At Citizens Advice 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:
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.
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:
We handle and store your personal information in line with the law - including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. You can check our main Citizens Advice policy for how we handle most of your personal information. This covers how we, as your local charity, handle your information locally in our offices.
‘To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy. Permission to collect client information and the legal basis on which we’re using
it is obtained via our Generalist, Money Advice, and Legal Aid Agency Consent Forms.
‘To find out what information we ask for and how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy.
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. Commonly this can be DWP, local debt collection agencies, County Courts, or Medway Council. Consent will always be obtained first (in writing) and a client will always be made aware of who we feel needs their information prior to any usage taking place.
Non-national Citizens Advice systems we used to retain and store information locally are:
Commonly this can be DWP, local debt collection agencies, County Courts, or Medway Council. Consent will always be obtained first (in writing) and a client will always be made aware of who we feel needs their information prior to any usage taking place. No funders are provided with identifying information about our clients under any circumstances.
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office.
Address: Third Floor, Kingsley House, 37-39 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4PF
Phone: 01634 383 760 – Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm
Email: info@medwayadvice.org.uk
You can contact us to:
The national Citizens Advice charity and your local Citizens Advice operate a system called Casebook to keep your personal information safe. This means they’re a ‘joint data controller’ for your personal information that’s stored in our Casebook system.
Each local Citizens Advice is an independent charity, and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity. The Citizens Advice membership agreement also requires that the use of your information complies with data protection law. You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.
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