Privacy Policy
At Citizens Advice 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 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 Luton collect your data
We may collect your personal data:
- in person on a registration form, we will ask you to provide written consent at your initial visit and then at intervals thereafter.
- in a web-form on our website when you request email advice, in which case we will ask for your permission before the form is submitted.
- over the telephone if you call us for advice, we will request your permission verbally to record your information on our case management system, Casebook.
We may also collect data relating to your personal experience here at Citizens Advice Luton in the form of a survey, if you are happy to participate. We will request your consent before the survey is processed.
What Citizens Advice Luton ask for
To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy
How Citizens Advice Luton use your information
To find out what information we ask for, 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.
With your consent, third parties we may share your information with include but are not limited to:
- Luton Irish Forum
- Luton Law Centre
- Luton Rights
- Luton Borough Council
- Local Housing Associations
- Department for Work and Pensions
- HM Revenue and Customs
- Money and Pensions Service
How Citizens Advice Luton store your information
We may store your information on Google Mail and Google Drive (password protected and centrally managed) or on our internal network hosted on our server.
Any client paperwork we hold is kept within the office in secure cabinets locked with a key which are only accessible to staff and volunteers from CA Luton. This information is scanned onto our case management system, Casebook and paper copies destroyed securely.
How Citizens Advice Luton share your information
When you give us authority to do so, we may share your personal information with our partner organisations. Our partner organisations include but are not limited to:
- Luton Irish Forum
- Luton Law Centre
- Luton Rights
- Luton Borough Council
- Local Housing Associations
- Department for Work and Pensions
- HM Revenue and Customs
- Money and Pensions Service
We may occasionally share client information with funders for reporting purposes although this will either be with your specific consent or the data will be anonymised.
Contact Citizens Advice Luton about your information
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office.
Telephone: 01582 540450 (message line)
Email: admin@lutoncab.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.
