Privacy policy

At The Children's Society we are committed to protecting your privacy. This statement  describes how The Children’s Society collects and uses information about people who visit our website. If you have any queries about this statement please contact The Data Protection Manager, The Children’s Society, Block A Floor 2 (A203), Tower Bridge Business Complex, 100 Clements Road, London, SE16 4DG or email: data-protection@childrenssociety.org.uk

We have divided this Privacy Policy into sections so you can easily find the information that is relevant to you.

A: Visitors to our site – if you are interested in our work and how you can help us

B: People who use our services – for practitioners as well as children and young people who need advice

C: General security and privacy provisions – for everyone

The terms of the Policy may change, so please check it from time to time.

A. Visitors to our site

How do we collect information?
We will collect personal information from you when you enquire about our activities, buy things from our online shop, register with us, send an e-postcard, make a donation to us or otherwise provide us with personal information. We may also receive information about you from other people, for example from a friend who wants to tell you about this website.

We also gather general information about the use of our website, such as which pages are visited most frequently. We only use anonymous information and statistics which do not identify individual visitors. This information helps us improve the services and information we offer on our website. We may use service providers to help us collect and analyse this information.

What personal information do we collect?
The types of personal information collected might include name, date of birth, email address, postal address, telephone number and direct debit details or your opinions about a product, service or an issue.

How do we use this information?
We will use your personal information to provide you with the services, products or information you have requested, for administration purposes and to further our charitable aims, including for fundraising activities. We may need to share your information with our service providers, associated organisations and agents for these purposes, though we will only do this at your discretion.

We will use your personal information for marketing purposes unless you have indicated that you do not wish to be contacted. We would also like to share your information with other organisations who are supportive of our aims and objectives and who would like to contact you, unless you have indicated that you do not want this to happen. You can change your marketing choices at any time by contacting our Supporter Care Team at The Children's Society, Edward Rudolf House, Margery Street, London WC1X 0JL or email supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk

SMS Privacy Policy

1. By texting you are giving us your number and agreeing to future communication from us by SMS or phone call. 
2. For premium SMS messages to 70099 you will be charged the donation amount stated plus the cost of one standard message. For texts where donations are not being made, you will be charged the cost of one standard message. 
3. You will not be charged for SMS messages you receive from The Children’s Society 
4. SMS service provided by Cymba Integrated Solutions Ltd.  
5. You can unsubscribe from SMS updates from The Children’s Society at any time by contacting supportercare@childrenssociety.org.uk
6. In line with our privacy policy, we will not pass your mobile phone number onto any third parties. Nor will we display it on any petitions or letters. 

B. People using our services

The Children’s Society offers a number of online services for children and young people, and the practitioners who work with them, including:

• Online chat
• Message boards
• Enquiry services
• Online referral facilities

What information do we collect and how do we collect it?
We will collect personal information about practitioners who use our secure enquiry or referral services. This information might include name, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number and fax number.

We may also collect information about children and young people via our online enquiry service, chat facilities, message boards and referral tools. This information may be provided by children and young people themselves or (with their consent) by the practitioners who work with them. The information could include the name, date of birth, gender, address and telephone number of the child or young person. It might also include sensitive information relating to their religion, ethnicity, physical or mental health or condition (including drug and alcohol use), criminal offences and sentences.

How do we use this information?

We use the information about children and young people to answer enquiries and provide advice and support. We use information about practitioners to provide the services and advice they have asked for.

We may create a user account if you register with us, so you can come back to the site without having to enter your details again. If so, we will need to use your personal information to manage your account.

If you use any of these online services, we will tell you more about what will happen to your information when you sign up or make an enquiry.

C. General security and privacy provisions

Do we use 'Cookies'?
'Cookies' are small pieces of information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enable the server to collect information from the browser. Essentially it takes the form of a small text file deposited on your computer's hard drive.

The Children's Society uses cookies to ensure that you can interact with our web sites successfully, to identify you when you visit our web sites and to keep track of your browsing patterns. The use of cookies does not give us access to the rest of your computer or to personal information about you.

We also works with Google Analytics to monitor use of our website. Google Analytics use cookies to gather statistics about our visitors, such as where you come from before entering our website, which pages you look at on our site and where you go afterwards. Information collected in this way is anonymous and does not identify individual visitors. This information allows us to improve our website and the services we provide. For more information about Google Analytics, please see their privacy policy at www.google.com/privacy

 If you want to prevent our cookies being stored on your computer in future, you may do so by referring to your internet browser's instructions. You can do this by clicking on the "Help" menu. Please note however that if you disable our cookies you may not be able to access certain services or facilities on our sites and your use of our sites may be restricted. Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at www.AboutCookies.org

How do we protect personal information?
Information that you submit in a registration or enquiry form is encrypted and stored on a secure server. We also use encryption and a secure server when you make a donation via our website. However, the transmission of information over the Internet is never 100% secure so while we try to protect your personal information, we can’t guarantee the security of any information you submit to us via our website.

We also take appropriate measures to ensure that the information we receive is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used. Access to our secure servers is restricted to authorised staff.

Will we disclose the information we collect to other organisations?
As indicated above, we may pass your information to our service providers, agents and associated organisations and, if you have consented, to other organisations who share our objectives.

Some of our service providers may be located outside the UK in countries or jurisdictions which do not provide the same level of protection for personal information. If we do transfer any personal information outside the UK we will ensure that appropriate steps are taken to protect that information.

Emergencies
We may need to disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to a court order or request from a law enforcement agency. In exceptional circumstances, where we think someone is at serious risk of being harmed, we may contact the police or a local authority safeguarding team.

Your consent
By providing us with your personal information you consent to the collection and use of that information for the purposes and in the manner described in this Privacy Policy.

Links
Our website may include links to websites run by other organisations. The Children’s Society is not responsible for the privacy practices of other organisations’ websites so you should read their privacy policies carefully.

Right of access
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you (for which we may charge a small fee) and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected.

If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact:

The Data Protection Manager, The Children’s Society, Block A Floor 2 (A203), Tower Bridge Business Complex, 100 Clements Road, London, SE16 4DG

Email: data-protection@childrenssociety.org.uk

Changes
If your personal details change, please help us to keep your information up to date by notifying us at the above address.

We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement. The latest version will be available on our website so please check from time to time. By continuing to use the website you will be deemed to have accepted any changes.

Last updated: January 2011