Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Poverty Alliance (“we”) promises to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we get from other organisations and keep it safe. We aim to be clear when we collect your data and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect.

Under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), from 25th May 2018, we will be moving to be an ‘opt-in only’ policy. This means that we will only send communications to those that have explicitly stated that they are happy for us to do so via their preferred channel(s) (email, SMS, phone or post).

Our communications include information about our latest events, publications, membership applications and renewals, campaigns and information on poverty. If you would like to receive such communications but have not opted in please contact us on 0141 353 0440 or admin@povertyalliance.org.

Where we collect information about you from

We collect information in the following ways:

When you give it to us DIRECTLY

You may give us your information in order to become a member of the Poverty Alliance, sign up for one of our events, tell us your story, make a donation, take part in our activities or communicate with us.

When you give it to us INDIRECTLY

Your information may be shared with us by independent event organisers, or fundraising sites like Just Giving. These independent third parties will only do so when you have indicated that you wish to share your information with the Poverty Alliance and with your consent. You should check their Privacy Policy when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.

When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share or it is available publicly

We may combine the information you provide to us with information available from external sources in order to gain a better understanding of our supporters to improve our work.

The information we get from other organisations may depend on your privacy settings or the responses you give, so you should regularly check them. This information comes from the following sources:

Third party organisations

You may have provided permission for a company or other organisation to share your data with third parties, including other charities. This could be when you buy a product or service e.g. Poverty Awareness Training, register for an online event or sign up with a comparison site e.g. Living Wage Scotland.

Social Media

Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, WhatsApp or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.

Information available publicly

This may include information found in places such as Companies House and information that has been published in articles/newspapers.

When we collect it as you use our website or apps

Like most websites, we use “cookies” to help us make our site – and the way you use it – better. Cookies mean that a website will remember you. They’re small text files that sites transfer to your computer (or phone or tablet). They make interacting with a website faster and easier – for example by automatically filling your name and address in text fields. There are more details in our Cookie Policy.

In addition, the type of device you’re using to access our website or apps and the settings on that device may provide us with information about your device, including what type of device it is, what specific device you have, what operating system you’re using, what your device settings are, and why a crash has happened. Your device manufacturer or operating system provider will have more details about what information your device makes available to us.

The type and quantity of information we collect and how we use it depends on why you are providing it.

Supporters

If you support us, for example make a donation, volunteer, sign up for an event or join one of our campaigns we will usually collect:

  • Your name
  • Your contact details
  • Your date of birth
  • Your bank or credit card details.

Where it is appropriate (e.g. if you volunteer with us, travel abroad with us on business or represent us at events etc.) we may also ask for:

  • Information relating to your health (for example if you have a disability or have special dietary requirements)
  • Your next-of-kin in case of an emergency
  • Your passport and/or driving licence details

We will mainly use your data to:

  • Provide you with the services, products or information you asked for
  • Keep a record of your relationship with us
  • Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted
  • Understand how we can improve our services, products or information.

If you enter your details onto one of our online forms, and you don’t ‘send’ or ‘submit’ the form, we may contact you to see if we can help with any problems you may be experiencing with the form or our websites.

We may also use your personal information to detect and reduce fraud.

Members

If you decide to become a member of the Poverty Alliance we will usually collect:

  • Your name
  • Your contact details
  • Your date of birth
  • Your bank or credit card details.

Where it is appropriate we may also ask for:

Information relating to your health (for example if you have a disability or have special dietary requirements)

If you become a member of our Board of Directors we will also provide your information to Companies House

Direct communications

With your consent, we will contact you to let you know about the progress we are making on tackling poverty, our events and campaigns and to ask for your support and participation. Occasionally, we may include information from partner organisations or organisations that support us in these communications. We make it easy for you to tell us how you want us to communicate, in a way that suits you. Our forms have clear communications preference questions and we include information on how to opt out when we contact you. If you don’t want to hear from us, that’s fine. Just let us know when you provide your data or contact us on 0141 353 0440 or admin@povertyalliance.org

We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing. But, if we run an event in partnership with another named organisation your details may need to be shared. We will be very clear what will happen to your data when you register.

Sharing your story

Some people choose to tell us about their experiences of poverty to help further our work. They may take on a role as an activist or volunteer, attend our member or activist focused events or sit on our committees or steering groups. This may include them sharing sensitive information related to their health and family life in addition to their biographical and contact information.

We use some of the information provided, including gender, ethnicity or how people have experienced poverty, to target opportunities to get involved. We will also monitor the types of people who are involved to ensure that the views we hear are representative of all people affected by poverty.

If we have the explicit and informed consent of the individuals, or their parent or guardian if they are under 18, this information may be made public by us at events, in materials promoting our campaigning, fieldwork and policy work, or in documents such as our annual report.

Children’s data

We occasionally collect and manage information from children, for example during our research work, and aim to manage it in a way which is appropriate to the age of the child and in line with our Child Protection policy and procedures. Information is usually collected when children attend our events or take part in research for us.

Where possible and appropriate we will seek consent from a parent or guardian before collecting information about children. Our events have specific rules about whether children can participate, and we‘ll make sure advertising for those events is age appropriate.

Keeping your information safe and secure

We ensure that there are appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details. For example our online forms are always encrypted and our network is protected and routinely monitored.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

We use external companies to collect or process personal data on our behalf. We do comprehensive checks on these companies before we work with them, and put a contract in place that sets out our expectations and requirements, especially regarding how they manage the personal data they have collect or have access to.

Some of our suppliers run their operations outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Although they may not be subject to same data protection laws as companies based in the UK, we will take steps to make sure they provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with UK data protection law. By submitting your personal information to us you agree to this transfer, storing or processing at a location outside the EEA.

We may need to disclose your details if required to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors.

We will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your explicit and informed consent.

Keeping your information up to date

Where possible we use publicly available sources to keep your records up to date; for example, the Post Office’s National Change of Address database and information provided to us by other organisations as described above.

We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change

Your right to know what we know about you, make changes or ask us to stop using your data

Under GDPR, you have a right to ask us to stop processing your personal data (the right to be forgotten), and if it’s not necessary for the purpose you provided it to us for (e.g. becoming a member or registering you for an event) we will do so. Contact us on 0141 353 0440 or admin@povertyalliance if you have any concerns.

You have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. If there are any discrepancies in the information we provide, please let us know and we will correct them.

If you have any questions please send these to admin@povertyalliance, and for further information see the Information Commissioner’s guidance here(link is external).

Changes to this Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on the Poverty Alliance website and/or by contacting you directly.

In the event of a sale or acquisition of some or all of Our business or assets, customer information may be one of the assets transferred.

If you have any questions concerning your personal information, about how We use your information, if your personal details change or if you change your mind about any of your marketing preferences, please contact us at admin@povertyalliance.org