Privacy Policy
The Charterhouse is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and any subsequent UK legislation covering data protection the Data Controller is The Charterhouse.
This Policy sets out why we collect personal information about individuals and how we use that information. It explains the legal basis for this and the rights you have over the way your information is used.
This Policy covers the Charterhouse and its subsidiary company in relation to the collection and use of the information you give us. We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on the website or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes. If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information please contact the Director of Operations at email gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or by post to The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.
What type of personal information we collect
The type and amount of information we collect depends on why you are providing it.
The information we collect when you make an enquiry or booking includes your name, email address, postal address and phone number etc.
If you are a supporter, for example making a donation, volunteering, helping to fundraise, signing up for an event in addition to asking for your name and contact details (your full address, email address and your phone number) we may also ask you for other data.
To process donations or payments we collect and hold bank or credit card details which we and our contractors process securely.
If you are a Brother or job applicant the information you are asked to provide is as set out in the application and necessary for the purposes of our considering the application.
How we collect information
We may collect information from you whenever you contact us or have any involvement with us, for example when you:
- visit our website (see our Cookies policy below)
- donate to us or fundraise for us
- enquire about our activities
- apply for our services (as a Brother), or a job, or interest in becoming a tenant
- sign up to receive news about our activities
- create or update a booking or supplier account
- post content onto our website/social media sites
- volunteer for us in any capacity including becoming a Governor or committee member
- attend a meeting with us and provide us with information, or take part in our events
- contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or post
Where we collect information from
We collect information:
(1) From you when you give it to us directly: You may provide your details when you ask us for information or make a booking or donation, apply to be a Brother, member of staff or volunteer, attend an event or contact us for any other reason.
(2) When you give it to us indirectly: Your information may be shared with us by other people, or organisations such as fundraising sites like CAF. They should only do so in the way they have set out in their own Privacy Policy which you should check when you give your details.
(3) When you have given other organisations permission to share it: Your information may be provided to us by other organisations if you have given them your permission. This might for example be a charity working with us or might be when you buy a product or service from a third party organisation. The information we receive from other organisations depends on your settings or the option responses you have given them.
(4) When you use our website: When you use our website information about you is recorded and stored. See the information about the use of cookies under that heading below.
(5) When it is in available on social media: Depending on your settings or the privacy policies applying for social media and messaging services you use, like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.
How we use your information
We will use your personal information in a number of ways which reflect the legal basis applying to processing of your data. These may include:
- providing you with the information or services you have asked for
- processing Brother or job or other applications
- processing donations you make, including processing for Gift Aid purposes
- organising volunteering activity you have told us you want to be involved in and in relation to the fundraising for us you are involved in
- sending you communications with your consent that may be of interest including marketing information about our services and activities, campaigns and appeals asking for donations and other fundraising activities and promotions for which we seek support
- when necessary for carrying out your obligations under any contract between us
- seeking your views on the services or activities we carry on so that we can make improvements
- maintaining our organisational records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
- analysing the operation of our website and analysing your website behaviour to improve the website and its usefulness
Our legal basis for processing your information
The use of your information for the purposes set out above is lawful because one or more of the following applies:
- Where you have provided information to us for the purposes of requesting information or requesting that we carry out a service for you, we will proceed on the basis that you have given consent to us using the information for that purpose, based on the way that you provided the information to us. You may withdraw consent at any time by emailing us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org
- This will not affect the lawfulness of processing of your information prior to your withdrawal of consent being received and actioned.
- It is necessary for us to hold and use your information so that we can carry out our obligations under a contract entered into with you or to take steps you ask us to prior to entering into a contract.
- It is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.
- Where the purpose of our processing is the provision of information or services to you, we may also rely on the fact that it is necessary for your legitimate interests that we provide the information or service requested, and given that you have made the request, would presume that there is no prejudice to you in our fulfilling your request.
- The provision of information to a third party to enable them to fulfil part of a request for assistance.
- Processing necessary to protect the vital interests of a beneficiary or member of staff/volunteer or other individuals and
- Processing necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the charity. If you want to contact us about your marketing preferences please contact gdpr@thecharterhouse.org
How we keep your information safe
We understand the importance of security of your personal information and take appropriate steps to safeguard it.
Our server is kept secure, all computers and relevant software are password protected. The number of staff users of personal data is as kept as small as possible.
We always ensure only authorised persons have access to your information, which means only our staff, volunteers and contractors, and that everyone who has access is appropriately trained to manage your information.
No data transmission over the internet can however be guaranteed to be 100% secure. So while we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online and you do this at your own risk.
Who has access to your information?
