Privacy

South Lakes Housing Privacy Policy

 

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we may use, store, share and process it and the procedures we have in place to collect, store and process your information safely and securely.    We follow the legal requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.  It also explains the right an individual has in respect of their personal information and how to contact us.

The type of personal information we collect

 

We collect a wide variety of personal information from a wide range of sources in order to run our business activities.  We maintain a register of data collection activities and perform periodic reviews of our data collection activities and processes in order to test that they conform to our expectations.  We will only collect information that is necessary for us to perform our business operations efficiently and effectively.  We periodically review our data collection arrangements.

 

We currently collect and process the following information:

  • Your name and any other names you may have had
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Nationality and information about your right to rent
  • Contact details, including telephone numbers, e-mail address, current and previous addresses
  • National Insurance Number
  • Income and financial circumstances
  • Bank account
  • Payments made to us
  • Repairs made by us on your property
  • When you have contacted us
  • Surveys you have completed
  • Other services provided

We may also collect information about your:

  • Marital status
  • Race/ethnicity
  • Religion and beliefs
  • Physical and mental health conditions
  • Health and mobility needs
  • Criminal history

If you apply for a job, we also collect information about your:

  • Skills, experience and qualifications
  • Employment history
  • Current pay and benefits
  • Right to work in the UK

 

Exceptional situations

We may collect information in an exceptional situation eg severe weather, local incident to keep you and your family safe.  To help manage a situation we will collect information recommended by:

  • The Government or government bodies/agencies
  • Health professionals
  • The Information Commissioners Office
  • Other relevant organisations, depending on the situation

 

How we collect the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

  • Tenancy/Leasehold/Shared Ownership agreement
  • Right to Buy/Acquire
  • To register to “My Account”
  • Mutual Exchange
  • Tenant Engagement activities
  • Cumbria Choice Based Lettings
  • Recruitment applications (employment and Board/Committees), including CV’s, application forms, interviews, references, background checks and any other information you give us when you apply.
  • Any identification or other supporting information, including income or other financial information, that is required that you give us including when you apply to join our housing register or apply for shared ownership or to join the shared ownership waiting lists
  • Website forms
  • Application forms
  • Telephone calls, which we may record for training and to check quality.
  • Customer surveys
  • Emails and letters
  • Social media
  • Third party providers/suppliers who perform services on our behalf
  • Anti-money laundering or anti-fraud

 

We may also process information by:

  • The monitoring of our offices, buildings and neighbourhoods (CCTV)
  • Website statistics/Cookies
  • Other smart technology that may be installed in your home

 

We use the information that you have given us in order to

  • Provide you services as part of your tenancy, leasehold or shared ownership agreement. This could be to:
    • Confirm your identity and right to rent in England.
    • Let / sell you a property.
    • Receive payments from you.
    • Repair your home or communal areas.
    • Ensure your health and safety.

 

  • Other services include:
    • Helping you to manage your money.
    • Energy advice
    • Contact you to find out ways to improve our services including Tenant Satisfaction Measures
    • Preventing crime.
    • Detecting fraud.
    • Protecting people.

 

  • We ask for your permission to use photography and images you are in and you can withdraw your consent at any time.

 

  • We also collect and process your information when you apply to work for us:
    • Confirming you have the right to work in the UK.
    • Managing the recruitment process and deciding who to offer a job to
    • Responding to illegal claims
    • Tracking recruitment statistics
    • Equal opportunities information that we keep but remove any details that you identify you.
    • Completing background a criminal record checks

 

Who we may share/disclose your information with

  • Third party suppliers who need the information to complete work for us, this may include:
    • for the repair, maintenance and safety of your home
    • customer surveys
  • If we are legally required to do so, this may include:
    • Police
    • Health services
    • Government bodies and agencies, including for statistical purposes.
    • Utility companies
    • Local Authorities

 

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing personal information are:

  • Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time.
  • We have a contractual obligation.
  • We have a legal obligation.
  • We have a legitimate interest.

 

How we store your personal information

We maintain an Information Security Policy which sets out the technical and organisational measures we use to protect your personal information. Your information is securely stored including on secure servers based in the UK.

 

All payments are encrypted.

 

We store physical documents in our offices and buildings.

 

We will keep your information for as long as we need it for the purpose for which it was collected and/or to comply with our legal obligations.  This means that we may need to keep it after you stop using our services.  We follow the National Housing Federation data retention guidance.

 

Information and storage media is disposed of securely using accredited disposal contractors and is permanently deleted from systems.

 

Information may also be anonymised rather than deleted or disposed of.  This means that any personal information is anonymised in such a way that the data subject is no longer identifiable.

 

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

 

  • Your right to be informed – You have the right to be informed about:
    • How we use your information
    • Why we collect your information
    • How long we keep your information
    • Who we will share your information with

 

  • Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. Access to information is free.  If your request is excessive, we may charge a fee for that information.  A request may be excessive if:
    • It repats earlier requests and a reasonable amount of time has not passed
    • Overlaps with other requests we have yet to respond to

When you request your information, we will send you the information within 30 days.  This is called a “subject access request” or “SAR”.

 

  • Your right to withdraw consent – You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
  • Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
  • Your right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) – You have the right to ask us to erase/delete your personal information in certain circumstances. We cannot delete your personal information if we need it for legal or relevant reasons such as you are a current tenant or a former customer who owes us money.
  • Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
  • Your right to object to processing – You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances. This includes stopping us from using your information for direct marketing.
  • Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
  • Your rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – You have the right to request that decisions about you involve a human.  This includes using your information to profile you.

 

How to complain

 

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us directly using the contact details below.

 

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.  The ICO’s address is:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

 

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to make a complaint please contact the Data Protection Officer:

 

Name: John Mansergh, Director of Business Improvement.

Address: Bridge Mills Business Centre, Stramongate, Kendal, LA9 4BD

Phone Number: 0300 303 8540

E-mail: https://www.southlakeshousing.co.uk/contact/

 

Lune Valley Rural Housing Association Tenants: Privacy Policy

A Management Services Contract exists between Lune Valley Rural Housing Association (FCA registration number 26654R) and South Lakes Housing (as the ‘Managing Agent’). There is a clause that states that both parties will comply with all applicable requirements of the Data Protection Legislation. Lune Valley is the ‘controller’ and South Lakes Housing is the ‘processor’. Lune Valley’s registered office is the same as that used in paragraph 27.

The above privacy statement applies to Lune Valley as well – paragraphs 3 to 27.

Only authorised personnel will have access to Lune Valley data, and data is transferred to third party processors e.g. contractors via existing Data Sharing Agreements.