Privacy Policy

Data protection

This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use and store any data you provide to us or we collect from you. For this purpose, Broadening Choices for Older People (BCOP) is known as the data controller.

BCOP is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy whilst remaining compliant with The General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the Data Protection Act, 1998 (DPA). This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us.

What information we collect

If you are a resident or tenant at one of our schemes, we will only collect personal data from you, and where appropriate, family members or healthcare professionals, required in order to provide our services to you.

This includes current, former and prospective customers who use our services.

We collect information for a variety of purposes as outlined below.

The information you give us may include:

your name
contact details, including previous address/es, email address, phone numbers
date of birth
nationality
details of next of kin
relevant financial data such as bank details, tax and national insurance, or where appropriate, your income details or details of who is paying for your support or care

Where appropriate, we may ask for additional information. This might include:

relevant health records
photographic ID
details of referees
details of information to process any welfare benefit or fee funding enquiry including signposting you to, and in some cases, and with your permission, sharing your details with other third parties, agencies and authorities.

Sensitive Information

In order that we are able to provide you with the services you require, for example to assist you with a housing enquiry, or when you seek access to our care services, we will request additional ‘sensitive’ information from you. This information may come directly from you, or from a third party on your behalf, for example from a family member or a medical professional. Examples of this sensitive information includes any medical conditions you may have or your racial or ethnic origin.

We will normally only hold, use and share this ‘sensitive’ information with authorised individuals and organisations in the housing, health and/or social care field. There may be occasions when we are required to share your ‘sensitive’ information by law, or to protect your vital interests, for example, if requested by the police or emergency services, or by our insurers or solicitors.

Family members or advocates

If you are a family member or advocate of one of our service users, we may require the following information from you in order to process your family member’s application to use our services, and to help us monitor the quality of our provision. We will usually collect:

Your name
Your contact details
Your bank or credit card details, if helping to pay for care fees
Your preferred method/s for us to contact you

Where it is appropriate, we may ask for additional information. We use your data to:

Provide you and your family member with the service or information requested
Maintain records of your relationship with us
Understand how we can improve our services and information
With your consent, provide you with updates and marketing material about our services.

Supporters

If you support us, for example, you make a donation or plan to leave a legacy, we will usually collect:

Your name
Your contact details
Your bank or credit card details (In order to process your donation, for example)
Whether, and how you prefer to be contacted regarding further information or marketing material about BCOP

Where it is appropriate, we may ask for additional information. We use your data to:

Provide you with the service or information you have asked for
Administer your purchase or donation, including processing gift aid
Maintain records of your relationship with us
Understand how we can improve our services and information

Volunteers

If you volunteer we will usually collect:

Your name
Your contact details
Details of where and how you volunteer for the charity
Whether and how you prefer to be contacted regarding further information or marketing material about BCOP

Where it is appropriate, we may ask for additional information. We use your data to:

Administer your volunteering activity
Maintain records of your relationship with us
Understand how we can improve our services and information

Employees

We will collect all personal information required to comply with employment legislation, including where necessary, sensitive information. We collect data about you in a variety of ways and this will usually start when we undertake a recruitment exercise where we will collect the data from you directly. The recruitment process may include a criminal record search and where appropriate medical information. We will request information from the employee or volunteer on religion, gender and ethnicity in order to ensure equality and diversity, and to prevent discrimination.

Full details of our Employee Privacy Policy is available here.

In relation to recruitment for roles at BCOP, details of unsuccessful applicants will be kept for a period of 12 months and then destroyed.

CCTV

In order to prevent and detect crime, and to ensure the safety of our service users and staff we operate CCTV systems at some of our schemes. These cameras record footage in real-time and are accessed and controlled by our own staff. Captured images will be deleted after 14 days in accordance with our CCTV policy unless required for evidentiary purposes.

Details of our CCTV policy are available on request.

How we use your personal information

BCOP respects the confidentiality of any personal data you share with us, or that we get from other organisations. We undertake to keep it safe and will take every effort to protect your privacy.

We will only use your information for the purpose for which it has been given to us.

Provide you with the service or information that you have requested
Maintain a record of your relationship with us
Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted
Understand how we can improve our services and information

How we store your personal information

We value your privacy and will keep your information safe. We have robust processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of our data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access and use of the data.

How long we keep your data for

We will only keep your data for the amount of time necessary to achieve the purpose for which it is collected. Some types of personal information are subject to a specific period of retention.

Personal data is deleted or securely destroyed at the end of its retention period. Further information on our retention periods can be requested from BCOP.

Who we share your personal information with and why

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. However, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

We will not disclose your information to any third parties for marketing purposes. We will never sell your personal information. We will only share your information as needed with partners providing services to you, with your agreement or in the case of an emergency. There may be exceptions where we need to share your data without your consent such as for legal reasons but we will always consider your privacy in these instances.

Decisions on whether we release data to third parties are subject to a detailed assessment of:

Who is requesting the data
The purpose for which it is required
The level and sensitivity of data requested
The arrangements in place to store and handle the data.

Your rights

Individual’s rights in relation to personal data include:

the right of access or to obtain a copy of your personal data, held by BCOP
the right to correct or update personal data
the right to complain
the right to object, block or put on hold processing
the right to be forgotten
the right of data portability to another provider
the right to be compensated for damage or distress
rights related to automated decision making (machine based judgements).

If you wish to see what personal information we hold about you (a subject access request), please put your request in writing to:

BCOP

Waterside House,

Unit 3 Waterside Business Park,

1649 Pershore Road,

Stirchley,

Birmingham,

B30 3FH

Email: general@bcop.org.uk

We will first need to verify your identity and a fee may be requested to process your request. We aim to respond to your request within 28 days on receiving appropriate proof of identification.

In some cases you might have the right to have your data erased or the right to object or restrict how we process your data but there may be reasons why this is not possible. You will receive a response to your request in writing.

Changes to our privacy policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes in the way we treat your personal information, or to the Privacy Policy, we will make that clear on our website or by email, so that you are able to review the changes.