Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

AFFCAD UK is committed to protecting your privacy and security. This policy explains how and why we use your personal data, to ensure you remain informed and in control of your information.

The General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 have changed the rules which govern how we can communicate with you. As a result, we chose to rely on you giving us your consent about how we can contact you in connection to marketing. Today we remain fully committed to this approach which gives you the opportunity to choose whether you want to receive communications from us and select how you want to receive them (email, phone, SMS or post). We may use other lawful grounds for processing your personal data, depending on the relationship we have with you (please see Section 4 on How We Use Your Information).

We will never sell your personal data.

Questions?

Any questions you have in relation to this policy or how we use your personal data should be sent to admin@affcaduk.org or addressed to AFFCAD UK, 3rd floor, 86-90 Paul Street, EC2A 4NE

2. About us

Your personal data (i.e. any information which identifies you, or which can be identified as relating to you personally) will be collected and used by AFFCAD UK (charity no. 1165059 in England).

3. What information we collect

Personal data you provide
We collect data you provide to us. This includes information you give when joining or registering or communicating with us. For example: personal details (name, date of birth, email, address, telephone etc.) when you join as a donor or apply for a job or to volunteer with us; financial information (payment information such as credit/debit card or direct debit details, and whether donations are gift-aided. Please see section 9 for more information on payment security); and details of your interests and preferences (such as campaigns and the ways you support us).

Information created by your involvement with AFFCAD UK
Your activities and involvement with AFFCAD UK will result in personal data being created. This could include details of how you’ve helped us by volunteering or being involved with our campaigns and activities, as well as when you engage in our social media or digital advertising.

If you decide to donate to us then we will keep records of when and how much you give to a particular cause.

Information we generate
We conduct research and analysis on the information we hold, which can in turn generate personal data. For example, by analysing your interests and involvement with our work we may be able to build a profile which helps us decide which of our communications are likely to interest you. Section 7 (Research and profiling) contains more information about how we use information for profiling and targeted advertising. We use this information to identify ways in which you could support AFFCAD UK and invite you to do so if appropriate. This analysis may be carried out by us or by third party organisations working for us.

We may also host encrypted personal data on third party websites (for example, social media platforms) to ensure you only see relevant, personalised and interesting content from those organisations.

Information from third parties
We sometimes receive personal data about individuals from third parties (more information can be found under Section 7 – Research and Profiling below). For example, if we are partnering with another organisation (e.g. you provide your information to another charity we’re collaborating with). Also, as explained in Section 12 (Cookies and links to other sites), we may use third parties to help us conduct research and analysis on personal data (and this can result in new personal data being created).

Occasionally, we may collect information about certain supporters (e.g. particularly well known or influential people) from public sources. This could include public databases (such as Companies House), news or other media. We don’t do this to everyone, and it is the exception not the rule.

Sensitive personal data
We do not normally collect or store sensitive personal data (such as information relating to health, beliefs or political affiliation) about supporters and donors. However, there are some situations where this will occur (e.g. if you volunteer with us or indicate that you wish to leave us a legacy). If this does occur, we’ll take extra care to ensure your privacy rights are protected.

Accidents or incidents
If an accident or incident occurs on our property, at one of our events or involving one of our staff (including volunteers) then we’ll keep a record of this (which may include personal data and sensitive personal data).

Volunteer
If you are a volunteer (whether for specifically AFFCAD UK, or if you are helping us for other reasons – for example you work for another organisation which is running an event with us) then we may collect extra information about you (e.g. references, criminal records checks, details of emergency contacts, medical conditions etc.). This information will be retained for legal reasons, to protect us (including in the event of an insurance or legal claim) and for safeguarding purposes. You may also receive communications from us providing you with information about your duties as a volunteer.

4. How we use information

We only ever use your personal data with your consent, or where it is necessary in order to:

• enter into, or perform, a contract with you;
• where you have given us your consent to do so, to keep you informed about: volunteering with us, events and fundraising.
• comply with a legal duty;
• protect your vital interests;
• to enable trusted partner organisations to perform services on our behalf or to help us understand our supporters more effectively;
• to better understand how we can improve our services for you.
• for our own (or a third party’s) lawful interests, provided your rights don’t override these.

In any event, we’ll only use your information for the purpose or purposes it was collected for (or else for closely related purposes):

Marketing
We use personal data to communicate with people, to promote AFFCAD UK and to help with fundraising. This includes keeping you up to date with our news, updates, campaigns and fundraising information. For further information on this please see Section 6 (Marketing).

