How DENS uses your information

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

What data we collect

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…

• Provide you with advice, support or legal services that you have been requested or been referred to
• To record personal details shared during conversations with DENS services (DRA/ Elms)
• To record and contact you regarding payments you make to DENS
• To communicate our latest projects, events and campaigns
• To process donations and administer Gift Aid information for any donation you make to DENS
• For internal administrative purposes, and to keep a record of your relationship with us (We hold an internal data retention policy outlining how long we keep information for)
• To manage your communication preferences
• To process job applications and volunteer placements

What information we collect and how we collect it

• Your full name
• Contact details – including your Postal address, Telephone number(s), and Email address
• Individuals accessing our services will have details of their case: Name, Date of Birth, National Insurance Number, Medical Form, Right to Reside, ID Documents (Passport/ Driving License), Next of Kin
• Supporters/ Volunteers: Name, Date of Birth, Contact details (Email, Contact Number(s), Home Address), Preferred method of communication, Bank details, Donation history and Gift aid details
• Records of your correspondence and engagement with us
• Other information you share with us

This information may be collected by a variety of methods such as…

• Completing paper forms
• Telephone conversations or face-to-face interactions
• Digital forms via our website
• Third party companies such as Just Giving
• Communication through social media channels

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.

How we may use it

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:

• Appeals & Fundraising activities: request for donations, how you can raise money
• Administration communications: contact about donations/ gift aid declaration
• Events
• Volunteering: how you can support DENS

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.

How we protect your data

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