Privacy Policy - Stockport Advocacy

PRIVACY NOTICE

Stockport Total Advocacy Trust Limited, a community benefit society. Registered in England No. 7459.
Date of last revision: August 2025. Version: 2.0. Date for the next review: August 2026.

PRIVACY NOTICE
Our Contact Details

Stockport Advocacy
The Data Controller is Stockport Advocacy
The Senior Responsible Individual (SRI) for this Notice is
Mandy Gyaamie, Operational Manager
Address: 48 Middle Hillgate, Cheshire, Stockport SK1 3DL
Email: info@stockportadvocacy.co.uk

WHAT IS THIS PRIVACY NOTICE FOR?

This Privacy Notice explains how Stockport Advocacy collects, handles, uses, shares, and safeguards your personal information and your rights in relation to any information we hold about you. It applies to personal and sensitive information provided to us by you, your caregivers, family, medical practitioners, and others. It covers,

current and former staff, Board Officers, volunteers and placement students
current and former clients of our services
people who provide feedback on our services, including those who make a complaint
third-party organisations with which we work and commission our services.

WHERE DO WE GET YOUR INFORMATION FROM?

Most of our information is provided by you. Sometimes, it may come from a relative, friend, or referral from people like your GP, social worker, and others you are in contact with. We may also get information from people and organisations we contact on your behalf.

WHO ARE OUR PARTNER ORGANISATIONS?

We work with various organisations and people in the statutory and third sectors.

WHY DO WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION?

Stockport Advocacy collects and uses information in order to provide the following kinds of essential activities,

to provide the services that you have requested or have been requested on your behalf
to keep a record of your relationship with us
to comply with the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 and follow the recommendations of the Charity Commission, we identify and verify the identity of supporters who make major gifts so we can assess any risks associated with accepting their donations
where you volunteer with us to administer the volunteering arrangement
to process job applications
to maintain up-to-date employee records
to maintain records of supplier contracts.

LAWFUL BASIS FOR COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

Stockport Advocacy collects and processes information in accordance with the lawful basis for doing so. We will only collect and use your personal information where we,

have your consent from you or someone acting on your behalf
need it to fulfil a contractual obligation
have a legal obligation in order to comply with the law
have other legitimate interests that would be reasonable and expected.

WHEN DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU?

We collect information from you and others in a number of ways, including the following:

When you interact with us directly. This could be if you ask us about our services, register with us for training or an event, donate to us, apply for a job or volunteering opportunity or otherwise provide us with your personal information. This includes when you phone us, visit our website, or get in touch through the post or in person.
When you interact with us through partners working on our behalf.

When you interact with us through third parties. This could be if you donate through a third party that we work with and provide your consent for your personal information to be shared with us. We may also be sent information by people from other agencies and organisations, like your Social Worker, Housing Officer, or GP. We may also get sent information in response to queries we make on your behalf, answers to letters etc.

When you visit our website. We gather general information, which might include which pages you visit most often and which services, events, or information is of most interest to you. We may also track which pages you visit when you click on links in emails from us. We may also use ‘cookies’ to help our site run effectively. There are more details below – see ‘Use of Cookies’. We use this information to personalise the way our website is presented when you visit to make improvements and to ensure we provide the best service and experience for you. Wherever possible, we use anonymous information, which does not identify individual visitors to our website.

SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION

If you share your personal experience or the experiences of a friend or relative, we may also collect health information. If you provide us with any Sensitive Personal Information by telephone, email or other means, we will treat that information with extra care and confidentiality and always in accordance with this Privacy Notice.

Of course, you can decide whether you want to remain anonymous, whether you are happy to share your personal details with staff members, or whether you would like us to share your story with the media or other parties as part of our work telling people’s personal stories (for example, on our blog).

SHARING INFORMATION

Sometimes, we have to share your personal information with others in Stockport Advocacy and with organisations we work with. This is always done subject to strict agreements on how it will be used.

Normally, we will ask you for your consent to share your personal information with others, but there are times when we are required by law to share your information without your consent, for example,

where a significant danger of harm or mistreatment exists for you or others
where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented
when a formal court order has been issued requiring us to share personal and sensitive information about you
where there is a legal requirement to do so.

THIRD-PARTY PROCESSORS OF INFORMATION

Like many organisations, we rely on outside organisations to provide services for us, such as IT services and support, website/Intranet providers, and health services. When we use a third-party service provider to process data on our behalf, we will always have an appropriate data-sharing agreement in place to ensure that they keep the data secure, that they do not use or share information other than in accordance with our instructions, and that they are operating appropriately.

WEBSITE COOKIES

We use cookies to provide you with a good experience when you visit our website and also allow us to improve the user experience. We only use cookies when it is,

essential to help you move around our website and use its features
to collect anonymous information about how you use our site, like which pages are visited most

to collect anonymous information that remembers choices you make to improve your experience, like your text size or location. These may also be used to provide services you have asked for, such as watching a video or commenting on a blog.

KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION SAFE

We take protecting your information very seriously. However, the electronic storage and transmission of information using the Internet is not completely secure. We have implemented physical, technical, and organisational measures to protect the personal information we have under our control, both online and offline, from improper access, use, alteration, destruction, and loss.

HOW LONG WE HOLD YOUR INFORMATION FOR?

We only keep it as long as is reasonable and necessary for the relevant activity, which may be to fulfil statutory obligations.

YOUR RIGHTS

Data protection legislation gives you nine rights over your personal information. Whether a particular right applies depends on why information is being processed. Below, we have outlined each right and specified where a right would always apply.

The right of access. You have the right to request access to a copy of the personal information that we hold about you, along with information on what personal information we use, why we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it for, and whether it has been used for any automated decision-making.
The right to rectification. You have the right to ask for any inaccurate or incomplete information to be updated. This right always applies.
You have the right to erasure. You can ask us to delete your personal information when it is no longer necessary for us to use it, when you have withdrawn consent, or when we have no lawful basis for keeping it.
Consent: If you have given us your consent to use personal information (for example, for marketing), you can withdraw your consent at any time.
The right to restrict processing. You can ask us to restrict the personal information we use about you where you have asked for it to be erased or where you have objected to our use of it.
The right to object to processing. You can object to our processing of your personal information where we rely on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party), and something about your particular situation makes you want to object to processing on this ground.
You have the right to be informed. You have the right to be informed how your personal information will be used before it is collected. This privacy notice is a key part of how we are fulfilling this right.
The right to data portability. You can ask us to provide you or a third party with some of the personal information that we hold about you in a structured, commonly used electronic form so it can be easily transferred.
Rights related to automated decision-making, including profiling. You have the right not to be subject to automated decision-making if this results in legal or other significant effects on you.

When you contact us to exercise any of your rights, we will,

acknowledge that your request has been received
inform you if your request is not applicable, and give the reasons why
endeavour to act on your request within the statutory time period, usually 1 calendar month
let you know if more time is needed to respond to your request
explain any exemptions we have applied.

The Information Commissioner’s ‘Your data matters’ page provides more information on your rights and how and when they apply.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you are unsure about any information in this Privacy Notice or need further advice concerning it, please contact info@stockportadvocacy.co.uk or the address at the top of this document.

COMPLAINTS

If you think we have not upheld your rights and responsibilities regarding data protection, you can contact us or the Independent Regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Wycliffe House
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF