Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin

Citizens Advice Telford and the Wrekin Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

At Citizens Advice Telford and the Wrekin (CAT&W) 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. 

We only ask for the information we need. We always let you decide what you’re comfortable telling us, explain why we need it and treat it as confidential. 

When we record and use your personal information, we:

  • Only access it when we have a good reason 
  • Only share what is necessary and relevant 
  • Don’t sell it to anyone 

 

We collect and use the details you give us so we can help you. We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. We'll always explain how we use your information. 

At times we might use or share your information without your permission. If we do, we’ll always make sure there’s a legal basis for it. This could include situations where we have to use or share your information:

  • 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

 

We handle and store your personal information in line with the law - including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. 

You can check our main Citizens Advice policies for how we handle most of your personal information.  

This page covers how we, as your local charity, handle your information locally in our offices. 

 

 2. How Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin collect your data

To find out how we collect your data, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy. 

 

3. What Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin ask for

To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy. 

 

4. How Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin use your information

To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy. 

 

5. Working on your behalf

When you give us written authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim or to write a letter on your behalf, we’ll need to share information with a third party such as:  

  • Telford and Wrekin Council 
  • DWP or HMRC 
  • Local solicitors 
  • Our trusted partners such as Telford Crisis Network, Thrive, Stay, and Mind 

 

To find out how we use your information to work on your behalf, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy. 

 

6. How Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin store your information 

Your information is stored securely on our internal systems. All volunteers and staff who access your data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely. 

CAT&W keeps your information for six years. If your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute we keep the data for sixteen years. 

Our case management systems are hosted within the UK. 

Research and Campaigns – We destroy data collected for Research and Campaigns purposes when the campaign or project is complete, or after six years. 

 

7. How Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin share your information

With your written consent, we sometimes need to share your personal information with organisations you wish us to refer you to, or with organisations we need to send your data to as part of the casework.   

We may also occasionally share client statistical information with funders. 

 

8. Contact Citizens Advice Telford & the Wrekin about your information

If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office: 

Data Controller 

Citizens Advice Telford and the Wrekin 

Syer House (Suite 4), Stafford Park, TF3 3BD 

Email: caseadministrator@telfordcab.co.uk 

Tel: 0808 278 7988

 

You can contact us to:  

  • Find out what personal information we hold about you 
  • Correct your information if it’s wrong, out of date or incomplete 
  • Request we delete your information 
  • Ask us to limit what we do with your data - for example, ask us not to share it if you haven’t asked us already  
  • Ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold in a format you can use to transfer it to another service 
  • Ask us to stop using your information 

 

9. Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information?

The national Citizens Advice charity and CAT&W operate a system called Casebook to keep your personal information safe. This means they’re a ‘joint data controller’ for your personal information that’s stored in our Casebook system.  

CAT&W is an independent charity, and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity. The Citizens Advice membership agreement also requires that the use of your information complies with data protection law. 

 

You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.