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Privacy Policy

This privacy policy covers your usage of and interactions with this website.

GDPR Statement

Compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and with the General Data Protection Regulations.

Introduction

This policy together with our terms of use sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting our website, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

The data controller responsible for this website is Shelter. If you have any questions in relation to our use of your details, please email us at info@shelter.org.uk or write to us at Shelter Support Helpdesk, PO Box 1477, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 4YQ

Cookies

The National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) website may make use of cookies (cookies are small pieces of information that are sent from our website to the cookie file of the browser on your computers hard disc).

We use cookies for several reasons:

  • To allow you to carry information across pages of our website and avoid having to re-enter information when you return to the site.
  • To monitor our website traffic and analyse how our website works. This will allow us to make changes to the website in the future and make it easier to use.

To monitor our website traffic and analyse how our website works. This will allow us to make changes to the website in the future and make it easier to use.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser.

The majority of browsers will allow the user to alter the settings used for cookies. The help menu on your browser will have further details. Please remember that turning cookies off will restrict your access to the National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) website. You can find more detail about individual browser settings and cookies generally at www.aboutcookies.org.

By continuing to use our website, you are accepting cookies on your device. If you prefer not to accept cookies, please leave our website.

Data we collect

When you provide the National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) with personal information, for example, when using the Contact us form, we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely.

The National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) makes every effort to ensure the security and integrity of emails on our systems. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information after we've received it, the National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) cannot ensure or guarantee the security of information when it is being transmitted.

Telephone consultancy and web chat

What information is being collected?
We will collect your email address so that we can provide you with a transcript of our chat and or written confirmation of advice. By doing this you give the adviser permission to email the transcript and or written confirmation of advice to you, including any personal or sensitive information you've given.

We will only ask for further personal information regarding your client, such as name, date of birth etc, if we are able to refer your client to one of our internal departments for ongoing help so that they have initial information to help with their issue. We may also ask you for information under our Safeguarding policy if you tell us that you, a vulnerable adult or child is at risk of harm so that we can alert the appropriate authorities if necessary.

By providing us with this information you give us your consent to record and pass on this information as outlined.

Who is collecting it?

Shelter and, if you are conducting a webchat with us, SnapEngage (the web chat software provider) will collect information about you.

How is it collected?

By you providing information to us during your web chat or telephone call with us.

Why is it being collected?

First and foremost your information will be used to help us to understand your issue and provide advice. We also use unnamed information (with no personal details) to help us understand which different problems are affecting our clients and from where and how people are contacting us.

As above, we will use your email address to provide you with a copy of the chat transcript and ask you for more information about your client if we need to make an ongoing referral or raise a safeguarding alert.

How will it be processed?

Telephone consultancy advice
We'll store the record of your telephone consultancy within our case management system, you can read Shelter's full privacy policy here.

Webchat advice
We'll store the record of your chat within a secure Outlook inbox which is only accessed by us. It will also be stored within SnapEngage

You can read SnapEngage's full privacy policy here.

Data retention

Personal data will be retained for a minimum period of 6 months and a maximum period of 6 years unless applicable legal requirements in force at the time dictate otherwise. Similarly, the data subject has the right to deletion of their personal data which will be carried out within 48hrs of acknowledgment of the request, unless prevented by legal requirement in which case the personal data will be made inaccessible for the purpose of marketing or sales.

Data security

We employ process and technology to secure your personal data. Specifically, but not exclusively, we employ techniques such as strong access control, encryption at rest and in transit, 24x7 security monitoring of IT systems for unusual behaviour with a comprehensive audit trial, cybersecurity training on data protection including email phishing, USB bating and social engineering, real-time continuous penetration testing and vulnerability management and anti-ransomware software. Our company processes have been updated to reflect the new focus on data protection and disciplinary procedures for a breach of these process are included in the company handbook.

Access to and sharing of data

In addition to any circumstances described below, we may share any data we collect if we are required to share data with the legal authorities to fulfill our obligations under the law of England and Wales. If we wish to access or share your data in any way not described in this privacy policy, we will contact you beforehand and only proceed with your explicit consent.

Links to other sites

Our site contains links to websites of our partners and clients; please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may occasionally make changes to this privacy policy. Following any changes, the date at the top of the privacy policy will be updated. If any change allows for the wider access to or sharing of data, such changes will only apply to data collected after the date of the updated privacy policy.

Summary

Under GDPR you may request details of personal information which we hold about you. You are also entitled to ask us to correct any information held about you that you believe to be incorrect or incomplete. If you would like a copy of the information that we hold on you, or wish to notify us about incorrect or incomplete information held about you, you can contact us in the following ways:

by post:

Shelter Support Helpdesk, PO Box 1477, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 4YQ

This privacy policy only covers this website www.nhas.org.uk; other websites linked from this website are not covered by this policy. Once you have accessed another website via one of our links you will be subject to the security and privacy policy of that site.