Our Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice for Clients

Who are we?

Missing Link provides women’s mental health services, supporting homeless women with complex needs to recover, secure and sustain housing.

Next Link provides domestic abuse services and a specialist forced marriage service.

Safe Link provides emotional and practical support to women, children and male victims of rape and sexual assault.

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link’s registered office is at 5 Queen’s Square, Bristol, BS1 4JQ and we are a Housing Association with charitable status, registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (2014). Register No. 24218R.

We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register; registration number Z3246008 and act as the Data Controller when processing your data. Our designated Data Protection Appointed Person is Bally Kandola, Director of Resources, who can be contacted at [email protected]

This Privacy Notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why and when we process your personal data.

Information That We Collect

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link collect and use your personal information to help support you, 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.

We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection laws.  We log all your information, correspondence, and notes into our secure case management system.  Some of your information might also be kept within our secure email and IT systems.

We’ll only ask for information that’s relevant to your problem. Depending on what you want help with, this might include:

  • Name and contact details so we can keep in touch with you about your support
  • Date of Birth
  • Equalities Data – information like your gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation
  • Health/Medical information (where relevant)
  • Next of Kin (where relevant)
  • Children’s Details (where relevant)
  • Personal information – for example about family, work, or financial circumstances
  • National Insurance Number or Passport (where relevant)
  • Personal information about other people involved in your case or enquiry
  • Details of other professionals involved in your case or enquiry

If you don’t want to give us certain information, you may not have to. For example, with equalities data we will always give the option to prefer not to say.

How We Use Your Personal Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link will always process your personal data in a way that is lawful and fair. We will not process the data in a way that is unduly detrimental, unexpected or misleading.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is detailed below:

  • Legitimate Interest – we may collect information about you which we believe will assist you when you are with us. This will be used to ensure you are receiving tailored and specific support around your needs.
  • Consent – we will use this where we can offer you a choice as to whether or not we collect, store, share or otherwise process your information.
  • (Substantial) Public Interest – where we are working to assist with public law we will collect your information under public interest. We will be clear about why we have to collect this information, how it will be used, who you can expect it to be shared with and why.
  • Contract – in some cases we need to collect information in order to fulfil a contract, this will generally be when you have a tenancy or licence agreement with us.

Special Categories Data

We sometimes need to process sensitive personal information (known as special category data) about you, to ensure we are providing our services to a wide range of people (equalities data) or health/medical information about you that is important for us to know to help to support you.

We will only ever process special category data where one or more of the following apply: –

  • The data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of the personal data.  We will always ensure service users have the option to decline sharing sensitive data.
  • Processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law
  • Processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent
  • Processing relates to personal data which are manifestly made public by the data subject
  • Processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity
  • Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest because we would not be able to provide our services without doing so
  • Processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services
  • Processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health
  • Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes

Sharing your Personal Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link will never disclose or share your personal information without your consent, other than for the purposes specified in this notice or where there is a legal requirement.  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’
  • For purposes of the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders if formally requested by the police
  • To protect someone’s life – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a service user 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

If we use a third party to provide services and business functions; we will ensure all data processors acting on our behalf only process your information in accordance with instructions from us and comply fully with this privacy notice, the data protection laws and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

Your Rights

You have the right to access any personal information that Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link processes about you and to request information about:

  • What personal data we hold about you
  • The purposes of the processing
  • The categories of personal data concerned
  • The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
  • How long we intend to store your personal data for
  • If we did not collect the data directly from you, information about the source

Access:  You can request a copy or some or all of the information we hold about you.  We will aim to get all the required information to you within one calendar month, unless there are complicated circumstances, in which case, we will explain what they are within one month and provide you with an idea of what you can expect, up to a maximum of a further two months.  We will not charge for supplying you with this information.

Rectification:  If you believe that we hold any incomplete or inaccurate data about you, you have the right to ask us to correct and/or complete the information and we will strive to do so as quickly as possible, within one calendar month; unless there is a valid reason for not doing so, at which point you will be notified.

Erasure:  You have the right to request erasure of some or all of your personal data in accordance with the data protection laws. If we cannot fulfil this request, we will let you know the reason within one calendar month.  There may be reasons why we cannot erase your data.  This may be to ensure we comply with our legal obligations or our insurer’s requirements, or in case we need to review the work we did for you.

Portability:  Where applicable, you have the right to data portability of your information from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way.

If we receive a request from you to exercise any of the above rights, we may ask you to verify your identity before acting on the request; this is to ensure that your data is protected and kept secure.

Security Measures

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure your personal data. We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures in place, including password security, encryptions, restricted access, IT authentication, firewalls and anti-virus/malware.

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

Transfers Outside the EU

Personal data in the European Union is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but some other countries may not necessarily have the same high standard of protection for your personal data. Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link does not transfer or store any personal data outside the EU.

