Privacy Policy

Aim

Canine Partners takes your privacy seriously. We are committed to protecting your personal information. This policy sets out how Canine Partners uses the information in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.

How we collect information about you

We may collect information given to us directly by you when you request any information about us or our services, apply for an assistance dog, rehome one of our dogs, complete any forms on the website, become a volunteer, register for one of our events, phone our office number, make a donation, sign up to a dog sponsorship scheme or purchase a product.

We may also collect information about you indirectly when you access our website including information about your computer, including where available your IP address, operating system and browser type, details of your visits to our website and the pages and resources that you access.

When you use our website, we collect your personal information using “cookies” and other tracking methods. There are more details on the cookies and tracking methods we use in our cookie policy.

What information we collect

We collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:

Your name

Your contact details including postal address, email address and telephone number

If you apply for an assistance dog, information necessary to process your application which may include details about your medical history as well as your current medical condition, whether you have armed forces services, details about your occupation, details of any benefits you receive, your gender, and your date of birth.

Date of death

Details of any fundraising pages relating to Canine Partners

Where you have left us a legacy, information on next of kin and solicitor details

Information as to whether you are a taxpayer to enable us to claim Gift Aid

If you attend our offices, we may store details such as licence plate and video footage

If you make a financial donation, we will store information about that donation but card details are never stored

Any other personal information you provide to us

How we will use your information

We will use your information to:

Answer any queries you have when you contact us via phone or email

Provide you with the services, products or information you asked for

Assess your application for an assistance dog or to rehome a dog

Provide you with ongoing support once you are partnered with an assistance dog

Administer your donation or support your fundraising, including processing Gift Aid

Keep a record of your relationship with us

Respond to or fulfil any requests, complaints or queries you make to us

Understand how we can improve our services, products or information by conducting analysis and market research

Manage our events

Further our charitable objectives

Send you correspondence and communicate with you

Administer our websites and to troubleshoot, perform data analysis, research, generate statistics and surveys related to our technical performance,

Display content to you in a way appropriate to the device you are using (for example if you are viewing content on a mobile device or a computer)

Generate reports on our work, services and events,

Safeguard our staff and volunteers

Conduct due diligence and ethical screening

Monitor website use to identify visitor location, guard against disruptive use, monitor web traffic and/or personalise information which is presented to you,

Audit and administer our accounts

Meet our legal obligations, for instance to perform contracts between you and us, or our obligations to regulators, government and/or law enforcement bodies

Carry out fraud prevention and money laundering checks

Establish, defend or enforce legal claims

The legal basis for collecting, storing and using your information

There are different legal bases for collecting, storing and using personal information and Canine Partners relies on different bases depending on the circumstances.

Legitimate Interest

We rely on legitimate interest when it is necessary to contact you for administrative purposes, for example to contact you regarding a payment. We will also hold the minimum personal information required to support our ability to respect your preferences for communication with us. 

To help you to understand when and why Canine Partners would use Legitimate Interest to process your personal information we provide the following examples: 

To send postal communications (as explained above);

To enhance, modify, personalise and improve our services and communications for the benefit of our supporters;

To improve security of our websites and systems;

To prevent fraud when transacting on our website;

To process your donations;

To fulfil online transactions, process and deliver your order(s). In order to take payment and arrange delivery, we need to collect personal information, including your payment details, your full name, delivery address and contact details;

To analyse your personal information to ensure that our communications are relevant to you.

The above examples are on the basis that the processing will not be done if it harms your rights and interests as an individual, or if you tell us that you’d like us to stop. You can do this by calling us on 03456 580 480.

Consent

We rely on consent to send you marketing and fundraising information, to send you our quarterly newsletter and other marketing communications. We also rely on your consent to process your personal information when you apply for an assistance dog with us, however if we do not have your consent to process that information we may not be able to continue with your application.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by visiting our Communications Preference Centre on our website: www.caninepartners.org.uk/keepintouch or calling us on 01730 716010.

