Privacy & cookies

Home-Start Wigtownshire is a registered Charity and a company limited by guarantee. Our services support families with at least one child under 5 across Wigtownshire. Our services are delivered by our team of staff and volunteers. Home Start Wigtownshire is committed to the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR. We will comply fully with the requirements of the GDPR and will follow procedures which aim to ensure that all persons who have access to any personal data held by or on behalf of Home Start are fully aware and abide by their duties and responsibilities under the legislation.We will ensure that all personal information is processed properly however it is collected, retained, used or otherwise processed; on paper, in computer records or recorded by any other means. Accurate, proportionate and up to date records are kept ensuring a good framework of support and supervision for volunteers and employees, and to comply with employment, charity and company legal requirements.

Topics covered in this Notice:

• What information do we collect about you?
• How will we use the information about you?
• Who will we share the information with?
• How information is retained and kept safe?
• Marketing
• Access to your information and correction

This Privacy Notice is a statement to Families, their partners, children over 16 years of age or over, service users, the public, stakeholders, staff and volunteers and explains how we collect, use, retain and disclose personal information which we hold.

What information do we collect about you?

We collect information about you and family members when you register with us for any of our services and also when you start to receive our services. We collect information when you voluntarily complete service user surveys, provide feedback and participate in social events. The information we collect will include personal data and sensitive data.

These records may include the following information relevant to you, your partner and the children you care for and anyone else who is part of your household:

• Basic details, such as name, address, phone number, date of birth, next of kin, GP, Health Visitor details
• Contact we have had and home visits
• Information from people who are involved with your family, such as schools, health professionals, social services and relatives
• Children’s information may include schools or nursery attended
• Income and financial details
• Details and records of treatment and medications

It may also include personal sensitive information such as sexuality, race, your religion or beliefs and whether you have a disability, Special Educational Needs or health conditions.

It is important for us to have a complete picture as this information assists staff involved to deliver and provide appropriate support to meet your needs.

Information is collected in a number of ways; referral details may be via your health visitor, your social care professional; statutory services; voluntary sector organisations; schools or directly given by you.

Use of Cookies

This website uses cookies. If you wish to use this website then you will have accepted the cookie warning the first time you accessed the website.

What are Cookies?: Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit.

To learn more about cookies you can visit this website which has an article about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cookie

Types of Cookies
There are two main types of cookies used by web servers. They are persistent and session cookies. Persistent cookies remain on your computer system and expire at a date in the future unless they are updated or deleted from your system. They are used to retain information about preferences. The second type of cookie is a session cookie which remains on the computer system until the browser is closed.

Removing Cookies
You will find details on how to block and delete cookies from your computer as well as browsing history by exploring the setup of the browser you are using. All browsers offer the ability to block cookies, or remove them. It is beyond the scope of this article to provide information on every browser in use on all devices. Refer to the browser provider or mobile device manual to learn how to remove or block cookies from your system.

The Cookies We Use
Google Analytics: These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages, what searches they may have done on the website. These cookies do not collect personally identifiable information. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous.

This data helps us to understand:

• Which pages people visit on the site
• Which internet browsers are being used
• What is popular on the site

You can find out more about Google’s cookies on their privacy policy: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/ . You can also install the Google Analytics Opt-out tools in your browser: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Google maps: These are session cookies that remember preferences you have when viewing a map which is on the website.

WordPress: The website is built with WordPress which uses a number of plugin applications. Some of these applications use cookies and some of them are persistent and remember choices you have made on the website. Others are session cookies which expire on exit from the browser.

3rd Party cookies: We do not use any cookies through third parties for advertising or pushing advertising content to you. This is an advert free website.

What happens if I do not accept cookies on my browsing device?: Some of the functions on the website may not work without cookies being enabled or you may see a reduction in functionality.

How will we use the information about you?

We collect information about you to assess your need, set objectives, prioritise, allocate services and match volunteers.
How we use information:

• To help inform decisions that we make about your support
• To ensure the services and support you receive is safe and effective
• To develop objectives and assess risk
• To work effectively with other organisations who may be involved
• To review support provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible
• To prepare statistics and evaluate on organisational performance

We may share your information with:

Health & social care services, the local authority, statutory services, Your ‘matched’ volunteer, the organisation who referred you and other regulatory bodies.

We will not disclose any information to third parties without your explicit consent, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires the disclosure of information.

As part of our funding we may also need to share statistical and general information from your records with other organisations and funding bodies. This information will be anonymised to ensure your identify cannot be established.

We may also be asked to share basic information about you, such as your name and parts of your address, which does not include sensitive information. Generally, we would only do this to assist the third party to carry out their statutory duties. In these circumstances, where it is not practical to obtain your explicit consent, we are informing you through this notice, which is referred to as a Privacy Notice, under the Data Protection Act.

How information is retained and kept safe?

Information is retained in secure electronic and paper records and access is restricted to only those who need to know. There are a number of ways in which your privacy is shielded – adhering to strict contractual conditions and ensuring strict sharing or processing agreements are in place. Technology allows us to protect information in a number of ways, in the main by restricting access. Our guiding principle is that we are holding your information in strict confidence. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes to which you consent to, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.

Marketing

We would like to keep in touch with you about the vital work we do for Families, our fundraising appeals and opportunities to support us. We will never sell your data and we promise to keep your details safe and secure.

Access to your information and correction

Under GDPR a person may request access to information (with some exemptions) that is held about them by an organisation.

You have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing at any time. You have the right to be forgotten/ withdraw your records

For more information on how to access the information we hold about you or to withdraw consent to hold/share information that we hold about you, please contact:

Data Protection Lead / Scheme Manager, Home Start Wigtownshire , C/o The Rainbow Family Centre, Ashwood Drive, Stranraer, DG9 7NW

Email: admin@home-startwigtownshire.co.uk Telephone: 07494 089436 / 07519 026578 or 07443 909484