Administration
We use personal data for administrative purposes (i.e. to carry on our charity work). This includes:

• receiving donations (e.g. direct debits or gift-aid instructions) or administering legacy gifts;
• maintaining databases of our volunteers, donors and supporters (including those who have indicated they wish to leave us a legacy);
• performing our obligations under donation contracts or in accordance with the law;
• fulfilling orders for goods or services (whether placed online, over the phone or in person);
• helping us respect your choices and preferences (e.g. if you ask not to receive marketing material, we’ll keep a record of this).

Internal research and analysis
We carry out research and analysis on our supporters, donors and volunteers, to determine the success of campaigns and appeals, better understand behaviour and responses and identify patterns and trends. This helps inform our approach towards campaigning and make AFFCAD UK a stronger and more effective organisation. Understanding our supporters, their interests and what they care about also helps us provide a better experience (e.g. through more relevant communications).

Supporter research and profiling
We evaluate, categorise and profile personal data in order to tailor materials, services and communications (including targeted advertising) and prevent unwanted material from filling up your inbox. This also helps us understand our supporters, improve our organisation and carry out research. Further information on profiling can be found in Section 7 (Research and profiling).

We may process personal data for certain legitimate business purposes, which include some or all of the following:

• to ensure our compliance with best practice, for example with fundraising standards, by monitoring calls made by third parties on our behalf;
• to identify and prevent fraud; and
• to enhance the security of our network and information systems.

Whenever we process data for these purposes, we will ensure that we always keep your personal data rights in high regard and take account of these rights at all times.

When we process your personal data for our legitimate interests, we will make sure that we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative), and your rights under data protection laws. Our legitimate business interests do not automatically override your interests – we will not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

You have the right to object to this processing if you wish, and if you wish to do so, then please contact admin@affcaduk.org. Please bear in mind that if you object this may affect our ability to carry out tasks above for your benefit.

5. Disclosing and sharing data

We will never sell your personal data. If you have opted-in to marketing, we may contact you with information about our partners, or third party products and services, but these communications will always come from AFFCAD UK and are usually incorporated into our own marketing materials (e.g. advertisements in magazines or newsletters).

Occasionally, where we partner with other organisations, we may also share information with them (for example, if you register to attend an event being jointly organised by us and another charity). We’ll only share information when necessary and we’ll make sure to notify you first.

We may provide your personal information (such as name, email address or phone number) to digital advertising or social media companies who work on our behalf (such as Facebook and Instagram). This is so you and others like you are shown only relevant advertisements relating to AFFCAD UK. We will also ensure you are not presented with unnecessary marketing communications from us. If you choose not to see AFFCAD UK advertisements, you can manage your preferences by using your social/digital advertising platform settings. You can also contact us with any queries at the details provided in Section 1.

6. Marketing

What does ‘marketing’ mean?
Marketing does not just mean offering things for sale, but also includes news and information about:

• our charity, campaigns and conservation work;
• AFFCAD UK benefits and offers;
• volunteering opportunities;
• appeals and fundraising (including donations and also competitions, raffles etc.);
• our events and activities;
• products, services and offers (our own, and those of third parties which may interest you);
• leaving a legacy;
• taking part in projects

When you receive a communication, we may collect information about how you respond to or interact with that communication, and this may affect how we communicate with you in future.

Fundraising
As a charity, we rely on donations and support from others to continue our work. From time to time, we will contact donors and supporters with fundraising material and communications. This might be about an appeal, a competition we’re running, or to suggest ways you can raise funds (e.g. a sponsored event or activity, or even buying a product if AFFCAD UK will receive some of the proceeds).

As with other marketing communications, we’ll only contact you specifically about fundraising if you’ve opted into to receiving marketing from us (and you can, of course, unsubscribe at any time).

7. Research and profiling

This section explains how and why we use personal data to undertake research and build profiles which enable us to understand our supporters, improve our relationship with them, and provide a better supporter experience.

Profiling to help us understand our supporters
Profiling is gathering information about individuals or groups of individuals and understanding their characteristics or behaviours to learn more about their interests or likely behaviour.

We profile supporters in terms of financial, political and practical support. For example, we keep track of the amount, frequency and value of each person’s support. This information helps us to ensure communications are relevant and timely and improve the experience our supporters receive. It also helps us identify individuals or groups of individuals who might be willing to provide more support in our cause.

We combine information about supporters with external information. The information is from a variety of sources including publicly available data such as the UK Census and the Land Registry or derived from surveys and questionnaires held on private databases. We do this to enhance and fill in any gaps so that we can understand our supporters better and send the most relevant communications and target our resources effectively. Examples of the external information we’ll use includes socio demographic data based on postcode to improve understanding of different types of people and communities across the UK. We also use lifestyle and affluence information which includes information about your financial status, what other charities you may support, your shopping habits and your interests. A lot of the external data we use is aggregated or anonymised which means that it cannot be used to identify an individual. Although publicly available registers are used to collect data, this is done in accordance with the GDPR requirements.

On occasion, we may also combine information about particular supporters with external information (such as directorships listed on Companies House, professional profiles, search engine and public social media results; resources such as the Charity Commission, third-party publications or news about an individual which has featured in the media) in order to create a more detailed profile about a particular individual. We don’t do this for everyone, and it is the exception not the rule. You can opt out of having your personal information profiled in this way by contacting us (see Section 1).

We sometimes collect information on preferences and interests so that we know what communications you are mostly likely to be interested in.

Analysis, grouping and segmentation
We analyse our supporters to identify shared characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including behaviour (e.g. previous responses) or demographic information (e.g. age or location) or lifestyle information (e.g. your interests, places visited and your affluence).

By grouping people together on the basis of common characteristics, we can ensure that groups are provided with communications, products, and information which is most important to them. This helps prevent your inbox from filling up, and means we aren’t wasting resources on contacting people with information which isn’t relevant to them.

Anonymised data
We may aggregate and anonymise personal data so that it can no longer be linked to any particular person. This information can be used for a variety of purposes, such as recruiting new supporters, or to identify trends or patterns within our existing supporter base. This information helps inform our actions and improve our campaigns, products/services and materials.

8. How we protect data

We employ a variety of physical and technical measures to keep your data safe and to prevent unauthorised access to, or use or disclosure of your personal information.

Electronic data and databases are stored on secure computer systems and we control who has access to information (using both physical and electronic means). Our staff receive data protection training and we have a set of detailed data protection procedures which personnel are required to follow when handling personal data.

Payment security
All electronic payments made to AFFCAD UK are processed using PayPal and are therefore subject to PayPal Privacy Policy.

Of course, we cannot guarantee the security of your home computer or the internet, and any online communications (e.g. information provided by email or our website) are at the user’s own risk.

9. Storage

Where we store information
AFFCAD UK’s operations are based in the UK and we store our data within the European Union. Some organisations which provide services to us may transfer personal data outside of the EEA, but we’ll only allow them to do if your data is adequately protected.

How long we store information
We will only use and store information for so long as it is required for the purposes it was collected for. How long information will be stored for depends on the information in question and what it is being used for. For example, if you ask us not to send you marketing emails, we will stop storing your emails for marketing purposes (though we’ll keep a record of your preference not to be emailed).

We continually review what information we hold and delete what is no longer required. We never store payment card information.

10. Keeping you in control

We want to ensure you remain in control of your personal data. Part of this is making sure you understand your legal rights, which are as follows:

• the right to confirmation as to whether or not we have your personal data and, if we do, to obtain a copy of the personal information we hold (this is known as subject access request);
• the right to have your data erased (though this will not apply where it is necessary for us to continue to use the data for a lawful reason);
• the right to have inaccurate data rectified;
• the right to object to your data being used for marketing or profiling; and
• where technically feasible, you have the right to personal data you have provided to us which we process automatically on the basis of your consent or the performance of a contract. This information will be provided in a common electronic format.

Please keep in mind that there are exceptions to the rights above and, though we will always try to respond to your satisfaction, there may be situations where we are unable to do so.

If you would like further information on your rights or wish to exercise them, please write to us AFFCAD UK, 3rd floor, 86-90 Paul Street, EC2A 4NE or email at admin@affcaduk.org.

We can provide you with a template subject access form which includes guidance on how to make your request (and will help us respond more quickly). Please contact us for a copy of this.

Complaints
You can complain to AFFCAD UK directly by contacting us using the details set out above.

If you are not happy with our response, or you believe that your data protection or privacy rights have been infringed, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates and enforces data protection law in the UK. Details of how to do this can be found at www.ico.org.uk.

11. Cookies and links to other sites

Cookies
Our website uses local storage (such as cookies) to provide you with the best possible experience and to allow you to make use of certain functionality (such as being able to shop online). Further information can be found in our Cookies Policy at https://affcaduk.org/cookie-policy/

Links to other sites
Our website contains hyperlinks to many other websites. We are not responsible for the content or functionality of any of those external websites (but please let us know if a link is not working by using the ‘Contact us’ link at the top of the page).

If an external website requests personal information from you (e.g. in connection with an order for goods or services), the information you provide will not be covered by the AFFCAD UK’s Privacy Policy. We suggest you read the privacy policy of any website before providing any personal information.

When purchasing goods or services from any of the businesses that our site links to, you will be entering into a contract with them (agreeing to their terms and conditions) and not with AFFCAD UK.

12. Changes to this privacy policy

We’ll amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure it remains up-to-date and accurately reflects how and why we use your personal data. The current version of our Privacy Policy will always be posted on our website.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 9^th April 2024.