Privacy notice
Our contact details
Name: Marjie Walker, CEO, The Link Visiting Scheme
Address: The Charity & Community Hub, Waterford House, Erfstadt Court, Wokingham RG4O 2YF
Phone number: 0118 979 8019 / E-mail: marjie@linkvisiting.org
The type of personal information we collect
We currently collect and process the following information:
Personal identifiers, e.g. name, date of birth, address; phone, email
The information provided will never be disclosed to any external organisation without your explicit consent unless to safeguard yourself or another, or if directed by a court of law.
For the purposes of carrying out our activities, information may be shared with our volunteers – all of whom have an up-to-date DBS certificate.
How we get the information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you, or your representative, for one of the following reasons:
To communicate and provide you with information about the many services we provide
To liaise with our volunteers to provide our 1:1 befriending service
We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:
From those making a referral to The Link on your behalf, e.g. GPs, other charities, social services
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
Your consent - you are able to remove your consent at any time and can do this by contacting marjie@linkvisiting.org
We have a vital interest – the information is vital to protecting, safeguarding and protecting someone’s life or wellbeing.
We need it to perform a public task – the provision of our services is in the public interest and enables us to reduce, prevent and eliminate the need for social services.
How your personal information is stored
Your digital information is securely stored on our systems and backed up by our approved third-party provider on a rolling 24-hour basis. Your hard copy information is held within our locked offices – accessible only by authorised members of the Link. We keep information for as long as it is of use to the Link, after which time it is deleted from our systems. Hardcopy information is securely shredded and disposed of.
Your data protection rights
A right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights unless it results in excessive effort and/or use of the Link’s resources.
If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. Please contact us to request a Subject Access Request form if you wish to make a request.
Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information and wish to make a complaint, you can contact us at: marjie@linkvisiting.org and we will send you a Complaint Form.
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113 / ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk