Privacy Policy

Privacy and Cookies

YWHP helps many young women every year struggling with the impact of abuse through our specialist therapeutic support and safe supported housing; working in partnership with other support providers to provide support tailored to individual need.

When doing this, we process personal data about our clients and their children who receive advice, guidance, and therapeutic and/or housing support services from us. 

We also process personal data of anyone who supports us through donations, volunteering or occasionally campaigns/research.  

We are committed to protecting the privacy of our clients and supporters and take this responsibility very seriously. We therefore take care to safeguard it. This notice outlines what data we collect, use, and how we protect your personal data and your rights.

This notice includes any data we collect from you during your relationship with YWHP.  This may be via:

• Any paper forms you fill out
• Verbal data collection
• Forms via our website, or online surveys
• Communication via social media
• Photographs, video or audio recordings.

References to ‘we’ or ‘us’ are to Young Women’s Housing Project, registered charity no: 1143995, Company Number; 7698405 of PO Box 303, Sheffield S1 1YD.

If you have any questions, please telephone our office 0114 2680580, or contact us at ywhp@ywhp.org.uk

We regularly check this notice to ensure we provide you with the most up-to-date information regarding our data processing activities. We strongly advise you to read this page from time to time to ensure you are happy with any changes that might be made.

This privacy notice was introduced July 1019. We also have a YWHP Client Privacy notice that will be issued as part of our referral process and a Staff & Volunteer Privacy Notice which will be issued as part of our recruitment process.

Why we collect your data

We only collect personal details needed to fulfil the service you expect from YWHP. Depending on the service you receive, the information required may include:

• The personal details required to allow YWHP to provide you with advice and support that you have requested or been referred for. This may cover contact information, employment and financial details, family, health, lifestyle and social circumstances etc
• Recording of personal details shared during conversations with our support staff and project managers
• Personal details needed for the administration of any training course booked on your behalf
• Data needed to record and contact you regarding payments you make to YWHP
• Administration of the service YWHP is providing to you
• Contact details to allow communication with you regarding YWHP fundraising
• Data for job applications or volunteer placements
• Participation in surveys and research (this is on a voluntary basis)
• Information to improve YWHP services and user experiences

Our legal basis for processing our personal data will therefore be contractual in most cases in order to fulfil an expected service and/or relationship. However, we may also will gain your consent where specified below.

Using your personal data

Clients or potential clients:

If you apply for and/or are receiving advice, guidance or support from us, we will need to process your data because of your specific relationship with us. The legal basis for using your data is contractual in order to be able to provide the service or services you have requested of us; however, due to the sensitive nature of information needed in order to provide the right service for you and if applicable your children, we will also only process your data with your written consent for you and if applicable your children.

We will keep all your case information – including notes, letters and information given to us about you – in a confidential record that is specific to you. We use both paper versions and an electronic client management system (CMS) to support our advice, guidance and support. This means that we can keep the information you provide us safe, and we are able to see the history and relevant details of your case(s). This ensures that we provide appropriate and accurate advice and/or support. We take information security very seriously. No one is allowed access to our system or files unless they need this in order to provide the service to you or one of the other purposes discussed in this notice.

When you call our main office number, the details will be recorded in a paper log. This is used to ensure accurate and timely sharing of information between our support worker team to provide the support you and/or assistance required. 

In order to make sure that our services meet a high standard of quality, client files are regularly checked by our senior officer. Files may also be checked by external auditors if the work we do is funded by another organisation, such as a local authority agency. All auditors are bound by confidentiality policies.

We may use your data for statistical reports. These statistics will not include any information that could be used to identify any individual.

We will only process your data for the following purposes with your consent:

• Communications about our charitable purpose and fundraising
• Marketing purposes
• YWHP service questionnaires
• In house research questionnaires
• Informing you about activities and services provided by YWHP and partner organisations

We use Microsoft Office 365 and Azure products for our internal office use. This means that internal documents and information which are generated by YWHP are stored in cloud services which are hosted within the European Economic Area (EEA). Our CMS is hosted in a UK datacentre and access is encrypted. When you access our services, you will receive further details about our data security procedures.

