Privacy and Cookies
Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey Privacy Policy
At Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey 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 UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
You can check our main Citizens Advice policy 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.
How Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey collect your data
‘To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy
What Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey ask for
‘To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy
How Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey use your information
To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy’
Working on your behalf
When you give us authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim, we’ll need to share information with that third party.
We will only share your information if you give permission for us to do so, other than in exceptional circumstances including:
To comply with the law (legal obligation) - for example, if a court orders us to share the information
To protect someone’s life (vital interests) - for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client is unwell
To defend our legal rights - for example, to resolve a complaint that we gave the wrong advice
How Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey store your information
We store your information on a secure, cloud based management system. In some circumstances we hold paper files, if information is kept in a paper file it is kept locked at all times. Other than Casebook, management information systems we use include;
Cloud Based System - Google Drive
Consumer Data Wharehouse CIVICA (Flare21)
East Midlands Money Advice portal
How Citizens Advice share your information
With your permission, we might share your information with other organisations so we can:
Help solve your problem - for example, if you ask us to contact your creditors we might need to share your name, address and financial details with them
Refer you quickly to another organisation for more advice, if relevant
Monitor the quality of our services
Organisations we share your data with must store and use your data in line with data protection law.
Contact Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey about your information
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can
Contact:
Jenny Barnett
Telephone: 01427 810914, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Email: jenny.barnett@citizensadvicelincolnandlindsey.org.uk
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 stop using your information
Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information
The national Citizens Advice charity and your local Citizens Advice 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.
Each local Citizens Advice 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.