DENS is the first port of call for vulnerable people in Dacorum who are facing homelessness, poverty and social exclusion. Through a range of services, with the help of community partners and volunteers, DENS empowers people to rebuild their lives, to secure and sustain long term housing options and to be active members of the community.
In order to do this, we must process personal data about people who receive support and guidance from us – as well as those who donate and volunteer. Protecting your privacy and any information other organisations share with us is paramount to our work. This policy outlines what data we collect, how we may use it and how we protect your data.
If you have any further questions or queries, please contact us via email: office@dens.org.uk or phone 01442 262274
DENS collects personal data for various reasons such as individuals accessing our services, communicating with our corporate contacts and individual supporters.
Depending how you interact with us, we may process data for the following reasons…
This information may be collected by a variety of methods such as…
When accessing The Elms, Rent Aid and Day Centre/Open Space we may need to collect sensitive, personal data about individuals. This includes information about health, religion, sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity and criminal records. We only record information if we gain your consent, or unless we need to in order to fulfil your request. Our consent forms do state that information may be shared with external agencies.
DENS will process your personal information if you are receiving advice and guidance from one of our services or supporting the cause by donating or volunteering.
DENS will keep all your case information in a confidential record, with restricted access. We use CRM which is a customer relationship management system to store personal information.
Marketing & Fundraising
We want to keep you in the loop with all things DENS - whether that’s to do with our up and coming events, updates about DENS success, our latest company collaborations, as well as our marketing campaigns.
We use various methods of communication to contact our supporters such as via our website, emails, direct mail and face-to-face fundraising. We will obtain consent to all new supporters, where you can choose your preferred method of communication. You can opt out at any time. If you make any changes to your consent, we will immediately stop all forms on communication. We will however respond recognising you opting out.
Examples of marketing materials include:
For marketing purposes, DENS may use your data for statistical reports as well as case studies. Your identity will not be compromised unless consented too.
Keeping your personal data safe is the utmost importance to us. DENS uses several policies and security features to protect your personal information. However, no data transmission over the internet is entirely secure. We do promise that when we receive your information, we will make reasonable steps to ensure data is kept safe, but also preventing loss, misuse or modification.
We also promise to never disclose any of your personal data to a third party unless we are required to do so by law, we have obtained your consent or in order to protect an individual.
Contact Us
You are entitled to view, amend, or delete the personal information that we hold. Email your request to our data protection officer Jacky Stafford at office@dens.org.uk. Alternatively, if you have any questions about our policy or would like further more information please don’t hesitate to contact us on office@dens.org.uk or 01442 262274
Last reviewed 21/05/18