Privacy policy

At Raise we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people’s lives.

We only ask for the information we need. We always let you decide what you’re comfortable telling us, explain why we need it and treat it as confidential.

When we record and use your personal information we:

• only access it when we have a good reason
• only share what is necessary and relevant
• don’t sell it to anyone

At times we might 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 – for example, if a court orders us to share information. This is called ‘legal obligation’
• to protect someone’s life – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client was unwell at our office. This is called ‘vital interests’
• to carry out our legitimate aims and goals as a charity – for example, to create statistics for our national research. This is called ‘legitimate interests’
• for us to carry out a task where we’re meeting the aims of a public body in the public interest – for example, delivering a government or local authority service. This is called ‘public task’
• to defend our legal rights – for example, sharing information with our legal advisors if there was a complaint that we gave the wrong advice

We handle and store your personal information in line with the law – including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

How Raise collects your data

When we collect data from you, we will get your permission by asking you to either:

• sign a paper consent form
• tick a box online
• give agreement over the phone – if you call our office with our direct telephone number.

If you have been referred to us from another organisation or advice charity, using our online referral system, they will get your permission before sending us your information.

Before we ask for your permission, we’ll always explain how we use your information.

What information Raise asks for

Raise asks you to provide the information relevant to the service you are getting from us. We will always ask you for permission to collect, store and use this data which we need to ensure we can keep in touch and fully understand your situation. For example, we may ask you for:

• your name and contact details
• your family and dependents details
• your financial details, including income, expenditure, people you pay, people who pay you, services you buy, such as gas, electricity etc.
• information like your gender, marital status, sexual orientation, ethnicity

For some projects, we may require more information to enable us to provide the right level of support and to provide the service free of charge to you. You will always be asked for permission and we will explain why we need your information.

How Raise uses your information

Working on your behalf

When you give us authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim, we’ll need to share information with that third party.

In acting on behalf of clients, we commonly share information with the following organisations (this list is not exhaustive). We will get your permission before sharing any information with external organisations. For example:

• The DWP
• The Local Authority
• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
• Creditors (for debt clients)
• Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service

How Raise stores your information

Whether you get advice face to face, over the phone or by email, our adviser will log all your information, correspondence, and notes about your problem into our secure case management system. This system is called AdvicePro.

Some of your information might also be kept within local secure email and IT systems.

We collect and use the details you give us so we can help you. We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. We’ll always explain how we use your information.

We use Microsoft Outlook services for email. Generally, Microsoft products as used by us will mean they are acting as a data processor under our instruction as a data controller. Raise has opted into the Model contract clauses and data processing amendment agreement with Microsoft.

WhatsApp and Text Messaging

WhatsApp:

When using our WhatsApp contact number our policy is to minimize all data collected and we aim to transfer all personal information to our secure case management systems during the course of your case. Messages sent over the WhatsApp service are encrypted end to end. Facebook will also store your data in accordance with the Terms of Service of your WhatsApp account.

SMS Text Messaging:

We use SMS to send appointment reminders and important updates about your case. Our policy is to minimize all data collected and we aim to transfer all personal information to our secure case management system during the course of your case. Data associated with our text messaging platform is held securely within our own IT systems.

All client, employee and volunteer personal information stored locally in our office IT systems is encrypted to modern standards and stored securely.

All volunteers and staff who access your data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

How Raise shares your information

If you ask us to act on your behalf we might need to share some of your information with other organisations – we’ll always tell you when we do this. For example if we contact your creditors about your debts, we might need to share your name, address and financial details with them.

If we refer you to another organisation for more advice, we might share information about your problem with them so they can help you more quickly.

Contact Raise about your information

If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office:

Telephone: 0151 459 1556

Hours: Monday – Thursday 9.30am – 3.30pm and Friday 9.30am – 12.30pm

Email: admin@raiseadvice.org.uk

You can contact us to:

• find out what personal information we hold about you
• correct your information if it’s wrong, out of date or incomplete
• request we delete your information
• ask us to limit what we do with your data – for example, ask us not to share it if you haven’t asked us already
• ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold in a format you can use to transfer it to another service
• ask us to stop using your information

Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information

Raise is registered with the Information Commissioners Office as a Data Controller and Processor. This means that we abide by their regulations on how we store, process and use your data.

Raise operates a system called AdvicePro to keep your personal information safe. Raise is the joint data controller for your personal information which is stored in this system. We work together to ensure our use of your information complies with data protection law.

