Long Covid Scotland Privacy Policy
Long Covid Scotland will respect any personal data you share with us and keep it safe in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We aim to be clear when we collect your data and will not use it for any purposes that you wouldn’t reasonably expect.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know by contacting the Data Controller at:
Long Covid Scotland
12 Kemnay place
Aberdeen
AB1 8SG
Email: info@longcovid.scot
Where we collect information about you from
When given to us directly
You may give us your information in order to sign up for one of our events, tell us your story, make a donation (money, services or goods) or communicate with us.
When given to us indirectly
Your information may be shared with us by independent organisations we use in our day-to-day activities; for example, sites such as Eventbrite or JustGiving. These independent third parties will only do so when you have indicated that you consent to support Long Covid Scotland. You should check their Privacy Policy when you provide your information to fully understand how they will process your data.
Depending on your settings and/or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc, you may give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.
The information we get from those services depends on your settings or the responses you give, so you should regularly check your privacy settings.
When information is available publicly
We may combine information you provide us with information which is publicly available, in particular from online fundraising pages, to gain a better understanding of our supporters and to improve our communications with you. Sites such as JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving only pass on basic contact details and the amount raised, but do not pass on information regarding your motivation for raising funds, for example.
When you use our website
We use cookies to make our website work well for you. Cookies are small text files that websites transfer to your device’s web browser and make interacting with our website faster and easier, for example remembering your site preferences each time you visit.
The device you're using to access our website and the settings on your device may provide us with information such as the type of device you’re using (e.g. computer, phone or tablet), make and model, operating system, web browser, what your device settings are and analytical data, e.g. technical feedback if an error occurs.
Our website uses a cookie for Google Analytics. It does not capture or store personal information, but merely logs the user's IP address which is automatically recognised by and used to record the number of visitors to our site and volumes of usage.
For more information about Google Analytics visit the Google Analytics website.
If you do not wish to accept cookies on to your machine you can disable them by adjusting the settings on your browser. However, this may affect the functionality of our website.
What personal data we collect and how we use it
The type and quantity of information we collect and how we use it depends on why you are providing it.
Supporters
If you support us, for example donate, volunteer, register to fundraise or sign up for an event, we will usually collect, where applicable:
Your name.
Your contact details.
Your bank or card details.
Where it is appropriate, we may also ask for:
Confirmation of whether or not you are a taxpayer, for Gift Aid purposes.
The reason you support Long Covid Scotland, including whether this relates to any personal experience. This information is helpful for us so we can understand our supporters better. However, we will never make this question mandatory and will never share your information with others unless you give us express permission to do so.
We will mainly use your data to:
Provide you with the services or information you have asked us for.
Administer your donation (money or services) or support fundraising, including processing Gift Aid.
Keep a record of your relationship with us.
Manage the way you like to hear from us regarding the work of Long Covid Scotland and how you can support us.
Understand you better so we can improve our services.
However you are interested in Long Covid Scotland, we want to ensure that communications with you are tailored to your area(s) of interest. To help us do this, we will sometimes analyse what you’ve indicated you are interested in and where you live to help us engage with you in a meaningful way. This is important because it cuts down on broad ranging communications and helps us ask for donations or give information based on what we know you would like to hear about. We also want to get in touch by your method of preference, be it by email, on the phone or in writing, and will ask you to indicate your preferred option.
Direct marketing
We will contact you from time to time to let you know about the progress we are making and to ask for financial and non-financial support. We make it easy for you to tell us how you want us to communicate in a way that suits you. Our forms have clear communication preference questions, and we include information on how to request no further contact from us. If you don't want to hear from us, that's fine; please get in touch to let us know and we will ensure your communication preferences are updated.
Sharing your story
Some people choose to tell us about their experiences with Long Covid, whether they are living with or caring for someone with Long Covid, and allow us to share their story to help further our work. They may take on a role advocating for Long Covid Scotland, attend events or volunteer for us. This may include sharing sensitive information related to their health and family life in addition to their biographical and contact information. We will only use this information publicly at events, in materials promoting our campaigning and fundraising work, or in documents such as our Annual Report with the explicit and informed consent of the individuals (or their parent or guardian if they are under 18).
How we keep your data safe and who has access
We ensure that there are appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details; for example, our online forms are always encrypted and our network is secured and routinely monitored.
We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by those who require access to it.
As a relatively small organisation, we do not always have the resources to do everything ourselves. We may occasionally use external companies or individuals to collect or process personal data on our behalf. We undertake comprehensive checks on each third party before we work with them and put a contract in place that sets out our expectations and requirements about how they handle your data on our behalf.
We may need to disclose your details, if required, to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors.
We will never sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing. However, if you attend an event run in partnership with another named organisation your details may need to be shared with them. We will be very clear what will happen to your data when you register.
We will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your explicit and informed consent.
Keeping your information up to date
Where possible, we use publicly available sources to keep your records up to date. We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change.
Your right to know what we know about you, make changes or ask us to stop using your data
You have the right to ask us to stop processing and delete your personal data. If it's not necessary for the purpose you provided it to us for (e.g. processing your donation or registering you for an event) we will do so. Please contact us on info@longcovid.scot if you have any concerns.
You have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. If you spot any mistakes, please let us know and we will correct them.
If you want to access your information, please send a description of the information you want to see and proof of your identity by post to the Data Controller by post or email.
Changes to this policy
We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information, we will make this clear on the Long Covid Scotland website or by contacting you directly.