Homeopathy UK Privacy Policy

Homeopathy UK has always taken very seriously its duty to protect the personal data it holds. We have never passed on personal data to third parties without permission and we have never sold information to a commercial organisation.

This privacy notice explains how we collect and use data about you, whether your data will be shared with anyone else and the ways you can control how data will be used in the future.

Who we are

Homeopathy UK is registered as a charity (Registered Charity Number 235900 – England and Wales. Registered Charity Number SCO49515 – Scotland) and we are also registered as a company limited by guarantee (registered company number 102915).

The mission of the charity is to build a greater awareness and use of homeopathy as an effective healthcare choice by:

·  promoting the value of homeopathy and its practice by statutorily-regulated healthcare professionals

·  promoting the study and training in homeopathy

·  promoting research into homeopathy that will make an impact

Should you wish to contact us about the way we use your information, you can contact us by telephone 020 3640 5903, by email at [email protected] or by post at Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BB.

What information do we collect and how do we use it?

Personal information is any information that can be used to identify you, such as name and address, telephone number, email address. The information we hold about you is information you give to us when you make a donation, subscribe to our services, fill in a form on the website, or respond to email newsletters. We will only use the information you have provided to process your donations and keep you updated with the work of Homeopathy UK, including fundraising and gift aid purposes, where applicable.

We have never sold and we will never sell your details to other organisations. We have never and will never swap information with other people, unless it is necessary to provide you with information or a service that you have requested from us.

The main legal basis we rely on is legitimate interest, where it is necessary for our charitable aims and the benefits have been carefully balanced against respect for your privacy, your information rights and your expectations. You have the right to object to us collecting this information or restricting the way we use it.

Patient Data

We take the privacy rights of patients very seriously. We request consent for holding data via a tick box on our website and via pre-appointment questionnaires. The consent is required in order to ensure compliance with data protection legislation.

Homeopathy UK securely stores patient information for practitioners’ use to retain key information to provide a continuum of care, analyse conditions, evaluate outcomes, prescribe remedies and consider other therapeutic interventions. Homeopathy UK use anonymised patient data to evaluate the clinics, conditions being treated, and outcomes of treatment. Homeopathy UK uses patient data to ensure continuity of care and provision of patient requested services.  Homeopathy UK does not share patients’ personal information or use information for commercial purposes.

Homeopathy UK retains records securely for a minimum of 6 years and in the case of children, until they reach the age of 25.  After the set retention period, the records will be destroyed.

Donors and supporters

If you donate money or goods to us, or participate in fundraising or publicity activities in our aid, we collect administrative information about the support you have provided to us. This may include contact details, payment history, communication history, event participation details, pledges you have made and publicity photos or case studies you have provided. This information is always given to us by you, either directly or indirectly (with your permission) via online giving services (such as Justgiving) We never purchase fundraising information from third parties. We may share your fundraising information (but not publicity information) with companies who support us in our fundraising activities, such as mailing houses who are acting on our behalf to circulate our materials. We will never sell your information.

If you choose to support us by getting involved in publicity work, we collect your personal photographs and case studies on the basis of consent. Using this information helps us communicate our charitable aims to the public and build support. You can withdraw your consent for your photographs or case studies at any time by contacting us.

We like to keep our donors and supporters updated with news about the charity and upcoming events. If you would rather not receive this information from us, you can let us know at any time, either by contacting us directly on 020 3640 5903 or emailing us at [email protected]

Staff

If you work for us, as a staff member, we collect information during your recruitment and ongoing work. This may include your contact details and those of your next of kin, bank details (for paying salaries and out-of-pocket expenses), personnel references and background checks, sickness and occupational health records, pension information and disciplinary records. This information is mainly provided directly by you, but may be obtained from your manager or past employer. We only share your work information when it is necessary for the fulfilment of your employment contract and to provide the benefits and support promised to you as an employee. For example, if you are a staff member, your bank details will be shared with our payroll provider so your salary is always accurate and arrives on time. In order to comply with pension automatic enrolment legislation, we will supply our pension provider with information on all employees in order for them to make an assessment of pension eligibility.

We collect work information about paid staff on the basis of contractual obligation. Using this information enables us to comply with employment law and act as a responsible and supportive employer. In most cases you do not have the right to object to us collecting your work information, or restricting how we use it, because to do so would cause a breach of the employment contract. However in the rare cases where you do have this right, we will inform you and give you the choice.

Information about business associates

If you are a company who has a business relationship with us, we collect administrative information about your representatives, plus your payment details and history. This may include information, communication history and bank details. This information is always provided by you directly. We do not share your information with anyone externally, except our external financial auditors who may need to look at payment histories to carry out their regulatory audit.

We collect your information on the basis of purchase agreements, which are a type of contract. Using this information ensures the goods and services we are buying from you, or selling to you, are delivered in the agreed way and paid as required. You do not have the right to object to us collecting this information, or restricting how it is used, because you have already agreed to us having and using it as part of the purchase agreement.

Information about website visitors

We love cookies, very clever pieces of code that help us to improve our website.

There are four broad types of cookies, these include:

·  Necessary – Necessary cookies help make our website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. These are set automatically. They contain no information about you as an individual.

