PRIVACY POLICY
PRIVACY POLICY
Introduction
Rural Energy Saving Grants Limited (“Rural Energy Saving Grants”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our website regardless of where you visit it from and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
Important information and who we are
Purpose of this privacy policy
This privacy policy aims to give you information on how we collect and process your personal data including through your use of this website. This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children. It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override
them.
Controller
Rural Energy Saving Grants is the controller and responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about this privacy policy including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please see Contact Us section.
Third-party links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
The data we collect about you
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed anonymous data.
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
· Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender;
· Contact Data includes home address, email address and telephone numbers;
· Financial Data includes proof of earnings on bank account and tax statements;
· Profile Data includes feedback and survey responses;
· Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services;
· Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences;
We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.
Providing Special Categories of Data
Special Categories of Data under data protection laws such as the UK GDPR includes health-related information.
If you are a candidate for a grant and wish to apply for a grant under medical conditions, we will require sight of your medical prescriptions. This can be uploaded onto
our Portal. The medical prescriptions will be seen by the organisation compiling your application for the grant and also by a medical professional for the purpose of assessing your eligibility for a grant.
Where we obtain information about your medical prescriptions we do so with your explicit consent. You will be signposted in our Portal where explicit is required and
before you upload any details of your medical prescription. Medical prescriptions are only needed where you are applying for a grant under medical
conditions.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect personal data by law or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able
to perform services for you for example, to provide you with services. In this case, we may have to cancel a service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity and Contact Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
· apply for our products or services.
· create an account or complete a form on our website.
· subscribe to our service or publications.
· request marketing to be sent to you.
· give us feedback or contact us.
Third parties or publicly available sources.
We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
Technical Data from the following parties:
(a) analytics providers such as Google based outside the UK.
(b) advertising networks such as Meta (Facebook) based inside or outside the UK; and
(c) search information providers based inside or outside the UK.
Contact and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services based inside or outside the UK.
· Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators based inside or outside the UK.
· Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources such as Companies House and the Electoral Register based inside the UK.
How we use your personal data
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
· Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
· Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
· Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us. Purposes for which we will use your personal data We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate. Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data.
Marketing
We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising. We have established the following personal data control mechanisms:
Promotional offers from us
We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you. You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or received services from us and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.
Third-party marketing
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes. You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages by contacting us at any time. Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of a service, registration, or other transactions.
Cookies
You can set your browser or use our cookies consent mechanism to refuse all or some browser cookies or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so. Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
Disclosures of your personal data
We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above.
· Internally: Your personal data will be used by our employees and contractors who are working on providing your services to you on a need-to-know basis.
· Suppliers: This would include service providers who support our business including IT and communication suppliers and outsourced business support to ensure our service runs smoothly.
· Grant application providers: Where you are a candidate for a grant, we will need to share your details with the grant application provider so they can help you compile your application and assist with the eligibility for a grant. Where you are applying for a grant under medical conditions the grant application provider will share any prescription records that you upload onto our Portal to a medical professional such as a General Practitioner (GP) or similar individual to confirm the viability of
your application which is necessary for the approval of a grant.
· Professional advisers: This would include lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.
· Law enforcement bodies, regulators and other authorities: This is to comply with our legal requirements or adhere to good practices.
· Advertising networks and analytics service providers: This is to support and display ads on our website and other social media tools.
· Third parties: This is in the context of the acquisition or transfer of any part of our business or in connection with the business reorganisation. If a change happens to our business then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice.
International transfers
We do not transfer your personal data outside the UK
.
Data security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
Data retention
How long will you use my personal data for?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.
Your data subject rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data.
· Request access to your personal data: This is known as a "data subject access request" and enables you to
receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
· Request correction of your personal data: This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
· Request erasure of your personal data: This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. Note: We may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you at the time of your request.
· Object to processing of your personal data: This is where we are processing your personal data based on a legitimate interest or those of a third party and you may challenge this. However, we may be entitled to continue processing your information based on
our legitimate interests or where this is relevant to any legal claims.
· Request restriction of processing your personal information: This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenario (a) if you want us to establish the information's accuracy (b) where our use of the information is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it (c) where you need us to hold the information even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or (d) you have objected to our use of your information but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
· Request transfer of your personal information (“data portability”): This is where in some circumstances we will provide to you or a third party you have chosen your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
· Right to withdraw consent: This is where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. Depending on the processing activity, if you withdraw your consent we may not be able to provide certain services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
Automated decision making:
This is where decisions are made about you by automated means. We do not carry out automated decision making. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
No fee usually required
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
Time limit to respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Concerns and Complaints
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
Contact Us
Please contact us in the following ways:
Email address: chris.silver@ruralenergysavinggrants.org
Postal address: Rural Energy Saving Grants, Sterling House, Wavell Drive, Rosehill, Carlisle, CA1 2SA.
Changes to the privacy policy
This privacy policy may be changed from time to time in response to legal, technical or business developments. We will take appropriate measures to inform you when we update our privacy policy. We will obtain your consent to any material privacy policy changes if and where this is required by applicable data protection Laws.
Version control and changes to the privacy policy
This version was last updated on 23 July 2024.