Contract

Where we have a contract in place, such as with an individual for services, or as a member of staff or a volunteer, we will process your personal information in a way that enables us to fulfil that contract.

Data Sharing 

To help us communicate the work we are doing and provide these services we use trusted service providers such as mailing houses to fulfil the posting of marketing materials. 

Canine Partners does not share, sell or swap your information with other organisations for their own marketing purposes. 

In some circumstances it is necessary for Canine Partners to give relevant staff at our service providers’ access to your personal information.  This access is only granted to the extent necessary for them to perform their services for us. We require all service providers to comply with strict rules to protect the information you have given us. 

We use cloud based systems to process our data and, as such, this data may be processed outside of the EEA. We adopt the Information Commissioners approved measures when we process outside of the EEA which means that all processing conducted in a location outside of the EEA is carried out in accordance with European Data Protection regulations. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all the steps necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy. 

Any payment transactions will be encrypted. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone. Unfortunately, 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. 

Data accuracy, profiling and analysis 

In order to communicate with you more effectively, better understand your preferences and ability to support our work, we may update, profile or analyse the personal data we hold about you. 

To maintain data accuracy, reduce costs and wastage and ensure we are able to communicate with you, from time to time we will update your personal information from publicly available external sources, for example; updates to address and contact information 

We like to find out about your personal motivation for supporting Canine Partners and your experiences as a supporter. This helps us to give you the information about products and services most relevant to you. In some instances, we may carry out research or analysis of the personal information that you have provided to us, including your preferences & interests, your patterns of support, your geographic location, and potential future level of support.  We may add publicly available information (such as public records) and we may use your information in an aggregated format to help us understand the profile of supporters, like you so that we can target our communications more effectively and use our resources cost effectively.  Data Aggregation is any process in which information is gathered and expressed in a summary form, for purposes such as statistical analysis. 

Changes to your data 

From time to time we may contact you to ensure that the information you have provided us with remains accurate and up to date.  In some circumstances we may use external data lists to avoid misdirecting our communications with you, this includes Fundraising Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service. 

Should you wish to change your preferences you can do this by writing to us at Canine Partners, Ashby Road, Osgathorpe, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 9SR by visiting our Communications Preference Centre on our website, www.caninepartners.org.uk/keepintouch or calling us on 03456 580 480. 

We comply with requests for the disclosure of personal information where this is required or permitted by law. This could include requests from law enforcement or tax agencies. In these circumstances, the request must be submitted in writing and in accordance with the relevant legal requirements. 

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us or with the Information Commissioners office https://ico.org.uk/ 

Cookies and Web Privacy

Canine Partners guarantees our commitment to respecting and protecting your online privacy.

This includes your need and your right to know what we do with the personal information you share with us. It also guides our Charity’s policies regarding the management of this data, including how the information is collected, processed, and for what purposes.

The collection of information

Every time you log on to our website your IP (Internet Protocol) address registers on our servers. Your IP address reveals no information other than the number assigned to you. We do not use this technology to get any personal data against your knowledge or free will (i.e. automatically recording e-mail addresses of visitors). Nor do we use it for any purpose other than to help us monitor traffic on our website or to cooperate with law enforcement (in case of criminal activity or misuse of our information).

By using our website, our social media pages (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram), subscribing to our services, or donating to us you agree that, unless you have set your computer’s browser to reject them, we can place cookies on your device and use that data in accordance with this policy.

For more detailed on our cookie policy and a description of the cookies we use please see our cookie policy.

Emails

Some emails that we send you have no tracking in at all for, example service emails with invoices attached. Other emails we send we can track, at an individual level, whether the user has opened and clicked on the email. We do not use this information at a personal level, rather we use it to understand open and click rates on our emails to try and improve them. If you want to be sure that none of your email activity is tracked then you should opt out of our emails which you can do via the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email we send.

Web Security

Financial transactions made online to Canine Partners using this site are secure. No one can access your credit card details via the internet.

