Registered Charity Number 232265
We are the RSPCA Sunderland, Hartlepool and South Tyneside Branch, a small, local, independent charity working to support animals within the areas of Sunderland, Hartlepool, South Tyneside and pockets of County Durham and Gateshead.. Although we work closely with the RSPCA National Society, we are a completely separate charity relying on the generosity of local donors.
Privacy Statement
Privacy Notice
How we respect privacy when we deal with personal information collected by our organisation: RSPCA Branches are separately registered, volunteer-run charities using a governing document that has been approved by the National RSPCA.
Our branch (Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.
This notice will tell you, in general terms, how the RSPCA Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside branch will treat the information that our website collects about individuals who interact with it.
Please read this privacy notice, together with any other information that we may provide on specific occasions when we ask to collect or process your personal data so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using it.
Please also use any links provided to explore further information regarding items such as online payments and/or cookie collection.
The identity of the Branch is clear from its name and charity number which will be on its website and public information. See ‘your local RSPCA’. The Branch is an unincorporated charity, acting through its committee of trustees as registered with the Charity Commission, is the data controller and responsible for your personal data.
If you have questions about how the Branch handles your information, please contact the Branch using its contact details listed below. This privacy notice supplements any other specific notices provided by the Branch and is not intended to override them.
1. Personal data that we process
The below will briefly outline the types of data we collect via our website and the legal basis for processing it under current data protection legislation.
If you enquire about our branch; our work, a specific event or voluntary position for example, or wish to make a complaint, we will take your name, telephone contact number, email or postal address and your message.
The legal justification for collecting this data could include any of the following: fulfilling a contract with you (e.g. to be considered for a voluntary role, or signing up to be an RSPCA member**); fulfilling a legitimate interest for which you may expect a response; adding your details to a functional bank or mailing list (i.e. volunteers profiles, *newsletter mailing list, supplier details, or any other, bespoke request from the individual party).
*Newsletter mailing list: If you wish to receive updates by email about our work, events, opportunities and so on, we will take your name, email address, contact number, and areas of interest which you can select as your preferences. This is to legally ensure your consent for us to send future editions of our newsletter to the email address given.
**Becoming an RSPCA member: If you sign up as a branch member, the National RSPCA will take your name, address, email address and payment information. The legal basis for this is fulfilling a contract - by paying your membership fees and being accepted as a member, you have entered into a contractual relationship with the National RSPCA. If you consent to apply for Branch membership, your details will be passed to the Branch and your application/membership is governed by our governing document (Branch rules).
Donations: We will not collect any financial data from you directly. Donations or payments for goods will be made via a secure third party (at present, PayPal, or Justgiving). You can read more about these secure payments under the section: Online Payments.
Gift Aid: If you ask us to claim gift aid on your donation, where applicable, we have a legal obligation to collect the information that is required by HMRC for processing gift aid forms.
Financial assistance: To process your request for financial help towards veterinary costs we will ask you to fill out our online form, which collects various data about you and your animal. The terms and conditions (including data protection) for this process are outlined on the application form. You will then be asked to accept the terms, accordingly - thereby giving your consent for us to use the data given to process your voucher.
Occasionally we may need to contact a third party if we are concerned about your vital interests (e.g in a medical emergency). We may also have a legitimate interest in sharing some of your personal data with the national RSPCA, which supports branches in governance and administration, including recruitment of staff and volunteers.
Publicity: Where your consent has been sought and given, we may use images of you and/or your pet in relation to promoting our charitable activities or fundraising.
Please note that we (or our authorised partners) may film or photograph participants, volunteers and spectators attending or taking part in our events and use such
footage or photographs. We do this in order to publicise our work in advertising, publications,
marketing material, social media, personalised direct mail and other media that may be made available to the public. You must contact us directly if you object to any of your imagery being used from any events that you attend.
2. Rights you have over your data
You have a range of rights over your data, which include the following:
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Where data processing is based on consent, you may revoke this consent at any time and we will make it as easy as possible for you to do this (for example by putting ‘unsubscribe’ links at the bottom of all our marketing emails).
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You have the right to ask for rectification and/or deletion of your information.
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You have the right of access to your information.
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You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner if you feel your rights have been infringed.
A full summary of your legal rights over your data can be found on the Information
Commissioner’s website here.
3. Data Protection Statement
The RSPCA Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside Branch (and/or RSPCA National Society and/or it's trading company where applicable) may use your personal information provided via this website for the following purposes :
To: carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us; verify your identity; seek your views or comments on the services we provide; notify you of changes to our services; improve our services or marketing purposes; send you communications (only which you have requested and that may be of interest to you). These may include information about campaigns, appeals, other fundraising activities, promotions of our associated companies' goods and services.
We do not store, sell or share visitor data with any third parties, unless in the instance of a complaint and/or specialist advice which would benefit by input from the National Society, classed here as a third party. We may have a legitimate interest in sharing some of your personal data with the national Society, which supports branches in governance and administration, including complaint handling.
4. Privacy Policy
Our intention is that all data collection is open and obvious to the site visitor. This site collects personal information from visitors only with the permission of the individual. Where data is collected with permission from the individual, details will be given to explain the reason for collecting and outline any other uses we would like to make of this data. We will provide an opportunity to opt out of any further uses where relevant. We will treat the personal information you provide in accordance with this policy, our terms & conditions and current UK data protection legislation. By using the site and any services offered, you are agreeing to this policy.
5. Data Security
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is kept secure and to respect the information privacy of all visitors.
6. Children
If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand. Users without this consent are not allowed to provide us with personal information.
7. Cookies
What are Cookies?
From the UK Government Legislation site, “A cookie is a small text file on your computer, created by a website to store information about your visit, such as any preferences you set or the duration of your visit. Once a cookie is saved on your computer, only the website that created the cookie can read it. EU legislation states that a website must let you know when it uses cookies.”
Why is this important?
Cookies gather data and can help ‘remember’ the settings you have selected as your preference when using any online site. It is important to know when websites may be collecting Cookies so that you can select the options which suit you best.
Many sites, our website included, only collect ‘essential’ Cookies from visiting individuals, which allows the full functionality of the website and all of its pages/links. We aim to give you the opportunity to assess and control cookie use where possible. It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. For more information on how to do this, see: //www.aboutcookies.org/ (turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using this site).
8. Online payments
If you make a donation or payment to the RSPCA Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside Branch online, your card information is collected by PayPal and is not held by us. To learn more about how PayPal securely processes online payments, please visit: https://www.paypal.com/il/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security
And/or
If you make a donation via JustGiving to the RSPCA Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside Branch online, your card information is collected by JustGiving, and is not held by us. To learn more about how JustGiving securely process online payments, please visit:
https://www.justgiving.com/about/info/privacy-policy/privacy-policy-v30
9. Contact
You have a right to know about the personal data we hold about you, to make sure your data is up-to-date and accurate, as well as to object to the receipt of marketing materials sent to you by us. Please send all enquiries about our data protection procedures to: enquiries@rspca-sunderland.org.uk.
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