How we use your information

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when Purita Hyam collects personal information. It applies to information we collect about:

Visitors to our websites

When someone visits the website we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be upfront about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

Use of cookies by Purita Hyam

You can read more about how we use cookies on our cookies page.

Search engine

Our website searches and decision notice search is powered by WordPress. Search queries and results are logged anonymously to help us improve our website and search functionality. No user-specific data is collected by either Purita Hyam or any third party.

E-newsletter

We use a third-party provider, MailChimp, to deliver our e-newsletters. We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies including clear gifs to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. For more information, please see MailChimp’s privacy notice.

WordPress

We use a third-party service, WordPress.com, to publish our website. We use a standard WordPress service to collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example, the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it. WordPress requires visitors that want to post a comment to enter a name and email address. For more information about how WordPress processes data, please see WordPress’s privacy notice.

People who contact us via social media

We use a third-party provider, Hootsuite to manage our social media interactions. If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored by HootSuite for three months. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

People who call our helpline

When you call Purita Hyam we collect Calling Line Identification (CLI) information. We use this information to help improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

People who email us

We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic in line with the government. If your email service does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit. We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

People who use our LiveChat service

We use a third-party provider, to supply and support our LiveChat service, which we use to handle customer enquiries in real time. If you use the LiveChat service we will collect your name, email address (optional) and the contents of your LiveChat session. This information will be retained for two years and will not be shared with any other organisations. You can request a transcript of your LiveChat session if you provide your email address at the start of your session or when prompted at the end. People who make a complaint to us When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint. We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We do compile and publish statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone. We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis. We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for two years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘need to know’ principle. Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide. When we take enforcement action against someone, we may publish the identity of the defendant in our Annual Report or elsewhere. Usually, we do not identify any complainants unless the details have already been made public.

People who use Purita Hyam services

Purita Hyam offers various services to the public. We use a third party to deal with some publication requests, but they are only allowed to use the information to send out the publications. We have to hold the details of the people who have requested the service in order to provide it. However, we only use these details to provide the service the person has requested and for other closely related purposes. For example, we might use information about people who have requested a publication to carry out a survey to find out if they are happy with the level of service they received. When people do subscribe to our services, they can cancel their subscription at any time and are given an easy way of doing this. People who register (notify) under the Data Protection Act 1998 Many businesses are required by law to ‘notify’ certain specified information to the Information Commissioner. This may contain personal information, for example where the business is a sole trader. Purita Hyam compiles this information into a register which it is required by law to make publicly available. Purita Hyam cannot, therefore, give any guarantees as to how the information contained on the register will be used by those accessing it. When businesses fill in their registration forms, they are asked to provide the contact details of a relevant member of staff. Purita Hyam will use this for its own purposes, for example where we have a query about a registration, but will not put it on the public register. When we request information as part of the registration process, we make it clear where the provision of information is required by law and where it is voluntary.

Your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you. You can read more about these rights here – https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/is-my-information-being-handled-correctly/

Complaints or queries

Purita Hyam tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures. This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of Purita Hyam collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below. If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, please see our contact information below.

Access to personal information

Purita Hyam tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. If we do hold information about you we will: give you a description of it; tell you why we are holding it; tell you who it could be disclosed to; and let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form. To make a request to Purita Hyam for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing addressing it to our Information Governance department or writing to the address provided below. If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone. If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting the Information Governance department.

Disclosure of personal information

In many circumstances, we will not disclose personal data without consent. However, when we investigate a complaint, for example, we will need to share personal information with the organisation concerned and with other relevant bodies.

Links to other websites

This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 22 May 2018.

How to contact us

If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can email us.