How Long We Keep Your Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only ever retains personal information for as long as is necessary and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations.

We will normally keep all of the information for 7 years from when our work comes to an end.  This is to comply with our legal obligations and our insurer’s requirements, and in case we need to review the work we did for you.  After that time it will be securely destroyed unless we have a legitimate reason to keep it.

A copy of our Data Retention and Erasure Policy is available on request.

Visitors to our website

When you visit our website http://missinglinkhousing.co.uk/, http://nextlinkhousing.co.uk/ , https://safelinksupport.co.uk/ we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to track interest on specific pages, see how the site is being used and look at how we can make improvements to the site. The information is only processed in a way that does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempts to find out the identities of those visiting the website. If we do ever try and link our cookies and tracking information, we will be up front about it, explaining why and what we intend to do with it.

Cookie Notice

A ‘cookie’ is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user’s computer by the user’s web browser while the user is browsing. When you visit a site that uses cookies for the first time, a cookie is downloaded onto your computer/mobile device so that the next time you visit that site, your device will remember useful information such as items added in the shopping cart, visited pages or logging in options.

Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or to work more efficiently, and our site relies on cookies to optimise user experience and for features and services to function properly.

Most web browsers allow some control to restrict or block cookies through the browser settings, however if you disable cookies you may find this affects your ability to use certain parts of our website or services. For more information about cookies visit: https://www.aboutcookies.org.

Protect your Tracks

Our website gives you advice about how to protect yourself and cover your tracks online.

http://missinglinkhousing.co.uk/

http://nextlinkhousing.co.uk/

https://safelinksupport.co.uk/

Lodging A Complaint

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy notice and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws.

If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the person responsible for Data Protection:

Bally Kandola, Director of Resources: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority:  Information Commissioners Office https://ico.org.uk/

Privacy Notice for Children aged 13 or over

Who are we?

Next Link and Safe Link provides dedicated children’s and young people services.

This Privacy Notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and explains how, why and when we process information about you.

Information That We Collect

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.

We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection laws.

We’ll only ask for information that’s relevant to your problem. Depending on what you require help with, this might include:

  • Name and contact details so we can keep in touch with you about your support
  • Date of Birth
  • Equalities Data – information like your gender, ethnicity or religion
  • Health/Medical information (where relevant)
  • Information about other people involved in your case or enquiry
  • Details of other professional involved in your case or enquiry

If you don’t want to give us certain information, you may not have to. For example, with equalities data we will always give the option to prefer not to say.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We take your privacy very seriously and will never disclose or share your data without your consent; unless required to do so by law. We only retain your data for as long as is necessary.

We will always process your personal data in a way that is lawful and fair. We will not process the data in a way that is unexpected or misleading.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is detailed below:

  • We have a legitmate interest to gather, store and process your information so we can support you and help you with your case or enquiry.
  • Consent – we will use this where we can offer you a choice as to whether or not we collect, store, share or otherwise process your information.

Sharing and Disclosing Your Personal Information

We do not share or disclose any of your personal information without your consent, unless there is a legal requirement, such as a safeguarding issue.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We only ever retain personal information for as long as is necessary and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations.

We will normally keep all of the information for 7 years from when our work with you comes to an end.

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
  • make a complaint

Send us a message at [email protected]

If you have a complaint and you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority:  Information Commissioners Office https://ico.org.uk/

Privacy Notice for Staff, Volunteers, Trustees and Student Placements

What is the purpose of this document?

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We are a data controller. This means we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. This notice explains to you what decisions we have taken in relation to that information.

We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register; registration number Z3246008 and act as the Data Controller when processing your data. Our designated Data Protection Appointed Person is Bally Kandola, Director of Resources, who can be contacted at [email protected]

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link’s registered office is at 5 Queen’s Square, Bristol, BS1 4JQ and we are a Housing Association with charitable status, registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (2014). Register No. 24218R.

This Privacy Notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why and when we process your personal data.

General Data Protection Principles

In collecting and processing your personal information, we will comply with the data protection law in force at the time. This requires that the personal information we hold about you must be:

  1. Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
  2. Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  3. Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
  4. Accurate and kept up to date.
  5. Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
  6. Kept securely.

Information That We Collect

We collect personal information about our employees/volunteers through the application and recruitment process, either directly from candidates or sometimes from an employment agency or background check provider. We may sometimes collect additional information from third parties including former employers, other agencies and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

We will collect additional personal information in the course of job-related activities throughout the period of you working for us.

We handle and store your personal information in line with data protection laws.

