In this policy, you’ll find important information about your personal rights to privacy, and how and why we use your personal information.

We have recently updated our privacy policy to reflect the changes we’ve made to be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (in force from 25 May 2018). We have updated the policy to specify in as much detail as possible:

  • The rights you have regarding your data
  • How we collect, store, share and use personal data
  • Why we collect, store, share and use personal data
  • How long we retain information

If you have any questions about these changes, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Who we are

Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) is a national charity that, along with its subsidiary, Pact Futures Community Interest Company, supports prisoners, people with convictions and their families to make a fresh start, and to minimise the harm that can be caused by imprisonment to people who have committed offences, to families and communities.

Our purpose

What we do:

  • Build stronger families and safer communities.
  • Reduce risk of harm to prisoners and their children.
  • Remove barriers and increase awareness in public services.
  • Influence commissioning, policy and legislation.

Why we hold and process supporters’ data

We hold and process supporters’ personal data for a number of reasons:

  • To keep a record of donations made and actions taken by our supporters and our communications with them
  • To claim gift aid on donations
  • To send our supporters information about our projects, upcoming events, fundraising activities, new services and appeals where we have their consent or are otherwise allowed to
  • To support community based fundraising
  • To ensure we do not send unwanted information to supporters or members of the public who have informed us they do not wish to be contacted

When and why we will send you personalised marketing communications

Pact will only contact you for marketing purposes where we have your consent or we are otherwise allowed to do so. If you have consented for us to send you our marketing communications, you will receive (unless you have specifically stated otherwise):

  • Our e-newsletter
  • Our print Fresh Start mailing
  • Invitations to Pact events via email or post

You can opt out of receiving any of the above at any time by updating your preferences here www.prisonadvice.org.uk/forms/your-preferences.

How and when we collect your data

We may collect your personal data in the following circumstances:

When you give it to us directly

You may give us your personal data directly when you make a donation, sign up for one of our events, sign up for our e-newsletter or sign one of our online petitions.

When we use cookies

We have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you. We do not pass on your details to any third party unless you give us permission to do so.

Pact will maintain the confidentiality of personal data held or processed and increase the access given to individuals to information relating to them.

If you have submitted your email address to the site, we may in future communicate with you to give you the opportunity to opt in to further email communications from us. These further communications may be sent from time to time to inform you about our activities and services. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending an email to [email protected] or writing to the Marketing Communications Officer at Pact central office.

What data will we collect about you

We only collect personal data relevant to the type of transactions you have with Pact.

When you contact Pact to make a donation, we will collect the following information from you:

  • Your name
  • Your address
  • Payment details
  • Whether or not you are a tax payer so that we can claim Gift Aid

When you contact Pact to register for an event, we will collect the following information from you:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Contact number
  • Organisation
  • We may ask for your dietary requirements

When you contact Pact to sign up for our e-newsletter, we will collect the following information from you:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Contact number (optional)
  • Organisation

When you contact Pact to sign one of our charters/petitions, we will collect the following information from you:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Contact number (optional)
  • Organisation

Pact’s website also hosts a webform for users to contact our helpline team. This form is for people who have been affected by imprisonment and queries entered here go directly to our helpline staff for them to call back or reply via email (as requested by user). As part of this form, we will collect the following data from you:

  • Your name
  • Email address (optional)
  • Contact number (optional)
  • Your message to the helpline team
  • The issue you are concerned about (from a checklist)
  • Your relationship to the prisoner (including if you are a prisoner yourself)

The information that you enter through the webform will be retained for 3 years in accordance with our helpline policies and procedures.

Sensitive Personal Information

We do not collect sensitive personal information about our supporters, e.g. health status, unless there is a clear reason for doing so, such as participation in a marathon or similar fundraising event where we need this to ensure that we provide appropriate facilities or support to enable you to participate in the event. Clear notices will be provided for such events so that it is clear what information we need and why we need it.

All sensitive personal information is stored on a secure database, to which only a limited number of relevant staff have access. It is deleted when no longer relevant, is never shared with third parties, and is available to you at any point should you wish to see it.

