At Citizens Advice Welwyn Hatfield, we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people's lives.

This privacy policy explains how we use your information and what your rights are. We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection law and our confidentiality policy. The following pages tell you more about how we use your information in more detail.

Our network

Citizens Advice is a membership organisation made up of the national Citizens Advice charity and many local offices across England and Wales, including Citizens Advice Welwyn Hatfield. Citizens Advice Welwyn Hatfield is an independent charity and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity.

All members of the Citizens Advice network are responsible for keeping your personal information safe and making sure data protection law is followed.

Members of the network also run some jointly designed services and use some of the same systems to process your personal data. In these instances we are joint data controllers for these activities.

Jointly controlled data

All offices in the Citizens Advice network use some joint systems to carry out our activities. These include joint case management systems, telephony platforms and more.

Staff from a different local Citizens Advice can only access your personal information in a joint system if they have a good reason. For example when:

• you go to a different office to seek advice
• more than one office is working together in partnership
• they need to investigate a complaint or incident

We have rules and controls in place to stop people accessing or using your information when they shouldn’t.

Tell an adviser if you’re worried about your details being on a national system. We’ll work with you to take extra steps to protect your information - for example by recording your problem without using your name.

National Citizens Advice has a privacy notice available on their website that covers general advice and nationally managed systems, including our case management systems. This policy covers the processing we carry out in our office.

 How we use your data for advice

This section covers how we use your data to provide you with advice.

For general advice and nationally funded advice programmes please see the national Citizens Advice privacy notice.

How we collect your information

We collect data in line with the Citizens Advice Policy which can be found at: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/

What information we collect

We ask for information in line with the Citizens Advice Policy:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/

What we use your information for

We use your information in line with the Citizens Advice Policy: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/information/citizens-advice-privacy-policy/

 Our confidentiality policy

At Citizens Advice we have a confidentiality policy which states that anything you tell us as part of advice will not be shared outside of the Citizens Advice network unless you provide your permission for us to do so.

There are some exceptions to this such as needing to share:

• to comply with the law - for example, if a court orders us to share information. This is called ‘legal obligation’
• to protect someone’s life - for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client was unwell at our office. This is called ‘vital interests’
• to carry out our legitimate aims and goals as a charity - for example, to create statistics for our national research. This is called ‘legitimate interests’
• for us to carry out a task where we’re meeting the aims of a public body in the public interest - for example, delivering a government or local authority service. This is called ‘public task’
• to carry out a contract we have with you - for example, if you’re an employee we might need to store your bank details so we can pay you. This is called ‘contract’
• to defend our legal rights - for example, sharing information with our legal advisors if there was a complaint that we gave the wrong advice

Who we share your information with

We will sometimes refer you to a partner organisation and will, with your permission, share your date so they can help you more effectively.

These partners include:

• Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
• Local grant giving charities
• Other voluntary organisations providing services and support
• Trussell Food Bank
• Paradigm Housing Association.

How we use your data for research, feedback and statistics

We collect anonymised data to improve services, monitor trends, and meet funding requirements. Any data shared for research is anonymised to protect your identity. We process this under ‘legitimate interests’.

 How we use your data when applying to work or volunteer

If you apply for a job or volunteer role with us, we collect personal information such as:

• Your name, contact details and work history.
• References and right to work verification.
• If required for the role, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

This data is used solely for recruitment purposes and will be kept securely for only as long as necessary. We process recruitment data under ‘contract’ and ‘legal obligation’ where required.

How we use your data when using our website

We collect limited data, such as IP addresses and cookies to improve website functionality. Data processing is based on ‘legitimate interests’.

 How long we keep your data for

National Citizens Advice is responsible for managing any data in joint client case records. For more information please see their privacy notice.

We retain data for only as long as necessary:

• Advice records: 6 years
• Recruitment records (unsuccessful applicants): 1 year
• Volunteer and employee records: duration of engagement plus 6 years
• Feedback and survey responses: kept only as long as needed to meeting reporting requirements and improve our services. We regularly review this and delete data when it’s no longer necessary.

Your data protection rights

You have rights in relation to your personal data that we hold. Your rights include being able to request:

• Access to copies of your data
• Corrections are made to inaccurate data
• Deletion of your personal data
• Object to how we use your personal data

These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every circumstance. For more information about your rights you can visit the ICO website.

To make a data protection rights request you can do so by emailing bureau@whcab.org.uk .

Raising a concern about how we use your information

If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information please contact us at bureau@whcab.org.uk .

You can also contact the national charity if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data or wish to raise a concern about how a local office has handled your personal data. To do so you can email us at DPO@citizensadvice.org.uk

Contacting the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

You can also raise your concern with the Information Commissioner's Office which regulates data protection law in the UK. if you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information. They will normally expect you to have made a complaint to us directly in the first instance.

• Visit the ICO website.
• Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
• Helpline number: 0303 123 1113