Information that we may collect might include:

  • Name and contact details so we can keep in touch with you about your support
  • Date of Birth
  • Equalities Data – information, for example, your ethnicity
  • Health/Medical information/Sick Notes (where relevant)
  • Next of Kin
  • Bank Details (where necessary)
  • National Insurance Number/Passport Number/Driving Licence/Vehicle Insurance (where relevant)
  • Photograph (where necessary)
  • Criminal Record details (where necessary)

How We Use Your Personal Data

We will use your information for the following purposes:

  • To ensure correct and legal information under contract of employment and with legislative bodies such as HMRC.
  • To enable payment of salary/wages/NI/tax/pension contributions/expenses
  • To ensure employees have access to effective recourse if they have any concerns about their employment
  • To take appropriate action in the event of any conduct or performance concerns
  • To maintain appropriate levels of conduct and performance

Legal Basis for Processing

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal basis we rely on for processing personal information for general purposes are:

  • Necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party
  • Necessary for compliance with a legal obligation
  • Necessary for the legitimate interests of the organisation

Where we use your personal information to pursue the legitimate interests of the business, we will only do so provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

Some of the personal data we process can be more sensitive in nature and therefore requires a higher level of protection. The GDPR refers to the processing of this data as ‘special categories of personal data’. This means personal data about an individual’s:

  • race;
  • ethnic origin;
  • political opinions;
  • religious or philosophical beliefs;
  • trade union membership;
  • genetic data;
  • biometric data (where this is used for identification purposes);
  • health data;
  • sex life; or
  • sexual orientation.

Personal data can include information relating to criminal convictions and offences. This also requires a higher level of protection.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal basis we rely on for processing sensitive data information are:

  • Processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law
  • Processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent
  • Processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.

Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal information.

If you fail to provide personal information

If you fail to provide certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you (such as paying you or providing a benefit), or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations (such as to ensure the health and safety of our workers).

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

Sharing information with third parties

We may have to share your data with third parties, including third-party service providers. We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

We will share your personal information with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

All our third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.

In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures in place, including password security, encryptions, restricted access, IT authentication, firewalls and anti-virus/malware.

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

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data Retention

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations.

A copy of our Data Retention and Erasure Policy is available on request.

Your duty to inform us of changes

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your working relationship with us.

Your Rights

Under certain circumstances, the law grants you specific rights. These are summarised below. Please note that your rights may be limited and subject to restrictions in certain situations:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
  • Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.
  • If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact the person responsible for data protection: Bally Kandola, Director of Resources: [email protected]

Transfers Outside the EU

Personal data in the European Union is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but some other countries may not necessarily have the same high standard of protection for your personal data. Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link does not transfer or store any personal data outside the EU.

Changes to this privacy notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.

Lodging A Complaint

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy notice and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws.

If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the person responsible for Data Protection:

Bally Kandola, Director of Resources: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority:  Information Commissioners Office https://ico.org.uk/

Privacy Notice for Job Applicants

Who are we?

Missing Link provides women’s mental health services, supporting homeless women with complex needs to recover, secure and sustain housing.

Next Link provides domestic abuse services and a specialist forced marriage service.

Safe Link provides emotional and practical support to women, children and male victims of rape and sexual assault.

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link’s registered office is at 5 Queen’s Square, Bristol, BS1 4JQ and we are a Housing Association with charitable status, registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (2014). Register No. 24218R.

We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register; registration number Z3246008 and act as the Data Controller when processing your data. Our designated Data Protection Appointed Person is Bally Kandola, Director of Resources, who can be contacted at [email protected]

This Privacy Notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why and when we process your personal data.

Information That We Collect

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

We only ask for information which is relevant to the role you’re applying for.

We’ll collect personal details such as name, address, telephone number and email address, previous job history and experience, qualifications, and any support needs you may have.

We’ll also ask for diversity information like your gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation. You don’t have to tell us this – if you do, it’s always anonymised.

We might collect other information depending on whether you’ve applied for a staff or volunteer role.

If we offer you a position, we’ll ask for:

  • references for your previous and current work
  • proof of your right to work in the UK, like a valid UK passport or visa
  • your national insurance number and P45
  • your bank details, so we can pay you

Where it’s needed for the role, we might contact the DBS for a criminal record check. Once the DBS check is completed and you’ve received your certificate, we’d expect you to share this information with us as part of the the background check process.

This information would include your name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, position applied for and anything else disclosed on your DBS check.

How We Use Your Personal Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link will always process your personal data in a way that is lawful and fair. We will not process the data in a way that is unduly detrimental, unexpected or misleading.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is detailed below:

  • Legitimate Interest – to process personal data provided by candidates when conducting the recruitment exercise; for example, to assess and record information about your qualifications as part of the selection process.
  • Legal Obligation  – to process certain information as part of a recruitment exercise, for example checking that a successful candidate has the right to work in the UK.

Missing Link has a legitimate interest in managing the recruitment exercise effectively to decide to whom to offer a job.  We’ll use the information you give us to decide whether or not you’ve got the right skills for the role.

