support and the services we provide are safe, effective, appropriate and relevant to you
- We work effectively with others providing you with information, support, activities or other support related services
How we use your personal information
Once you choose to provide us with personal information we will ensure that your personal information is only used for the purposes of administering the services we are contracted to deliver on behalf of Norfolk County Council and/or those specified in this privacy policy.
Voluntary Norfolk may use your personal information:
- to provide you with services, products or information that you have requested
- to provide updates about our work, services, or activities (where necessary, and only where you have provided your consent to receive such information)
- to answer your questions/ requests and communicate with you in general
- to analyse and assess the quality and standard of our services, activities or information provided to you and in order to help us meet contractual requirements with our delivery partners and commissioners
- to audit and/ or administer our accounts
- to satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us, for example in relation to regulatory, government and/ or law enforcement bodies with whom we may work, or due diligence checks before entering into contracts or agreements
- for the prevention of fraud or misuse of service
- Conducting investigations in response to a complaint or enquiry
- Research and evaluation such as participating in feedback surveys
Research and evaluation
In order to ensure that we provide you with the best possible service, we may from time to time conduct research and evaluation. Sometimes we will do this by aggregating and anonymising the data, which means that no one can identify you or use pseudonymised data where there is a clear legal basis. On occasion we may ask you to take part in a new piece of research and provide additional information or share your information with a third party for the purpose of research, this will only ever be done with your knowledge and consent.
Sharing your Personal Information
Our aim is to assist you as best as possible during the time that we provide support to you. As such, we may work with other organisations to identify certain services that we think you could benefit from. In this way, you do not have to repeat yourself and provide the same information over again. Any such third parties will be obligated under a formal contract to use any personal data they receive in accordance with our instructions and to protect it as we would.
We may therefore share information about you with the following partner organisations to assist with your support:
- Norfolk County Council who are the commissioners of this support and stipulate within our contracts with them what information is to be shared, how we share it and the information security requirements that must be adhered to.
- Norfolk & Suffolk Care Support
- The Benjamin Foundation
- Organisations or individuals who we can make a supported referral to
- Organisations who are evaluating the service that we are providing you
To ensure the appropriate people are involved in your care, in line with your wishes; to protect the health of the general public or to check the quality of service we have given you; with your consent (and in line with strict information sharing protocols), we may also share your information with:
- Your family members
- Social Services
- Local Authorities
We will not share information that identifies you to any third party, other than those listed above for any reason, unless:
- You ask us to do so
- We ask and you give us specific permission to do so
- We are required to do this by law e.g. by request of a court order
- We are required to share personal information with other organisations, such as the HRMC or law enforcement agencies for the detection and prevention of fraud and other crime
- We are required to share information for financial or audit purposes
- We have special permission because we believe that the reasons for sharing are so important that they override our obligation of confidentiality e.g. to prevent someone from being seriously harmed
Voluntary Norfolk cannot process your personal information without having a valid, lawful reason for doing so. The Carers Matter Norfolk, Young Carers & Families service has been commissioned by Norfolk County Council, but our ability to provide services to you is also based on what information you are prepared to disclose to us.
All delivery partners can see all data in the case management system.
We will share your data with Norfolk County Council for quarterly returns (anonymised), anonymous sample cases selected randomly for service audits, quality assurance and case studies, and if you or a family member request a statutory assessment.
International Data Transfers
As we sometimes use third parties to process personal information, it is possible that personal information we collect from you will be transferred to and stored in a location outside the UK or the European Economic Area (“EEA”).
Please note that certain countries outside of the UK or EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal information, including lower security protections. Where your personal information is transferred, stored, and/or otherwise processed outside the UK or EEA in a country which does not offer an equivalent standard of protection to the UK or EEA, we will take all reasonable steps necessary (including entering into standard contractual clauses to protect your personal information or relying on the Privacy Shield for transfers to organisations in the US) to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate safeguards designed to protect your personal information. If you have any questions about the transfer of your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Lead using the details at the end of this policy.
Securing your personal information
We are committed to taking all reasonable measures to ensure we maintain the confidentiality and security of personal data for which we are responsible, whether electronically or on paper. We do so to ensure that we are always compliant with data protection laws and information security standards, for example, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA – as our service is commissioned by a public body)).
Voluntary Norfolk will ensure that it has appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
All our staff are required to complete mandatory data protection and information security training to ensure they understand their responsibilities in relation to processing your personal information. Internal and external audits are also undertaken to ensure that data protection laws are being complied with.
In addition, all our staff are required to work according to organisation policies and are subject to the Common Law Duty of Confidence.
All participating organisations that provide services within the Carers Matters Norfolk, Young Carers & Families service are registered with the Information Commissioner and have appointed a Data Protection Officer (where appropriate).
How long will we keep your personal information?
We will only retain information for as long as contractually and legally necessary. Information is retained according to contractual requirements set by Norfolk County Council. Once we are no longer required to keep your information, it will be securely destroyed, in accordance with destruction guidelines. The following table provides you with summary information on how long we may keep your information:
| Type of Information | Length of time |
| Your participant file | Six years |
| Information relating to fraud or any legal complaints you have made against us | For as long as we reasonably consider that you might legally bring an additional or repeat claim against us or to meet other statutory obligations |
| Financial information relating to payments we have made to you whilst receiving a service from us | Six years following the end of the tax year |
Your rights
Voluntary Norfolk may contact you by post unless you request otherwise, and by telephone, email, social media or other electronic means depending on any communication preferences you have previously indicated.
The UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 grants you certain rights regarding your personal information and the way in which it is processed. This gives you more control over what organisations are doing with your information. These include the right to:
You have the right to:
- Ask us for confirmation of what personal information we hold about you, and to request a copy of that information. If we are satisfied that you have a legal entitlement to see this personal information, and we are able to confirm your identity, we will provide you with this information.
- Request that we delete the personal information we hold about you, as far as we are legally required to do so.
- Ask that we correct any personal information that we hold about you which you believe to be inaccurate.
- Object to the processing of your personal information where we: (i) process on the basis of the legitimate interests ground; (ii) use the personal information for direct marketing; or (iii) use the personal information for statistical purposes.
- Ask for processing of your personal information to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.
To request a copy of your personal data please contact our Data Protection Lead, using the details at the end of this policy. At any point you can request to unsubscribe from our e-newsletter or request that your personal information is removed from our databases by contacting us at privacy@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk
Please note that where you ask us to delete your personal information we will maintain a skeleton record comprising your name and organisation to ensure that we do not inadvertently contact you in the future. We may retain some financial records for statutory purposes, for example Gift Aid.
Please note that you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk/concerns
More detailed information on how we protect your privacy can be found via the following links:
Complaints and Disputes
If you raise a query or complaint in relation to your data rights, we will endeavour to respond as soon as possible. Requests for a copy of your information will be responded to within a one-month period. If you are still not satisfied with how Voluntary Norfolk is processing your information, you can write to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:
Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House. Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
You can also lodge a complaint online at www.ico.org.uk/concerns
Updating this privacy policy
We may update this privacy notice by posting a new version on this website. If we update this privacy notice in a way that significantly changes how we use your personal information, we will use reasonable efforts to bring these changes to your attention where we have your contact details. Otherwise, we would recommend that you periodically review this privacy notice to be aware of any other revisions.
How to contact us
Our Data Protection Lead, David Crinson, is responsible for monitoring compliance with relevant legislation in relation to personal data.
You can contact him if you have any questions about this privacy notice or our treatment of your personal information by:
Email: privacy@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk
Telephone: 01603 614474
Correspondence by Post: Data Protection Lead, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