Privacy Policy

This policy was last updated in September 2020.

We take your privacy seriously. Here we explain how and why we use your personal information taken from our website, other websites we use to collect information and social media. Personal information is anything which identifies you.

We will not keep information about you longer than is necessary and will keep your information secure. We will never sell your personal data and will only share it with organisations where necessary by law (for example about the care of the people we support).

If you have any questions about this notice. Please contact us on headoffice@careexpertise.co.uk

1. About us

We will collect and use your personal information for Care Expertise Group Ltd.

2. What information do we collect?

We collect and use the information you provide to us. This includes applying for a job, registering your interest to volunteer, sending an enquiry, applying for one of our services. The personal information we collect may include:

  • your name, address, email address, telephone number
  • your date of birth
  • your qualifications and employment history
  • financial information such as credit/debit card, direct debit, or whether donations are gift-aided
  • details of your interests or preferences, such as whether you are interested in information about mental health services or learning disability services
  • national insurance number, declarations of previous convictions
  • equal opportunities monitoring information such as your ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation and religion or belief if you choose to share that with us
  • details of a disability you may have, if you wish to share this information
  • details of referees for job applications. 

We also collect details of your visits to our website, for example your location data, what type of device you use and what pages you visit. We cannot identify you with this information, however we can find out your IP address (the location of the computer on the internet). To find out more about cookies, see section 6 below.

We use photos and stories to help us to promote our work. We use these on a variety of different media, such as on our website, social media, and external websites. We would ask your consent before we use your photo, film, story or blog. We have a consent form, but we can also accept consent by email and verbally. At events, where there are large groups of people, we do our best to get consent from people. This is often done verbally. 

3. How we collect information about you

We collect information about you, from the details you give us. You may have emailed us, filled in an online form or donated to us. We will ask you to ‘opt-in’ for most communications. This includes surveys, newsletters, annual reviews and other communications.

We also collect information about you…

  • to manage your complaint, compliment or comment.
  • when you visit our website; we can find out more information from you, such as your IP address, what browser you are using and what computer operating system that is being used.
  • where it is required or authorised by law.

4. How we use information about you

4.1 Administration

We use personal information to carry out administrative tasks, like:

  • maintaining databases of job applicants, our staff, volunteers or supporters
  • processing your Disclosure and Barring Service check on a third party site

4.2 Job applications

We collect equality and diversity information about you when you apply for a job. This will be kept securely and not made available to anyone before or during shortlisting. It will not be used in deciding whether to shortlist you for interview or offer you employment. The information will only be used to monitor our practices. We will not share your personal information, except as part of an overall equal opportunities statistical report which will not identify individuals. We will only keep your information for as long as is necessary. 

5. Sharing your personal information

We will never sell your personal information to another organisation.

We will use your personal information with your consent and for the reasons you have given your consent. However, we may need to use your personal information in other ways, for example:

  • to enter into, or perform, a contract with you (for example if we have to transfer a service to a different provider under contract)
  • for legal reasons (for example carrying out DBS checks on job applicants)
  • to protect you from harm (for example if you are in crisis)
  • for our own (or a third parties) lawful interests, provided your rights don’t override these.

6. Cookies and links to other sites

6.1 What are cookies?

Cookies are simple ’text files’ containing two pieces of information: a site name and unique user ID. When you use this website for the first time, a cookie is downloaded to your PC or mobile/tablet. When you use this website again, we will ‘know’ that you have been here before.

Cookies cannot be used to identify you by name. You can change how cookies are stored on your device by clicking the ‘tools’ menu on your internet browser. Visit Gov.uk website to find out more about how to manage cookies.

6.2 Cookies for improving how you use our website

Google Analytics sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and what pages people are visiting. This helps us to design a website that helps you get the information you want easily. This site does not collect any information about you except that required for system administration of the website.

Cookies are stored in the cookie directory of your hard drive and do not expire at the end of your session. Although your browser may be set up to allow the creation of cookies, you can specify that you be prompted before a site puts a cookie on your hard disk, so that you can decide whether to allow or disallow the cookie. Alternatively, you can set your computer not to accept any cookie.

6.3 Cookies on this website from other companies & social networking websites

During your visit to the site you may notice some cookies that are not related to this website. This happens when you visit a page with content embedded from a third party (for example our job application software) or use some of the links to social networking sites. These websites may place cookies on your computer.

This website does not control how a third party uses their cookies. You should check these third-party websites’ privacy policies for more information about their cookies if you are concerned about this.

6.4 Log files

Log files allow us to record visitors’ use of the site. This site's administrative team puts together log file information from all our visitors, which we use to make improvements to the layout of the site and to the information in it, based on the way that visitors move around it. Log files do not contain any personal information about you.

6.5 Links to other sites

Our website may contain hyperlinks to other websites. We are not responsible for the content or functionality of any of those external websites (but please contact us to let us know if a link is not working).

If an external website requests personal information from you, the information you provide will not be covered by our privacy notice. Please read our section on Sharing your personal information.

7. Storing your information

We will only use and store information for so long as it is required for the purposes it was collected for. How long information will be stored for depends on the information and what it is being used for.

Electronic data and databases are stored on secure computer systems and we control who has access to information. We continually review what information we hold and delete what is no longer required. We never store payment card information.

8. Accessing, updating or changing your information

We want to make sure that you remain in control of your personal data. Part of this is making sure you understand your legal rights, which are as follows:

  • to be informed about what we do with your personal data
  • to access your information by contacting our Data Protection Officer
  • to be able to change your personal data if it is inaccurate
  • to be erased from our systems, unless it is necessary for us to hold it.
  • to object to us holding your personal data
  • to ask to take your personal data with you
  • to restrict us from processing all of your data
  • in automated decision-making – which we do not do.

9. Changes to this policy

We will update this privacy policy to make sure it stays up-to-date and accurate.

This policy was last updated in September 2020.