We’ll use the demographic information to make sure we’re employing a diverse workforce and volunteer community.

Sharing your Personal Data

We keep your information securely on our internal systems.  Staff who access your information have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

Missing Link uses the umbrella body of “thirtyoneeight” to carry out all its DBS Checks.

You can read more about DBS checks and processes on the GOV.UK website.Your Rights

You have the right to access any personal information that Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link processes about you and to request information about:

  • What personal data we hold about you
  • The purposes of the processing
  • The categories of personal data concerned
  • The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
  • How long we intend to store your personal data for
  • If we did not collect the data directly from you, information about the source.

Security Measures

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure your personal data. We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures in place, including password security, encryptions, restricted access, IT authentication, firewalls and anti-virus/malware.

How Long We Keep Your Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only ever retains personal information for as long as is necessary and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations.

Application forms and interview notes/assessment sheets (for unsuccessful short-listed candidates) 1 year from date of interview
Application forms (for unsuccessful non short-listed candidates) Until the position has been filled
Documents proving the right to work in the UK 2 years after employment ceases
Disclosure and Barring Service Checks Maximum 6 months

A copy of our Data Retention and Erasure Policy is available on request.

Lodging A Complaint

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy notice and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws.

If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the person responsible for Data Protection:

Bally Kandola, Director of Resources: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority:  Information Commissioners Office https://ico.org.uk/

Privacy Notice for Suppliers and Contractors

Who are we?

Missing Link provides women’s mental health services, supporting homeless women with complex needs to recover, secure and sustain housing.

Next Link provides domestic abuse services and a specialist forced marriage service.

Safe Link provides emotional and practical support to women, children and male victims of rape and sexual assault.

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link’s registered office is at 5 Queen’s Square, Bristol, BS1 4JQ and we are a Housing Association with charitable status, registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act (2014). Register No. 24218R.

We are registered on the Information Commissioner’s Office Register; registration number Z3246008 and act as the Data Controller when processing your data. Our designated Data Protection Appointed Person is Bally Kandola, Director of Resources, who can be contacted at [email protected]

This Privacy Notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why and when we process your personal data.

Information That We Collect

The information that you provide to us is required in order for us to procure goods and/or services and to make payments to you.

We are collecting information about you which is relevant to procuring goods and/or services and making payments. This includes:

  • Personal details (such as name)
  • Contact details (such as your personal telephone number and email address)
  • Confirmation of your identity (such as a copy of your driving licence)
  • Information about your tax status (such as HMRC records of self-assessment)
  • Financial information (such as bank account details).

The above information which we collect about you will be obtained through a variety of sources, including:

  • From you directly as part of the process of becoming a supplier/contractor;
  • from third parties as part of the process of becoming a supplier/contractor (such as credit checks, trade references); and
  • Information obtained about you in the course of our working relationship.

How We Use Your Personal Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link will always process your personal data in a way that is lawful and fair. We will not process the data in a way that is unduly detrimental, unexpected or misleading.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is detailed below:

  • Legitimate Interest – to process data for the purposes pursued by the organisation or by a third party
  • Legal Obligation – to process  your information for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations to which we are subject
  • Contract – for us to perform the contract between us.

We use the types of personal data which we have listed above for the following purposes:

  • The process of applying for and becoming a supplier/contractor (such as making a decision about procuring goods or services; determining the payment terms for your invoices such as payment in advance)
  • Make payments to you for goods and/or services;
  • Complaints (such as gathering evidence in relation to any complaints made by or about you; dealing with legal disputes involving you);
  • Determining your continued supplier/contractor status;
  • To comply with our legal obligations such as to prevent fraud.

Sharing your Personal Data

We keep your information securely on our internal systems.  Staff who access your information have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

We will share your personal information with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the contractual relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

This may include sharing your information with our auditors, banks or other financial institutions to facilitate payments and with contractors who work on our systems.

All our third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Your Rights

You have the right to access any personal information that Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link processes about you and to request information about:

  • What personal data we hold about you
  • The purposes of the processing
  • The categories of personal data concerned
  • The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
  • How long we intend to store your personal data for
  • If we did not collect the data directly from you, information about the source.

Security Measures

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure your personal data. We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures in place, including password security, encryptions, restricted access, IT authentication, firewalls and anti-virus/malware.

How Long We Keep Your Data

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only ever retains personal information for as long as is necessary and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations.

Supplier, organisation relationship documents, contracts, Service Level Agreement’s, audits, reviews etc End of relationship + 6 years

A copy of our Data Retention and Erasure Policy is available on request.

Lodging A Complaint

Missing Link/Next Link/Safe Link only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy notice and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws.

If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the person responsible for Data Protection:

Bally Kandola, Director of Resources: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the supervisory authority:  Information Commissioners Office https://ico.org.uk/