Staff, Volunteers:

When you apply for a job or voluntary position with YWHP, your personal data will be collated in order to monitor the progression of your application, and monitor the effectiveness of the recruitment process through the statistics collected. Where we need to share your data – such as gathering references or obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Services – you will be informed and consent gathered beforehand. These checks are only done after a position has been offered to the successful candidate.  

Personal data about unsuccessful applicants are held for 6 months after the recruitment exercise is complete for that particular vacancy. Applicants can ask us to remove your data before this time if you do not want us to hold it. If we feel there is another suitable vacancy available, we will contact the applicant to see if they would like us to consider them for an alternative vacancy to that which they originally applied for.

Once you have taken up employment with YWHP, we will compile a file relating to your employment. The information contained in this will be kept secure and will only be used for purposes directly relevant to your employment. Once your employment with YWHP has ended, we will retain the file in accordance with the requirements of our retention schedule and then delete it from our files.

Supporters:

If you make a donation or fundraise for us, we will keep your contact details and details of your organisation and donation securely electronically. We will only initiate processing of your data for the following purposes with your consent:

• Communications about our charitable purpose and fundraising.
• Marketing/publicity purposes.
• YWHP service questionnaires.
• In house research questionnaires.
• Informing you about activities and services provided by YWHP and partner organisations.

Retention of your data

Whatever your relationship with us, we will only store your information for a specific amount of time. This may depend on a law or regulations that the information falls under such as financial regulations, Limitations Act, Health and Safety regulation etc., or any contractual obligation we might have – such as with government contracts or if we have a business case, such as with research data. For business case data, we will anonymise the data so no individual is identifiable. Once the retention period has expired, the information will be securely disposed of and/or permanently deleted.

Disclosure of your personal data

We will not, without your consent, supply any of your personal data to any third party – except where:

• The transfer is required to enable appropriate support and we have your consent to do so
• The transfer is to a secure data processor, which carries out data processing operations on our behalf such as payroll
• We are required to do so by law enforcement or regulatory bodies where this is required or allowed under the relevant legislation.

If there is a situation where we are asked to share your data with other support services, funders or third-party survey providers, we will make sure you are informed of this request and will obtain your consent to share your data. We will make sure your details are safe, secure and only used for the purpose you have provided them to us for.

We will never share or sell your personal data to a third-party organisation for marketing, fundraising or campaigning purposes.

Use of data processors

We use third party companies to process staff payroll and provide HR and IT support.

We actively screen these companies to maximise the protection of your privacy and security. They are only permitted to use the data in accordance with the GDPR and UK Data Protection legislation, under strict instructions from YWHP.

Fundraising/campaigning/direct marketing

Occasionally we would like to keep supporters up to date with our fundraising, marketing and occasional campaign activity. We will obtain your consent to contact you by email, phone or text. We may supplement or add to the data we hold about you with information that is either from publicly available sources or from organisations you have permitted to disclose such information. This allows us to assess the accuracy and improve upon the data we hold, in order to send you the information and fundraising appeals we believe you may be interested in.

We will never share or sell your personal data to a third-party organisation for their marketing, fundraising or campaigning purposes.

If you would like to change your consent, update your details or unsubscribe from our communications at any point, you can do this by contacting our main office on one of the following:

• By email: ywhp@ywhp.org.uk
• By post: YWHP, PO Box 303, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 1YD
• By telephone: on 0114 2680 580

If you make any changes to your consent, we will update your record as soon as we possibly can.  

Security of your personal data

We use technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.

Cookies

A cookie is a small data file that is downloaded from a website to your computer, to make the site easier to use in a number of ways. For example, it may store details that you submit on the site, such as your personal settings, your location, so you don’t need to enter information more than once.

Using cookies does not allow us to identify users personally; we will only store information that you’ve specifically given us permission for.

Our website uses a small number of cookies to give us a better overall picture of how people interact with the site, and how we can improve our services to our clients and supporters. The information we gather through this process is completely anonymous, and visitors to the site cannot be identified.

We use some tools on our pages from social networks, such as Twitter. Any information used via these tools is not shown to us, and we don’t store any information from them. Please refer to each site’s own privacy policies for more information.

