Privacy Policy

Carolina House Trust is a registered Scottish charity: SC016289. Established in 1815 and based in Dundee, we are one of Scotland’s oldest children’s charities. We have a long history of meeting the needs of children and young people during times of constant social and economic change.

We are an independent provider of fostering and continuing care and supported care services.

Depending on who you are we may collect, process and share information about you, some of which may be sensitive personal information about you or your family member. We are committed to protecting your personal data and this privacy policy states how we collect data, how we store it and how we use it.

This privacy policy applies to the website and services offered by Carolina House Trust. The purpose of this policy is to give you a clear explanation about how Carolina House Trust collects and uses the personal information you provide to us and that we collect. We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of your personal information.

If you have any queries about this policy or your personal information, please contact:

Carolina House Trust
7 Luna Place
Gateway West
Dundee Technology Park
Dundee
DD2 1TP

or e-mail: info@carolina.org.uk or call (01382) 561279

Carolina House Trust is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office in Scotland and any data collected will be used and held in accordance with the requirements of Data Protection Law.

How do we collect data?

We obtain personal information from you when you enquire about our services, submit contact information via our website, send or receive an email, make a donation to us, ask a question about our services, contract with us, or otherwise provide us with your personal information.

We also gather general information about the use of our website using cookies, which includes use of google analytics. This provides data such as number of users visiting our website, when users visit our site, where are our users, and duration of visits to our site. We use this information to improve our website. For further information, please see the cookies section below.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This information is used to track visitor use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity.

For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org

You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above websites tell you how to remove cookies from your browser. However in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.

Error: The domain CAROLINAHOUSETRUST.ORG.UK is not authorized to show the cookie declaration for domain group ID 2aac0d96-92f0-45ad-98f9-bd430cb8390d. Please add it to the domain group in the Cookiebot Manager to authorize the domain.

What information do we collect?

The personal information we collect might include:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Gender
  • Email address(es)
  • Telephone number(s)
  • Date of birth,
  • Bank account details (for setting up regular payment information)
  • Family relationships (for when submitting a request to access historical records)
  • Record of your contact with us

Data Protection law recognises that certain categories of personal information are more sensitive. These are known as special categories of data and cover health information, ethnicity, religious beliefs and criminal information. We only collect special categories of data where there is a clear reason for doing so such as progressing an application to become a Carer. 

What is the legal basis for processing this information?

We will hold this data with your explicit consent, to support our legitimate interest, which includes keeping our records up to date so we can notify you of services that may be of interest to you, and as part of any contractual requirements.

How your data will be used?

Fostering & Continuing Care

We will use the information you provide for:

  • Sending you information about fostering and continuing care
  • Contacting you via your preferred method to follow-up enquiries
  • Market analysis
  • To process your application to become a Carer and to gather information from you if you are related to someone who wishes to become a Carer with us

When we say ‘market analysis’, we are simply looking to learn more about the types of people who might be interested in fostering and continuing care and we will always use minimal personal details when doing this.

However, you can contact us, at any time, to object to the use of your information for market analysis.

You can also withdraw your initial application, if you do not wish to go ahead and offer fostering or continuing care services. 

Children and Young People

We will gather and use information about the children and young people placed in our care. This information will be used to help ensure we provide safe and nurturing homes to the children and young people we support, as well as to ensure the safety of our Carers, staff, and the people we work with. 

Access to Historical Records

If you make a request to access to our historical records, we will collect information to:

  • Check your identity
  • Keep a record of all enquiries received
  • Help locate the information you’ve requested
  • Monitor our service

Once we’ve acted upon your request, your identity documents will be securely destroyed. 

Donations and Legacies

When you support our organisation by donating your own money or money raised by a group or choosing to leave a gift in your Will, we will collect the information you provide and only use it to:

  • Keep a record of your support
  • Keep a record of your preferred method of contact (phone, email, post, SMS)
  • Send you relevant information about our work
  • Keep records of our contact with you – updates or information we send and any enquiries or complaints you make
  • Keep information about donations to comply with HMRC requirements.

 Volunteers

We will only ever use the information you provide, and references from your chosen referees, to:

  • Assess and progress your application
  • Contact you regarding volunteer opportunities

Job Applicants

We will only ever use the information you provide, and references from your chosen referees, to:

  • Assess and progress your application
  • To fulfil legal or regulatory requirements
  • Contact you regarding your application

Who the data is shared with?

We will share your data with other parties where we are required to do so by law or to help safeguard the children and young people in our care.

Fostering & Continuing Care

The types of organisations we may share your information with include local authorities, Disclosure Scotland, police, education and health authorities, as well as independent panel advisors or independent assessors working on behalf of the Trust to assess your suitability to become or remain a Carer.

Children and Young People

We may share information about children and young people in our care where required by law or to support education and health.

How long we will retain your data?

We will only keep your information for as long as we need and in accordance with legal requirements and tax and accounting rules.

If you decide to progress to become a Carer or you are a child or young person in the care of Carolina House Trust then the length of time your information is held is determined by law.

Where your information is no longer required we will ensure it is disposed of in a secure manner.

Information Security

We take our responsibilities to protect your privacy very seriously. Technical safeguards, such as firewalls, antivirus software and access restrictions are in place to help ensure that your information is kept safe and only disclosed to people who are authorised to view it. Where we are required to share your information with third parties, we will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information and we will try to ensure that we only share it in ways that are secure, such as by pdf or password protected documents, or by using recorded post.

Information you submit online via our website, or share with us by email, can never be 100% secure. Any information you share in this way is communicated at your own risk. Where we provide you with a secure area of our website protected by username and password you are required to keep those details confidential. Please do not share your password with anyone, including members of our staff. We will never ask you to share your password with us.

Any confidential documents are disposed of securely using our appointed contractor.

Your rights

Under Data Protection law you have the right to:

  1. The right to access your personal information 

You have a right to obtain confirmation that your personal information is being processed. You also have the right to request a copy of your personal information we hold. We will provide a copy of your personal information within one calendar month of receiving the written request. Should you wish to exercise these rights we require you to prove your identity with two pieces of approved identification. If you wish to make a request to see your data you can complete the Request for Personal Information/Subject Access Request Form available on our website.

  1. The right to edit and update your personal information

The accuracy of your personal information is important to us. You can edit your personal information including your address and contact details at any time.

  1. The right to request to have your personal information deleted

You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information which we will review on a case by case basis.

  1. The right to restrict processing of your personal information

You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of your personal data. However, we will continue to store your data but not further process it. We do this by retaining just enough of your personal information so we can ensure that the restriction is respected in the future.

  1. The right to object 

You have the right to object to your personal information being processed for direct marketing (including profiling) and for research purposes. From the very first communication from us and every marketing communication we send after you will have the right to object to marketing.

  1. The right to lodge a complaint

If you wish to lodge a complaint or seek advice please contact:

The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HL

Telephone: 0303 123 1115

Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk

If you wish to notify any changes or request information, please contact:

Carolina House Trust
7 Luna Place
Gateway West
Dundee Technology Park
Dundee
DD2 1TP

e-mail: info@carolina.org.uk

Telephone: (01382) 561279.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the date at the bottom of this page. We encourage users to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are helping to protect your personal information.

Last update: 09 November 2022.

Got any questions?