Disclaimer, Privacy Policy & Cookies
Disclaimer
When referencing the Charity; the reference refers to one of the following:
Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd | Charity Number: 1171817 | VAT number: GB 162 4561 17 | Company limited by guarantee, registered number: 829395 England | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617695) | Registered office: 1-2 Ascroft Court, Peter Street, Oldham, OL1 1HP.
Citizens Advice Stockport Ltd | Charity Number: 1097107 | Company limited by guarantee, Registered number: 4493373 England | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617754) | Registered office: Citizens Advice Stockport, Fred Perry House, Edward Street, Stockport, SK1 3XE | A subsidiary of Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd.
Citizens Advice Oldham Ltd | Charity Number: 519868 | Company limited by guarantee, Registered number: 2165003 England | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 627472) | Registered office: 1-2 Ascroft Court, Peter Street, Oldham, OL1 1HP | A subsidiary of Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd.
Citizens Advice Rochdale Ltd | Charity Number: 701212 | Company limited by guarantee, Registered number: 2332284 England | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 627474) | Registered office: 104 - 106 Drake Street, Rochdale, OL16 1PQ | | A subsidiary of Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd.
Citizens Advice Trafford | Charity Number: 1102003 | Company limited by guarantee, Registered number: 5027375 England | Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617567) | Registered office: 1 Waterside Plaza, Sale, M33 7BS | | A subsidiary of Citizens Advice SORT Group Ltd.
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 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.
All Services
Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford uses Google’s G Suite and your personal data may be stored there while your case is active. Our policy is to minimise all data collected and we aim to transfer all personal information to Casebook during the course of your case. For more information please read G Suite & GDPR. This is a third-party service and Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford cannot accept liability for data held by Google or breaches of that data.
Please refer to the National Citizens Advice Privacy Policy which also applies.
Specific Services
Additional privacy policies and terms and conditions of use apply to these services:
Video Advice Appointments
We use video platforms Attend Anywhere through Involve VC, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom to provide video advice appointments, including British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation video appointments. When using these services our policy is to minimise all data collected and we aim to transfer all personal information to Casebook during the course of your case. By consenting to video advice appointments or British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation services, you are also consenting to these provider’s terms of use. These providers store your data in accordance with their privacy policies. Please see: Involve VC, Attend Anywhere, Google Meet, Microsoft and Zoom. These are third-party services and Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford cannot accept liability for data held by these providers or breaches of that data.
British Sign Language (BSL) Video Advice Appointments
We use SignVideo through Significan’t (UK) Ltd to provide British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation services through one of the video platforms above (Attend Anywhere through Involve VC, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom). By consenting to use British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation services, you are also consenting to this provider’s terms of use. When using SignVideo our policy is to minimise all data collected and we aim to transfer all personal information to Casebook during the course of your case. This provider stores your data in accordance with its Privacy Policy. This is a third-party service and Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford cannot accept liability for data held by this provider or breaches of that data.
Coronavirus: Test and Trace if you get advice in person
If you get advice in person we'll ask for your:
name
email address or telephone number
We'll keep this information in our secure case management system.
We might be asked to share your name, contact details and the date of your visit with Test and Trace or local public health organisations. This is to help track cases of coronavirus. They might contact you if they think you're at risk after your visit. For example, because someone getting advice at the same time has tested positive for coronavirus. You can find out more about Test and Trace in England on GOV.UK or Test and Trace in Wales on GOV.WALES.
We'll never share information about the reason for your visit.
If you can't give contact details for example, if it's not safe for you to do so, we'll still be able to give you advice in person.
Unlike most situations, we won't ask for your consent before we share your contact details. If you don't want us to share this information you can tell your local office you want to opt-out.
We’re doing this to help keep you and the public safe, This is a ‘legitimate interest’ of Citizens Advice.
We won't share your contact details with anyone other than Test and Trace or a local public health organisation.
If we share your information we'll let you know, and offer further support.
If you want to know more about changes to our face to face services or how your information will be used, please contact us.
how citizens advice sort group collect your data
To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy
what citizens advice sort group ask for
To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy
how citizens advice sort group 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.
how citizens advice sort group store your information
We store your information in line with the national Citizens Advice privacy policy. Where your case refers to a housing legal aid case, your information will be stored on our AdvicePro system. Information on this can be found here.
Contact Citizens Advice Sort GROUP about your information
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office via email at data.request@casort.org
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.
Cookies
We use information kept on your computer - cookies - to track aspects of user visits.
These include the length of a visit, browser details, geographic location and other information that helps us to develop our online services.