How will we use your information

We will use your personal information for the following purposes:

  • We may contact you for reasons related to administering any donations you have made, your tax status with regard to Gift Aid if claimed, or online content you have signed up for.
  • To confirm receipt of donations (unless you have asked us not to do this), and to say thank you via email or in the post.
  • In relation to correspondence you have entered into with us whether by letter, email, social media, or any other means, and to contact you about any content you provide.
  • For internal record keeping so as to keep a record of your relationship with us.
  • To implement any instructions you give us with regard to withdrawing consent to send marketing information or informing us that you do not wish to receive any marketing information;
  • To use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to block disruptive use and to establish the number of visits from different countries/demographics.
  • To analyse and improve the activities and content offered by the Pact website and provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience. We may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes.

Will we share your personal data with anyone else?

We will only use your information within Pact for the purposes for which it was obtained. We will not, under any circumstances, share or sell your personal data with any third party for their own marketing purposes, and you will not receive marketing from any other companies, charities or other organisations as a result of giving your details to us.

Where legally required

We will comply with legal requests where disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example if there is a safeguarding issue (in relation to the Helpline webform enquiries), to government bodies for tax purposes or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime.

How long will we keep your data for?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, for example:

  • We will keep a record of donations subject to gift aid for at least seven years to comply with HMRC rules.
  • If you request that we stop sending you marketing materials we will keep a record of your contact details and appropriate information to enable us to comply with your request not to be contacted by us.
  • We may keep data you provide to us indefinitely, to carry out legacy administration and communicate effectively with the families of people leaving us legacies. This also enables us to identify and analyse the source of legacy income we receive.
  • We will keep your details submitted in the helpline webform for 3 years in accordance with our helpline policy and procedures, and potentially longer should there be a safeguarding concern.
  • We will keep your data for as long as you are actively engaging with our correspondence, provided that you have not requested to opt out of communications.

Want to control what we send to you or update your personal information?

The accuracy of your information is really important to us. We want to ensure that we are able to communicate with you in ways that you are happy with, and ensure that we provide you with information that is of interest.

If you wish to change how we communicate with you, or update the information we hold, then please contact us:

How we keep your data safe

We ensure that there are appropriate controls in place to protect your personal details. Any information submitted via our website is protected by encryption, our network is protected and routinely monitored.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

We use external companies to process personal data on our behalf. We do comprehensive checks on these companies before we work with them, and put a contract in place that sets out our expectations and requirements, especially regarding how they manage the personal data they process on our behalf, or have access to.  We monitor our partners to ensure they are meeting these contractual obligations.

Our use of cookies

For information on the types of cookies we use, how we use them and how you can control your cookie preferences, visit our Cookies Policy page.

How to make a complaint about this policy

If you would like to make a complaint about this policy, or make suggestions, please contact us:

To read our Complaints Policy visit prisonadvice.org.uk/complaints-policy-and-procedure

To read our Fundraising Promise visit prisonadvice.org.uk/fundraising-promise

Your rights

These are your rights in relation to how we process your personal information:

Right to be informed

You have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This policy and other policies and statements used on this website and in our communications provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used.

Right of access

You can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information.

Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we’ve successfully confirmed your identity, we’ll give you your personal information (subject to any exceptions that apply).

Right of erasure

You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information, and we’ll do this when you ask us to. In many cases, we’ll check to see if you’re happy for us to make it anonymous first, rather than delete it completely.

Right of rectification

If you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask us to update those records.

You can also ask us to check the personal information that we hold about you if you are unsure whether it is up to date.

Right to restrict processing

You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

Right to object

You have the right to object to processing where we are:

  • Processing your personal information on the grounds of legitimate interest
  • Using your personal information for direct marketing or
  • Using your personal information statistical purposes.

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for marketing or fundraising by electronic means (for example to be unsubscribed from our email newsletter list).

How to exercise your rights

To exercise any of these rights, please e-mail a description of the personal information in question to [email protected], call us on 020 7735 9535, or write to us at 29 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UA.

Please note that you may only use/benefit from some of these rights in limited circumstances. For more information, we suggest that you consult guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or please contact us.  You have the right to make a complaint to the ICO about the way we have processed your personal information.