- Our staff and volunteers as necessary for the work they carry out
- Third parties who provide services for us, for example collecting or processing data, sending mailings and processing payments or donations. We select our third party service providers with care. We provide these third parties with the information that is necessary to provide the service and we will have an agreement in place that requires them to operate with the same care over data protection as we do.
- Third parties if we run an event in conjunction with them. We will let you know how your data is used when you register for any event.
- Analytics and search engine providers that help us to improve our website and its use.
Owing to matters such as financial or technical considerations the information you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), which are not subject to the same data protection regulations as apply in the UK. We meet our obligations under GDPR by ensuring that the information has equivalent protection as if it were being held within the EEA. We do this by ensuring that any third parties processing your data outside the EEA either benefits from an adequacy determination for GDPR purposes and/or, where appropriate, we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement which contains model EU clauses.
We may also disclose your personal information if we are required to do so under any legal obligation and may use external data for the purposes of fraud prevention and credit risk reduction, or where doing so would not infringe your rights, but is necessary and in the public interest.
Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.
Keeping your information up to date
We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change. You can do so by contacting us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org
Cookie policy and our use of “cookies”
“Cookies” are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enable the server to collect information from the browser. They are stored on your hard drive to allow our website to recognise you when you visit. In addition to the information which you supply to us, information and data may be automatically collected through the use of cookies. Cookies are small text files employed on our website to recognise repeat users and allow us to observe behaviour and compile aggregate data in order to improve the site for you. For example, cookies will tell us whether you viewed the site with sound or with text on your last visit. Cookies also allow us to count the number of unique and return visitors to our site. Some of our associated companies may themselves use cookies on their own websites. We have no access to, or control of these cookies, should this occur.
Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies. A persistent cookie consists of a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, which will be stored by the browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date (unless deleted by the user before the expiry date). A session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
The law states that we can store cookies on your machine if they are essential to the operation of the site, but that for all others we need your permission to do so. The list below explains the cookies we use and why:
- Cookie description: Google Analytics
Name: ga, _gid, _gat
Purpose: These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use
our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us
improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous
form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have
come to the site from and the pages they visited. - Cookie description: Shopping Basket
Name: PHPSESSID
Purpose:This cookie is used to keep track of what items are in a user’s shopping basket. - Cookie description:New Relic
Name: __cfduid
Purpose:This cookie is used to collect information about visitor’s experience of the site in terms of performance. This helps us to monitor that our systems are working quickly and effectively, and to identify any problematic areas. Visit the New Relic website.
Google Analytics sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and volumes of usage. This is to ensure that the service is available when you want it and is fast.
For further details on the cookies set by Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Code website. Cookies used: _ga, _gid, _gat.
Opting out of cookies
If you do not wish to receive cookies from us or any other website, you should be able to turn cookies off on your web browser: please follow your browser provider’s instruction in order to do so. Unfortunately, we cannot accept liability for any malfunctioning of your PC or its installed web browser as a result of any attempt to turn off cookies.
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Children’s Information
We appreciate that our supporters are of all ages. Where appropriate we will ask for consent from a parent or guardian to collect information about children (under 16s).
How long we keep your information for
We will hold your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity. By way of example, we hold records of donations you make for at least six years so we can fulfil our statutory obligations for tax purposes. Please see our Records Retention Policy here.
Where we rely on your consent to contact you for direct marketing purposes, we will treat your consent as lasting only for as long as it is reasonable to do so. We may periodically ask you to renew your consent.
If you ask us to stop contacting you with marketing or fundraising materials, we will keep a record of your contact details and limited information needed to ensure we comply with your request.
Your rights
You have the right to request details of the processing activities that we carry out with your personal information through making a Subject Access Request. Such requests have to be made in writing, and are subject to a charge of £10 – On or AFTER 25 May 2018 no charge may be made under GDPR except in very limited circumstances which will be explained to you if relevant. More details about how to make a request, and the procedure to be followed, can be found in our Data Protection Policy. To make a request contact us at gdpr@thecharterhouse.org
You also have the following rights:
- the right to request rectification of information that is inaccurate or out of date;
- the right to erasure of your information (known as the “right to be forgotten”);
- the right to restrict the way in which we are dealing with and using your information; and
- the right to request that your information be provided to you in a format that is secure and suitable for re-use (known as the “right to portability”);
- rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling including profiling for marketing purposes.
All of these rights are subject to certain safeguards and limits or exemptions, further details of which can be found in our Data Protection Policy. To exercise any of these rights, you should contact the gdpr@thecharterhouse.org or write to us at The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AN.
If you are not happy with the way in which we have processed or dealt with your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Further details about how to complain can be found here.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Policy may be changed from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on our website or contact you directly with the information.
Do please check this Policy each time you consider giving your personal information to us.