Privacy Policy

We take data protection seriously and safeguarding the privacy of people who use our services and website. This Privacy Policy set out how we collect your personal information, use it, store it and what we do to make sure it is safe.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and treat all your personal information as confidential, though we do reserve the right to disclose this information in specific circumstances as described in the below privacy notices. We handle and store your personal information in line with the law.

This policy was last updated in July 2023

What we do with your information

How we handle your personal information depends on how you interact with us:

When you receive a service from us

We take data protection seriously and safeguarding the privacy of people who use our services. This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect your personal information, use it, store it and what we do to make sure it is safe.

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time and where it changes, we will make every effort to alert you of any changes and share the revised notice with you.

Who we are

When we say ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’, we mean Active Minds who is the ‘data controller’ for the information you provide to us unless otherwise stated. This means we’re responsible for deciding how we can use your information. This means we decide how your data is used and processed by us.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and treat all your personal information as confidential, though we do reserve the right to disclose this information in specific circumstances as described in this policy. We handle and store your personal information in line with the law.

When do we collect your information?

When you’re initially referred to us and while we are supporting you in order to provide you support and care.

What type of information is collected from you and how is your information being used?

The personal information we collect might include, but is not limited to, your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, next of kin, referral source, details and records of care and support, including notes and reports about your health, and information from people who support you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives etc.

It may also include personal sensitive information such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, your religion or beliefs, marital status, and whether you have any disability, accessibility needs, contact with or the use of criminal justice or secure mental health services (including whether you are on the sex offenders register), mental health diagnoses, allergies or health conditions. It is important for us to have a complete picture, as this information assists staff involved in supporting you to deliver and provide better support to meet your needs.

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

To deliver services and support to you.
To ensure that the support you receive is safe and effective.
To carry out our obligations arising from any contract entered into by you and us – we keep a record of this contact.
To seek your views or comments on the services we provide.
To train and manage the employment of our workers who deliver those services;
To check the quality of our services.
To work effectively with other organisations who may be involved in your care.
To ensure our services can meet future needs.
To review support provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible.
For research and audit.

Who we share your information with

The personal information we collect about you will only be processed by our workers or volunteers so as to provide you with support. Active Minds does not to use your information for direct marketing purposes. We will not release your information to any third parties without your consent. We will not sell the personal information you provide us. We will obtain your consent before sharing any of your information with those involved in your care and support.

At times we may have to 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, called ‘legal obligation’ – for example, if a court orders us to share information or when we have to contact safeguarding.
To protect someone’s life, called ‘vital interests’ – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a service user is unwell at one of our services.
To carry out our aims and goals as an organisation, called ‘legitimate interests’ – for example, to create anonymous case studies for our annual review in this instance we will always contact you first before we publish anything.
To carry out a contract we have with you, called ‘contract’ – for example, if you are paying for your support through a personal budget, we may need to use your payment details to refund any overpaid money.

Retaining your personal data

Personal data that we process shall not be kept for longer than 6 years, unless we are instructed to.

We may retain personal data where this is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation to which we are subject. We ensure that any information that is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected is deleted or destroyed in a safe way.

Security

Active Minds implements appropriate physical, technical and organisational measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. The personal information we hold is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of employees who have special access rights to manage the Information Technology systems of Active Minds.

Information that is stored about you on our case management system is held securely within Active Minds’ network and is only accessible by Active Minds staff. The appropriate access controls are put in place so that only staff who support you see your personal information in the case management system. For example:

Your rights and your personal data

Unless subject to an exemption (under the General Data Protection Regulation), you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

The right to request a copy of your personal data which Active Minds holds about you
The right to request that Active Minds corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date
The right to request for your personal data to be erased where it is no longer necessary for Active Minds to retain such data
The right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time
The right to request that we provide you with your personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller (known as the right to data portability)
The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request for a restriction to be placed on further processing
The right to object to the processing of your personal data.
The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.

How can you get access to any information we hold about you?

You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you using the Data Subject Access Request Form which can be obtained directly from your support worker.

The service from which you receive support can give you your personal records directly or you can request your personal information via our office. Please contact [email protected] for further information.

Requests will be free of charge. However, we will require that you provide us with a proof of identity before any data is provided (this is to ensure that your data is kept safe). We will endeavour to give the information as quickly as possible. The information requested will be provided to you within 30 calendar days of receiving the request.

For corrections or changes to your personal details, you can either contact your service directly or contact us at [email protected].

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your information in the first instance, please contact our Data Protection Officer on [email protected].