Our Data Protection Policy
This policy details how Circle of Comfort uses your personal information, along with why that information is stored – and how we protect your privacy when doing so.
We pledge to handle any personal information under our control with a great deal of care, and to keep that information safe whilst respecting your privacy and rights.
It’s our aim to be completely clear when collecting your information, and how we will to use it.
We are a charity providing services of complementary therapies to help people living with cancer and other life limiting illnesses. A large percentage of money raised through our fundraising goes directly to providing treatment to clients in the own homes.
The use of personal information allows us to operate throughout Fife and in Perthshire. This helps us provide complementary therapy treatments to clients through all stages of their illness.
This policy is effective from 25th May 2018.
Who are we?
In terms of this privacy policy, ‘Circle of Comfort’, ‘we’, ‘our’ or ‘the charity’means:
Circle of Comfort – a recognised Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (No. SC038004).
What is personal information?
Personal information broadly means information that identifies (or which could, with other information that we hold or are likely to hold, identify) an individual.
This includes any information provided to us by you or on behalf of you, by your GP Practice, Care Nurse or other health care professionals or a member of your family. This will also include information from your assigned therapist either during or at the end of your treatments.
What types of personal information might we hold about you?
We will collect and process the information about you that you provide to us by telephone or otherwise or by Referral Forms received from your GP Practice, Care Nurse, other health care professionals or a family member.
We will also collect and process information about you that is provided to us by your assigned complementary therapist.
We may hold and process any or all of the following personal information about you:
- Personal details such as your name, contact details (e.g. your address and postcode, email, telephone and mobile numbers).
- Gender, Date of Birth,
- Information about your physical health (where there is a legal basis for the processing of such data under the Data Protection Laws).
Once you have given your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by writing to us.
Using your information in accordance with Data Protection Laws
Data Protection Laws require us to meet certain conditions before we are allowed to use your personal information in the way described in this privacy notice.
We rely on a condition that allows us to use your personal information to comply with our legal obligations in relation to the running of the charity. This condition is “Consent”: “the individual has given clear consent for you to process their personal data for a specific purpose”.
We also rely on a condition known as ‘legitimate interests’ in order to use this information in the way described in this privacy notice. We have legitimate interests to collect and process your personal information as we may undertake research into the efficacy of the treatments the charity provides. All research data will be completely anonymised.
We will keep the amount of personal information collected and the extent of any processing to the minimum.
Once you have given your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by writing to us.
What do we do with the information?
We may use your personal information for a number of purposes relating to the administration of the charity, including the following:-
- Use your basic information to process claims for gift Aid from HMRC as part of our fundraising activities.
- Use the information from your assigned therapist to provide a summary outcome resulting from your treatments to your referrer, where the referrer is a medical professional.
- Undertake research into the efficacy of the treatments the charity provides. In the event we carryout research using data gathered from client treatments and client outcomes all information which could be used to identify any individual client shall be removed.
- Dealing with any queries that you have about the work of our charity or information we hold.
How long do we keep your information for?
We will hold your personal information on our systems for a maximum period of six years.
Who do we share the information with?
The initial information provided by you (the client) or on your behalf by your GP Practice, Care Nurse, or any other health care professional, or a member of your family, is shared with your assigned therapist.
Your assigned therapist will (if you have agreed) pass a copy of your treatment notes to the charity.
The right to object to the use of your personal information
If we happen to be processing your personal information for research or statistics, you have the right to object to your information being used in this way.
For more details, it’s recommended that you check the guidance outlined on the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review, and may change it at any time. We will tell you about any significant changes.