You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.

Using our website – our privacy policy

When you use our website, we collect your information in a number of ways.

We use data called ‘cookies’ to get information about how you’re using our website – for example, what pages you click on and what device you’re using. Find out more how we collect and use cookies when you browse our website.

If you ‘Email us’ we’ll collect your name and email address so that we can get back to you.

We’ll get your permission to collect your information when we first talk with you.

If a partner organisation uses our online referral system function to make a referral on your behalf, the partner organisation will get your permission to collect your information and indicate this by ticking a box within the system. We use your contact details to get in touch with you to progress the referral.

We only access your information for other reasons if we really need to – for example, to investigate complaints.

We don’t share your personal information.

Storing your information

Your information is stored securely on our own internal systems. All volunteers and staff who access your data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

We keep your data for 6 years and it’s then deleted.

Contact us about your data

You can contact us at any time and ask us:

• what information we’ve stored about you
• to change or update your details
• to delete your details from our records

Send us a message at admin@raiseadvice.org.uk.

If you’re not happy with how we’ve handled your data, you can make a complaint. Email us at admin@raiseadvice.org.uk.

‍

Using our Debt Advice Project – our privacy policy

Raise is part of the Greater Merseyside Money Advice Partnership (GMMAP) who together operate the Debt Advice Project funded by the Money Advice Service. The lead partner of GMMAP is Citizens Advice Knowsley.

When you contact us, we collect personal information about you so we can help you deal with your debts.

We get your information:

• by talking with you over the phone or face to face
• from records on our case management system – if you’ve got advice from us before

We’ll get your permission by asking you to either:

• sign a paper consent form
• tick a box online
• give agreement over the phone – if you call our direct phone number.

Before we ask for your permission, we’ll always explain how we use your information.

If you’re using our Debt Advice Project and you’ve been referred to us from another organisation or advice charity, they’ll send us your information using a referral form or our online referral system. They’ll get your permission before sending us your information.

What information we ask for

We only record and use information that will help us resolve your debt issues.

• name and date of birth
• contact details
• debts, creditors and reference numbers
• income and expenditure
• state of health
• family circumstances

We’ll also need to collect proof of identity and proof of income.

If you decide to make direct debit payments to your creditors we’ll also ask for information about your bank account – including the bank name, account name, account number and sort code.

If you’ve decided to make repayments to your creditors we’ll collect information about the repayments you make, including any missed payments and the reason for these.

How we use your information

We use the information you give us to provide you with debt advice and act on your behalf.

We’ll ask for your permission before we share your details with your creditors.

If we refer you to another organisation for more advice, we might share information about your problem with them so they can help you more quickly.

Sharing your information

Raise will not share your information with any other organisation without your permission, unless required to do so by law.

Storing your information

We use a case management system called AdvicePro to store your information. Raise and Citizens Advice Knowsley are joint data controllers for the information stored in AdvicePro.

We keep your data for 6 years and then it’s deleted.

Applying for jobs or volunteering with Raise – our privacy policy

When you apply for a job or to volunteer with us, we collect your personal information through your application form, interview or references so we can process your application.

If you’re offered a role, where applicable we’ll also get information about you from:

• Disclosure and Barring Service checks
• your referees

We’ll use your information to:

• process your application
• contact you about your application
• assess your suitability for the role

We won’t share your information with third parties.

We’ll keep unsuccessful application forms for 6 months after the closing date.

Complaints about our service – our privacy policy

If you make a complaint, we collect personal information from you so we can help deal with your complaint.

We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to collect your information under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation.

We’ll use the information you give us to deal with your complaint. We usually need to share this with the organisation or person you’re complaining about, so we can understand the situation. If you don’t want us to share information with the organisation or person you’re complaining about, we’ll try to respect that – though it might make it harder for us to resolve your complaint.

We’ll only access your information for other reasons if we really need to – for example, to investigate a complaint about our service.

We’ll store your complaint information securely on our internal systems.

We keep complaints for 6 years and then delete them.

Research and media – our privacy policy

Raise may use the information you provide for research and media purposes – but only with your permission.

We’ll always explain why we’re using your information and ask for your permission before we share it.

Donations – our privacy policy

If you make a donation to Raise we’ll collect information about you so we can process your donation. This might include:

• your name and contact details
• your bank account details

We’ll only use your information for this purpose and won’t share it with third parties.

‍