At MACS, we are committed to being clear what information we hold about you and how we keep it safe and private. You have rights around how we use and share this information and this policy is to help you understand this.
Emma McGinnity, MACS HR Manager is responsible for making sure we follow this policy. She can be contacted at emmamcginnity@macsni.org if you have any questions about the information we hold about you. You can also talk to your worker or their manager.
Meanings
- Personal data: any information about you and can identify you.
- Special categories of personal data: information about your religion or religious/philosophical beliefs, political opinions, race, ethnic origin, health, sexual orientation.
What information we hold
MACS collects and processes a range of information about you. This may include:
- your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number, date of birth and gender;
- your national insurance number (if needed);
- information about your next of kin, parents, children and emergency contacts;
- information about your nationality and ability to work in the UK;
- information about your criminal record;
- details of your attendance at work or school to help us plan meetings with you;
- information about medical or health conditions, including whether or not you have a disability to see if we can support you with this;
- equal opportunities monitoring information including information about your ethnic origin, religion or belief.
MACS may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, from your referral, Getting to Know You, Support Plan or meetings we have with you. In some cases, we may collect personal data about you from other people for example, a social worker, CPN or we speak to your parents/carers.
Data Protection Rules (GDPR)
MACS holds your information based on the following rules:
- We process your information lawfully, fairly and clearly.
- We collect information from you for clear and specific reasons.
- We process information only when it is relevant and on a need to know basis.
- We keep your information up to date.
- We keep your information only for as long as is needed.
- We make sure your information is kept safe and protected against use by people who shouldn’t know it, accidental loss, or damage.
MACS will tell you why we are collecting your information and how we use it. We will not use your information for any other reasons than what we tell you. We need you to let us know if any of your information changes like if you move house or get a new phone. If you tell us your information has changed or is not right, we will make sure to update your records as soon as possible.
The information we gather about you during your support will be kept in your file, on an encrypted server or on our database called SPIN. We always make sure to keep this information safe by keeping files locked in a cupboard, and our laptops and SPIN are password protected and encrypted. If we find out that your information has not been used properly or has got lost, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner within 72 hours of finding out.
Your Rights
You have a number of rights around the information we hold about you. You have the right to see information held about you at any time. You also have the right to know:
- What information we hold.
- Who we share information with.
- How long we keep your information.
- How we make sure your information is right or changed when needed.
- You can complain to the Information Commissioner if you think we haven’t looked after your information properly.
We can give you a copy of the information we hold about you if you want it even after you have ended your support for up to 7 years. To do this you can send an email or write a letter to Emma McGinnity. She may ask to see ID to make sure we don’t give your information to the wrong person. We will normally get back to you within a month of you asking. If there is a lot of information, it could take between 1 to 3 months to get it sent to you.
Who else has access to your information
Workers and some managers may have access to some of your information. We will tell you if and when, who will have access to this information and why. If you have a volunteer, we may also give them some information about you but we will talk to you about that and agree what they know beforehand.
We will not share your information with anyone else unless you tell us we can for example your social worker, CPN, CAMHS worker etc. The only time we need to do this without your permission is if we think you or someone else is in danger. This is in line with our Child Protection and Adults at Risk policies and procedures. If you are under age 18, we may agree with you about sharing information with your parents/carers at the Getting to Know You meeting.
Anyone who has access to your information must:
- Only access it if they have to, for example if your worker is off sick and they want to check in with you.
- Maintain your confidentiality, sharing information with others only if they are concerned about your safety or wellbeing.
- Keep your information safe and secure.
- Not keep your information for longer than they need to.
How long we keep your information
MACS will hold your information for as long as you get support. When you move on from MACS we keep your information for another 7 years in case you or we ever need access to it again.
Changes
We may need to change or update this privacy notice at any time, and we will give you a new privacy notice when we make any big updates.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact Emma McGinnity at emmamcginity@macsni.org