How our website works

When you have completed your donation or sponsorship, your web browser will be connected directly to our secure server. You can see that the connection is secure by looking at the padlock or key icon in the bottom left hand corner of your browser. Your browser may also alert you to the fact that you are connecting to a secure server, and if so, it will also tell you when you are closing the secure connection once you have donated. This is for your information only.
Our secure server communicates with your browser using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocols, so that all your personal information, including credit card number and your name and address, is encrypted. This process takes the words and figures you enter, and converts them into bits of code that are then securely transmitted over the internet.

Information

All information given on this site is to the best of our ability.

You may print any factsheet on this site for your own information but you may NOT sell it, reproduce it on the Internet, distribute it, alter it, or reprint it in any publication without permission from Canine Partners.

Please note that all material on this website is the copyright of Canine Partners or third parties. You may print any Canine Partners factsheet on this site provided all material is marked “By kind permission of Canine Partners” and the material cannot be adapted for use in any other publication, used for profit or used in any way that will bring the Charity into disrepute.

The name and logo of Canine Partners are registered Trade Marks. Any use of these Trade Marks must be made with the prior express permission of Canine Partners. If you are unsure what material you can or cannot use please contact Canine Partners.

Photography

All photography on this site is reproduced with kind permission of the photographers concerned.

What to do if you are not happy

In the first instance, please talk to us directly so we can help resolve any problem or query. Contact Fundraising@caninepartners.org.uk or call us on 01730 716010.

You can register with the fundraising preference service (FPS). This service is run by the Fundraising Regulator and allows you to stop email, telephone, addressed post, and/or text messages from a selected charity or charities by using the online service at www.fundraisingpreference.org.uk or by calling 0300 303 3517. Once you have made a request through the FPS, your new preferences take effect within 28 days.

You have the right to contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you have any concerns about Data Protection using their help line 0303 123 1113 or at www.ico.org.uk

Notification of changes to this privacy policy

From time to time, we will make changes to the information on this page. The amended information will apply from the date it is posted on the site and will govern the way in which we collect and use personal information from then on.

Page last updated 26.11.24

Privacy Policy for Job Applicants

Job applicant privacy notice

The Charity is aware of its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is committed to processing your data securely and transparently. This privacy notice sets out, in line with GDPR, the types of data that we collect and hold on you as a job applicant. It also sets out how we use that information, how long we keep it for and other relevant information about your data.

Data controller details

The Charity is a data controller, meaning that it determines the processes to be used when using your personal data. Our contact details are as follows: Canine Partners, Ashby Road, Osgathorpe, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 9SR

Data protection principles

In relation to your personal data, we will:

process it fairly, lawfully and in a clear, transparent way
collect your data only for reasons that we find proper for the course of your employment in ways that have been explained to you
only use it in the way that we have told you about
ensure it is correct and up to date
keep your data for only as long as we need it
process it in a way that ensures it will not be used for anything that you are not aware of or have not consented to (as appropriate)
process it in a way that ensures it will not be lost or destroyed

Definition of data processing

Processing covers a wide range of operations performed on personal data, including by manual or automated means. It includes the collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction of personal data.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means as well as to non-automated processing, if it is part of a structured filing system.

Types of data we process

We hold many types of data about you, including:

your personal details including your name, address, date of birth, email address, phone numbers
your photograph
gender
marital status
whether or not you have a disability
information included on your CV or application form including references, education, academic history, professional qualification, employment history and criminal convictions
documentation relating to your right to work in the UK
driving licence
psychometric tests results (such as a situational judgement test, ability or personality test), interview notes (face to face, telephone or video), behavioural assessments (such as a role play, group exercise or presentation), technical assessments
pre-employment screening activities carried out for the purposes of criminal records checks, adverse media check.

