Privacy Notice

Introduction

We understand that your privacy and the security of your personal information is extremely important. This notice sets out what we do with your personal information, what we do to keep it secure, from where and how we collect it, as well as your rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you.

This notice applies to you regardless of how you interact with our services.

If you don’t want to read all the detail, here are the things we think you’d really want to know:

Your personal information (personally identifiable data) is not shared outside the organisation without your consent in most circumstances however information may be shared under another legal basis if for example we determine there is a serious risk of harm.
You have a number of rights over your personal information and these have been extended under GDPR. These rights are set out in this statement.
We do not send direct marketing emails

Who we are?

Safer Places is an independent charity which provides a comprehensive range of services to adults and children affected by domestic and sexual abuse who live in West Essex, Mid Essex and East Hertfordshire.

You can contact the Data protection officer by post: Data Protection Officer PO BOX 2489 Harlow Essex. Or by E-mail [email protected]

What information do we collect?

We collect name, address, gender, DOB, marital status, family status, medical information and other personal information relevant to your situation. We also collect information on your progress during any time you spend in our services and details of what services you have used and when.

How do we use personal information?

Safer Places uses your data to provide customised services to you ensuring we can give you the best service possible. We may also use anonymous data about you for statistical purposes to improve our services.

What legal basis do we have for processing your personal data?

Whenever we process your personal information we always do so using a “legal basis”. The different legal bases we rely on are:

Consent: You have told us you are happy for us to process your personal information for a specific purpose;
Legitimate interests: The processing is necessary for us to conduct our business, but not where our interests are overridden by your interests or rights.
Performance of a contract: We must process your personal information in order to be able to provide you with one of our products or services;
Vital interests: The processing of your personal information is necessary to protect you or someone else’s life;
Public information: Where we process personal information which you have already made public;
Legal obligation: We are required to process your personal information by law.

When/Why do we share personal data?

Statutory Agencies – We may share your information with certain statutory agencies when necessary, for example to provide services to you that are not offered by Safer Places directly, we do this when we feel there is a need.

Partner Agencies – We may share your information with certain partner agencies when necessary, for example to provide services to you that are not offered by Safer Places directly, we do this when we feel there is a need.

Where do we store and process personal data?

We store and house data we process within the EU economic area primarily, where information is stored outside of the EUEA it is done so with strong safeguards ensuring GDPR compliance, protecting your data and your rights.

How do we secure personal data?

We take protecting your personal information seriously and are continuously reviewing the our processes. controls we have in place are:

We limit physical access to our buildings and user access to our systems to only those that have a genuine need to be there;
We use technology controls for our information systems, such as firewalls, user verification, data encryption and separation of roles, systems & data;
We enforce a “need to know” policy, for access to any data or systems.

How long do we keep your personal data for?

5 years after you have left our services. We store your data for this period to enable us to provide you with a better service should you need to utilise us again within that time period.

(Prior to October 2021 our retention period was 2 years only)

Your rights in relation to personal data

You have a number of rights under data protection legislation which, in certain circumstances, you may be able to exercise in relation to the personal information we process about you.

These include:

the right to access a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
the right to correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you;
the right to restrict our use of your personal information;
the right to be forgotten;
the right of data portability; and
the right to object to our use of your personal information.

Where we rely on consent as the legal basis on which we process your personal information, you may also withdraw that consent at any time.

If you are seeking to exercise any of these rights, please contact the data protection officer by post: Data Protection Officer PO BOX 2489 Harlow Essex. Or by E-mail [email protected]

Please note that we will need to verify your identity before we can fulfil any of your rights under data protection law. This helps us to protect your personal information.

Use of automated decision-making and profiling

Saferplaces does not use automated decision making to tailor services, support packages are unique, user led and will be determined by the support worker working with you.

How to contact us?

Data Protection Officer

PO BOX 2489

Harlow

Essex.

[email protected]

Cookies and other technologies

Cookies

Certain information about the user, such as IP addresses, navigation through site, software used, time spent and other similar information, may be stored on our servers in small data pieces known as “cookies,” which may also be written to a User’s computer system. These cookies will not specifically identify the User. The information will be used internally only for web site traffic analysis. If the User specifically provides unique identifying information, such as name, address and other information on forms stored on this site, such information will only be used for statistical purposes and will not be published for general access. However, we assume no responsibility for the security of this information. In addition, we also record your IP address, which is the Internet address of your computer, and information such as your browser type and operating system. This information helps us learn about the geographical distribution of our website visitors and the technology they use to access our site. This information is never connected with the personal information you supply to us if you register on our website.

You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our site. You can find out more about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.

Cookies for Measuring Web Traffic

We make use of a tool from Google called Google analytics which tells us about the way people are using www.saferplaces.co.uk. It uses cookies to detect that someone has been to the site before, so that we can see how often people return to the site, how long they stay, and where on www.saferplaces.co.uk they tend to go. We use this to try to work out what kind of experience they are having on the site, so we can improve it.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics sets cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of people visiting www.saferplaces.co.uk and let us see how they are moving around the site. We use this when we make decisions on the type of content we create and how we structure the site. The cookies set up by Google Analytics are below:

Name: _utma
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 2 years

Name: _utmb
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 30 minutes

Name: _utmc
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: when user exits browser

Name: _utmz
Typical content: randomly generated number + info on how the site was reached (e.g. directly or via a link, organic search or paid search)
Expires: 6 months

Name: analytics
Typical content: Cookie Control cookies. These cookies are set in order to remember preferences in regards to cookies.

For more information about Google Analytics and the cookies it sets, please look at the breakdown of their cookies.

How do I change my cookie settings?

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer’s website.

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Linking to other websites / third party content

Links provided to third party websites are provided “as is” without warranty and solely for the purposes of information. Links to services outside of our control do not constitute endorsement and the privacy policies and procedures for these services should be reviewed independently of these policies provided by Safer Places.

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At Safer Places we have a range of training courses and qualifications available, from short 3 hour sessions to Level 2, 3 and 4 accredited qualifications.
Contact Us
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Safer Places has 8 refuges across Essex and Hertfordshire, including specialist therapeutic refuge spaces for women with multiple needs and women with no recourse to public funding. A refuge is a temporary safe home where survivors of domestic abuse and their children can stay. It is staffed by experienced and dedicated support workers who provide individual client led support and help survivors find new safe accommodation. Our accommodation includes a combination of self-contained f
Mission and Values

Vision Safer Places vision is a society where everyone lives a life free from fear and abuse
Help in a Crisis

If you or your children are in immediate danger, call the police on 999. If you are not in immediate danger and would like to talk to us about your options, call our helpline on 03301 025811. We will provide you with the support and information you need to consider your options and decide what to do to improve your safety and that of your children.