Storing information during your visit to our website

At certain points when you’re on the YWHP website, you may submit information that you want the site to remember during your visit. For example, when you input your email address and this is passed through to another page, then continue to browse on other pages.

This information is only stored in a cookie during the time you’re on our site. We will only store it elsewhere when you give us permission to do so (such as if you visit and enter information on the donation platform or contact us for further information), and this will be done via the relevant sites’ secure systems.

Controlling and deleting cookies on your computer

All browsers allow you to manage which cookies you accept, reject and delete. You can usually find these controls under the ‘Preferences’ or ‘Tools’ menu. You can find more detail about individual browser settings at http://www.aboutcookies.org.

If you choose not to accept cookies from our website, some sections may not work properly.

Your rights

Right to access

• You have the right under the GDPR and UK Data Protection legislation to know what information we hold about you and to ask, in writing, to see and/or have a paper &/or electronic copy your records. This is called a Subject Access request.

YWHP should execute a Data Subject Access request “without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt of the request.” This may be extended by a further two months where requests are complex or numerous. If this is the case, the individual must be informed within one month of the receipt of the request and an explanation given as to why the extension is necessary. We may charge you for this. You will be asked for proof of identity as the person dealing with your request may not be the staff member you have met before. We need to be sure we are only releasing your personal data to you.

A Subject Access Request can be done via:

• Emailing: ywhp@ywhp.org.uk FAO the HR Manager

OR

• Writing to the HR Manager, c/o YWHP, PO Box 303, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 1YD

Right to be informed

• If you are receiving support from us we must inform you about what information we will collect, how we will hold and use it and we must obtain your consent in writing – including parental consent for any information about your child/children if applicable
• By accepting our terms of employment or supporter and/or volunteer agreements you consent to us holding and using your information for in line with contractual and legal requirements

Right to withdraw consent

• You can withdraw your consent, incl. parental consent (if applicable) if you are receiving support from us
• You can refuse to let us use your or your child’s/children’s information for marketing purposes – we would never use your or your child/children’s information for marketing purposes without your consent.

Right to object

• You have the right to object to us processing data where we are relying on it being within our legitimate interests to do so (e.g. to send you direct marketing by post). To do this or to discuss this right further with us, please contact us using the details below.

Right to restrict processing

• In certain situations, you have the right to ask for processing of your and/or your child/children’s personal information to be restricted because there is a disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

Right to erasure

• You may have the right for your information to be erased from our records and to ensure it is erased from records held by any organisation we have passed this on to, however, this is subject to certain circumstances due to YWHP’s legal basis for collecting and using your information and YWHP will always take legal advice before doing this.

Right to rectification

• Any information that we hold about you or your child/children should be accurate and we must correct it if it isn’t as quickly as possible, including any information that we have passed onto another organisation

Right to data portability

• You may request that we send the information we hold on you to another professional person or organisation, however, this is subject to certain circumstances due to YWHP’s legal basis for collecting and using your information and YWHP will always take legal advice before doing this

Right to complain

• You can complain if you think that we have not handled your or your child’s/children’s information properly including getting help from government organisation we are accountable to, the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

Updating your information

If you believe that any of the personal information held or processed by us is incorrect or needs up dating, please contact us using the contact details below. We will correct it as soon as we possibly can.

Complaints

Any concerns or complaints about how your information has been handled by YWHP should be firstly directed in writing to the YWHP HR Manager using the YWHP complaints form, using the contact details below.

If you are not satisfied with the response you get, you should contact:

The Information Commissioner for advice:

Website: www.ico.org.uk  Helpline: 0303-123-1113

Or write to: The Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Details about why the complaint has not been handled in a satisfactory manner and any appeals following a complaint should be submitted to the YWHP in writing and will be dealt with by the YWHP Management Committee.

You are also entitled to make a complaint to the Fundraising Regulator.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this policy, would like more information, or want to exercise any of the rights set out above, you can get in touch with us in the following ways:

1. ywhp@ywhp.org.uk for the attention of the HR Manager
2. 0114 2680580 (local rate number)
3. FAO the HR Manager, Young Women’s Housing Project, PO Box 303, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 1YD