How we collect your data

We collect data about you in a variety of ways including the information you would normally include in a CV or a job application cover letter, interview test results or notes made by our recruiting officers during a recruitment interview. Further information will be collected directly from you when you complete forms at the start of your employment, for example, your bank and next of kin details. Other details may be collected directly from you in the form of official documentation such as your driving licence, passport or other rights to work evidence.

In some cases, we will collect data about you from third parties, such as employment agencies, former employers or referees when gathering references or credit reference agencies, or when a colleague recommends that we consider you for a position. We may collect data from other sources where you have made your personal information publically available for the purposes of recruitment only on jobs boards, LinkedIn (or other publically available employment-related social media networks and databases for the purposes of headhunting suitable candidates). If you provide links to your personal web pages or social media pages in support of your application, we may review these as part of our selection process.

Personal data is kept in personnel files or within the Charity’s HR and IT systems.

Why we process your data

The law on data protection allows us to process your data for certain reasons only:

in order to perform the employment contract that we are party to
in order to carry out legally required duties
in order for us to carry out our legitimate interests
to protect your interests and
where something is done in the public interest.

All of the processing carried out by us falls into one of the permitted reasons. Generally, we will rely on the first three reasons set out above to process your data.

We need to collect your data to ensure we are complying with legal requirements such as:

carrying out checks in relation to your right to work in the UK and
making reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates.

We also collect data so that we can carry out activities which are in the legitimate interests of the Charity. We have set these out below:

making decisions about who to offer employment to
making decisions about salary and other benefits
assessing training needs
dealing with legal claims made against us

If you are unsuccessful in obtaining employment, your data will not be used for any reason other than in the ways explaining in relation to the specific application you have made. If you wish to be kept up to date with upcoming vacancies, you can opt in to our job alert.

Special categories of data

Special categories of data are data relating to your:

health
sex life
sexual orientation
race
ethnic origin
political opinion
religion
trade union membership and
genetic and biometric data.

We must process special categories of data in accordance with more stringent guidelines. Most commonly, we will process special categories of data when the following applies:

you have given explicit consent to the processing
we must process the data in order to carry out our legal obligations
we must process data for reasons of substantial public interest
you have already made the data public.

We will use your special category data:

for the purposes of equal opportunities monitoring
making reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates

We do not need your consent if we use special categories of personal data in order to carry out our legal obligations or exercise specific rights under employment law. However, we may ask for your consent to allow us to process certain particularly sensitive data. If this occurs, you will be made fully aware of the reasons for the processing. As with all cases of seeking consent from you, you will have full control over your decision to give or withhold consent and there will be no consequences where consent is withheld. Consent, once given, may be withdrawn at any time. There will be no consequences where consent is withdrawn.

Criminal conviction data

We will only collect criminal conviction data where it is appropriate given the nature of your role and where the law permits us. This data will usually be collected at the recruitment stage, however, may also be collected during your employment should you be successful in obtaining employment. We use criminal conviction data in the following ways:

To assess your suitability to work with the vulnerable adults we support

We process this data because of our legal obligation when recruiting for a role for which checks are authorised by law, for example, roles involving work with vulnerable adults or children where a Disclosure and Barring Service check is required, and our obligation to ensure the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and where necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising employment law obligations or rights. We will not request criminal conviction data until the appropriate stage in the recruitment process.

If you do not provide your data to us

One of the reasons for processing your data is to allow us to carry out an effective recruitment process. Whilst you are under no obligation to provide us with your data, we may not be able to process or continue with (as appropriate), your application.

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared with colleagues within the Charity where it is necessary for them to undertake their duties with regard to recruitment. This includes, for example, the HR department, those in the department where the vacancy is who responsible for screening your application and interviewing you, the IT department where you require access to our systems to undertake any assessments requiring IT equipment. The Director of Finance & Resources and the Finance & IT Manager have access to your recruitment data.

We shall not share your personal information unless we are entitled to do so. The categories of persons with whom we may share your personal information outside the Charity include: Any regulatory authority or statutory body pursuant to a request for information or any legal obligation which applies to us, parties who process data on our behalf, which may include: IT support, storage service providers including cloud, background screening providers, Legal and professional advisers, Insurers, our Applicant Tracking System provider.