·  Statistics – Statistics cookies are used to track visitors on our website. They allow for reports to be generated on user behaviour, on what pages are accessed, interaction with the site and session duration, as well as general demographic data that is not personally identifiable. These are only set if you choose to ‘accept’ cookies to be set on your device.

·  Marketing – Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across different websites. To measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to display ads that are more relevant and engaging for you as a user on third party websites. These are only set if you choose to ‘accept’ cookies to be set on your device.

·  Preferences – Preference cookies help store a user’s preferences after leaving a website. This is to help provide a better experience when they return, such as their language preferences. These are only set if you choose to ‘accept’ cookies to be set on your device.

When you visit our website for the first time, we will ask your permission to collect basic information about your visit through cookies. You have the choice to set your preferences, either to ‘accept’ the use of cookies or to ‘decline’ them.

If you choose not to accept cookies on our website, no cookies will be set on your device, except for strictly ‘necessary’ session cookies that are required for the functioning of our website. If you choose to accept cookies, your internet browser will start setting cookies automatically as you travel around our website. The information we collect through cookies will include: details about how often you visit our website; where you came from before visiting the website; which pages you looked at during your visit; plus any details the website needs to remember about you individually, such as when you tell the website to remember your login details, or when you tell a notification to stop appearing.

As well as our own website cookies, we also use Google Analytics to allow us to track how popular our website is and record visitor trends over time. We analyse this data to help us improve the way that our website works and provide you with a better experience. Google Analytics uses a cookie to help track which pages are accessed. This information will only be shared with Google if you choose to accept cookies on our website.

Some of the pages on our website may have embedded features from third party services, such as Facebook or YouTube. These services may collect their own cookies. For information about how these other third parties use their cookies and how you can disable them if you wish, please refer to their own Privacy Notices, available on their websites.

We collect information from cookies on the basis of consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time by updating your cookie preference on our website.

Keeping your information secure

We take the security of your personal information very seriously. All staff who handle personal information are required to complete training on information security. Within the organisation, access to information is controlled, so that no one can use personal information unless they have a business reason to do so. If information needs to be taken outside our premises, we take extra precautions to keep it as safe as we can. When information is no longer required, it is archived safely or securely destroyed in accordance with the law. Only those who have been specifically trained are allowed to handle credit or debit card information. Credit and debit card details are used immediately and securely destroyed as soon as the payment has been processed.

We have a Senior Rights Information Officer, Elizabeth Tucker, responsible for compliance with data protection regulations, who can be contacted on 020 3640 5903.

Sharing your information

Where we have indicated above that information may be shared, we always ensure the people receiving your information uphold the same information security standards as we do. This will often be specified in writing as part of a contract or information sharing agreement. All staff and agents of Homeopathy UK are bound by strict duties of confidentiality.

Keeping your information

We only keep your information as long as it is necessary for the purposes it was collected for. Depending on the details, your information could be used and securely disposed of very quickly, or it may be necessary for us to keep your information for many years to comply with gift aid or legacy requirements.

Your individual rights

Under data protection regulations, you have rights over how your personal information is used by others.

Right to access: You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you. If you wish to see it, you can submit a request to our Senior Information Rights Officer who will respond within one month. Depending on the nature of your request, we may need to seek further clarification from you or gain confirmation of your identity before the information can be provided.

Right to rectification: If the information we hold about you contains errors, you have the right for it to be corrected. We have measures in place to keep our information updated, but if you notice anything wrong with the information we are using, please let us know and we will update it as soon as we can.

Right to erasure: You have the right to request we erase the information we hold about you from our records if you think it is no longer required. Where possible, we will always comply with a request for erasure, however in some cases it will not be possible to erase all information about you, because there may be legal or contractual reasons why we need to keep certain details. If any of your details cannot be erased, we will tell you and explain the reasons.

Right to restriction: If you think your personal information is being used for things it shouldn’t be, you have the right to request we stop using it that way. As with erasure, there may be legal or contractual obligations why we need to continue using information in particular ways.

Right to portability: There may be times when you want a particular portion of the information we hold about you to be moved or made portable. For example, if you are an employee, you might want us to give you a list of all the training courses you have attended, to put on your CV perhaps. You have a right to receive information you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. This right only applies when the information has been collected and used on the basis of consent or a contract.

Right to objection: You have the right to object to us collecting and using your information when it is being done on the basis of legitimate interests, or for direct marketing, or research. We will inform you at the point we start collecting your information if this right applies. Any objections will be considered and complied with, unless there is a lawful exemption.

We will endeavour to inform you about your rights and uphold them at all times. If you believe we have infringed your rights, we encourage you to contact our Senior Information Rights Officer who will work with you to resolve the matter in a way that satisfies both the law and you. If for any reason you are unable to resolve the matter with us, you can escalate your concerns to the Information Commissioner’s Office, who is the UK’s independent authority responsible for upholding rights in the public interest.

Accessibility

If you, or someone you know, wish to receive this privacy notice in a different format, such as large print, braille, audio recording, or translated into a different language, please contact us directly on 020 3640 5903 or email us at [email protected] 

Changes to this notice

From time to time, we may need to change this notice in response to different ways of working, or new regulations. The version number and revision date at the bottom of this notice will tell you when it was last reviewed. As a matter of course, we will review the notice no less than once per year.