In some cases, we will collect data about you from third parties, such as employment agencies, your referees, the provider of our Applicant Tracking System. Our Applicant Tracking System provider has a separate Privacy Notice which can be found here https://hireful.co.uk/privacy-policy/

Your data will be shared with third parties if you are successful in your job application. In these circumstances, we will share your data in order to obtain references as part of the recruitment process, to obtain a criminal record check.

We do not share your data with bodies outside of the European Economic Area.

However, third parties may share your data with bodies outside of the European Economic Area for the purpose of software development. In such circumstances, the third parties concerned do so in line with GDPR requirements.

Protecting your data

We are aware of the requirement to ensure your data is protected against accidental loss or disclosure, destruction and abuse. We have implemented processes to guard against such in line with GDPR requirements.

Where we share your data with third parties, we provide written instructions to them to ensure that your data are held securely and in line with GDPR requirements. Third parties must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of your data.

How long we keep your data for

In line with data protection principles, we only keep your data for as long as we need it for and this will depend on whether or not you are successful in obtaining employment with us.

If your application is not successful and we have not sought consent or you have not provided consent upon our request to keep your data for the purpose of future suitable job vacancies, we will keep your data for 12 months once the recruitment exercise ends.

If we have sought your consent to keep your data on file for future job vacancies, and you have provided consent, we will keep your data for 12 months once the recruitment exercise ends. At the end of this period, we will delete or destroy your data, unless you have already withdrawn your consent to our processing of your data in which case it will be deleted or destroyed upon your withdrawal of consent.

If your application is successful, your data will be kept and transferred to the systems we administer for employees. We have a separate privacy notice for employees, which will be provided to you.

Automated decision-making

We will make some decisions about you based on automated decision-making (where a decision is taken about you using an electronic system without human involvement). For example, automated decision making is used on initial pre-application question pages to determine if you meet the minimum requirements of the vacancy. If you do not meet the minimum requirements of the vacancy, you will not be able to continue with your application. Any automated decisions will be highlighted to you in the application process and you will be required to agree that you are happy to proceed using this process.

Your rights in relation to your data

The law on data protection gives you certain rights in relation to the data we hold on you. These are:

the right to be informed. This means that we must tell you how we use your data, and this is the purpose of this privacy notice
the right of access. You have the right to access the data that we hold on you. To do so, you should make a subject access request
the right for any inaccuracies to be corrected. If any data that we hold about you is incomplete or inaccurate, you are able to require us to correct it
the right to have information deleted. If you would like us to stop processing your data, you have the right to ask us to delete it from our systems where you believe there is no reason for us to continue processing it
the right to restrict the processing of the data. For example, if you believe the data we hold is incorrect, we will stop processing the data (whilst still holding it) until we have ensured that the data is correct
the right to portability. You may transfer the data that we hold on you for your own purposes
the right to object to the inclusion of any information. You have the right to object to the way we use your data where we are using it for our legitimate interests
the right to regulate any automated decision-making and profiling of personal data. You have a right not to be subject to automated decision making in a way that adversely affects your legal rights.

Where you have provided consent to our use of your data, you also have the unrestricted right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent means that we will stop processing the data that you had previously given us consent to use. There will be no consequences for withdrawing your consent. However, in some cases, we may continue to use the data where so permitted by having a legitimate reason for doing so.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights explained above, please contact the Charity’s Data Protection Compliance Officer.

Making a complaint

The supervisory authority in the UK for data protection matters is the Information Commissioner (ICO). If you think your data protection rights have been breached in any way by us, you are able to make a complaint to the ICO.

Data Protection Officer

The Charity’s Data Protection Compliance Officer is the Finance & IT Manager. They can be contacted on via the recruitment team at recruitment@caninepartners.org.uk. Please address your email to the Data Protection Compliance Officer.