Free Legal Advice Group for Domestic Violence (FLAGDV) Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice 

Your privacy is important to us and we will process your personal data in accordance with data protection laws. This Privacy Notice sets out how we process personal data about you and other individuals about whom you might disclose information.

Identity of Data Controller

FLAG DV CIO (referred to in this Privacy Notice as “we“, “us“, “our“) is the data controller in respect of any personal data, including special category data, which you provide to us or which we hold about you and any personal data which is processed in connection with the services we provide to our clients. 

How we collect your data

Flag DV is a charitable organisation which offers free, confidential legal advice to people who have been victims of domestic abuse. We receive personal data relating to our services directly via the Referral Form available on our website. 

The personal data is provided:

  1. By referring organisations who have obtained the data directly from the client. These organisations include the police, Victims First and other entities such as specialist domestic abuse support agencies; or
  2. Via direct referrals from prospective clients.

Who we collect and process personal data about

  • Our clients;
  • Our client’s children, where applicable;
  • The alleged perpetrators of domestic abuse;
  • Our volunteer solicitors and staff;
  • The staff member of a referring organisation who makes a referral; and
  • Members of external agencies who we may make contact with in the event of a safeguarding concern, e.g. the emergency services.

How we process personal data

We may process personal data for a number of different purposes. For each purpose we must have a “lawful basis” for this processing.  We will rely on the following legal grounds when we process personal data. In addition, when a purpose involves the processing of personal data that is classed as “sensitive” also known as “special category data”, (this includes information to health and criminal convictions) we must have an additional “processing condition”. 

How we process your personal data may also differ depending on our relationship with you.

We have set out below a description of the personal data, including special category data, which we expect to process in the ordinary course of our activities and which of the lawful bases and processing conditions (where applicable) we rely on to do so. 

Clients

What personal data we may collect

Personal Data Special Category Data
  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Languages spoken
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Home address
    • Sexual orientation
    • Disability information
    • Health data (pregnancy)
    • Ethnic origin
  • Religious beliefs

What we use personal data for

Purpose for processing  Lawful basis for using personal data  Processing condition for using special category data
Collecting and storing initial case details through a Referral Form With your consent. With your explicit consent.
Collecting and storing further case-related information from yourself Necessary for your legitimate interests (to provide you access to legal advice in situations where you are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). Protecting your or any children from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm; or protecting their physical, mental or emotional well-being.
Collecting and storing initial case details through a referral by a partner agency Necessary for your legitimate interests (to provide you access to legal advice in situations where you are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). Protecting your or any children from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm; or protecting their physical, mental or emotional well-being.
Passing your personal information to our volunteer solicitors to enable the organisation of a legal advice clinic Necessary for your legitimate interests (to provide you access to legal advice in situations where you are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). Protecting your or any children from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm; or protecting their physical, mental or emotional well-being.
Passing your personal information to law enforcement agencies and other external stakeholders Necessary for your legitimate interests (to provide you access to legal advice in situations where you are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). Protecting your or any children from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm; or protecting their physical, mental or emotional well-being.
Receiving information about the clinics from the volunteer solicitors to enable us to monitor and improve our service levels Necessary for your legitimate interests (to ensure that you have received the legal advice sought, where you are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). N/A

Clients’ children

What personal data we may collect

Personal Data Special Category Data
  • Name
  • Identity of the children’s custodian
 None

What we use personal data for

Purpose for processing  Lawful basis for using personal data  Processing condition for using special category data
Collecting details about any children from our client or a referring partner agency Necessary for the client’s and the children’s legitimate interests (to provide access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). N/A
Passing any children’s personal information to law enforcement agencies and other external stakeholders Necessary for the client’s and the children’s legitimate interests (to provide access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). N/A
Passing any children’s personal information to our volunteer solicitors to enable the organisation of a legal advice clinic Necessary for the client’s and the children’s legitimate interests (to provide access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). N/A
Receiving information about the clinics from the volunteer solicitors to enable us to monitor and improve our service levels Necessary for the client’s and the children’s legitimate interests (to ensure that the client has received the legal advice sought, where they or the children are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse). N/A

 

Alleged perpetrator

What personal data we may collect

Personal Data Special Category Data Criminal Offence Data
  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Languages spoken
  • Home address
  • Relationship to client
    • Sexual orientation
    • Disability information
    • Ethnic origin
  • Religious beliefs
  • Details of relevant criminal convictions
  • Details of crimes allegedly committed against our client and/or any children

What we use personal data for

Purpose for processing  Lawful basis for using personal data  Processing condition for using special category data and criminal offence data
Collecting details from our client or a referring partner agency Necessary for our client’s legitimate interests (to provide them with access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse by you). Prevention or detection of unlawful acts of domestic abuse.
Passing your personal information to law enforcement agencies and other external stakeholders Necessary for our client’s legitimate interests (to provide them with access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse by you). Prevention or detection of unlawful acts of domestic abuse.
Passing your personal information to our volunteer solicitors to enable the organisation of a legal advice clinic Necessary for our client’s legitimate interests (to provide them with access to legal advice in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse by you). Prevention or detection of unlawful acts of domestic abuse.

Person making a referral (if not client)

What personal data we may collect

Personal Data Special Category Data
  • Name and contact details
 None

What we use personal data for

Purpose for processing  Lawful basis for using your personal data  Processing condition for using your special category data
Receipt of referrals relating to new clients With your consent. N/A

Recipients of external referrals (e.g. emergency services)

What personal data we may collect

Personal Data Special Category Data
  • Name and contact details
 None

What we use personal data for

 

Purpose for processing  Lawful basis for using your personal data  Processing condition for using your special category data
Making referrals to external stakeholders who may be able to provide additional support to our client. Necessary for the client’s legitimate interests (to provide them with access to emergency assistance in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse by the perpetrator). N/A
Liaising with law enforcement agencies to notify them of criminal activities by the perpetrator against our client or any children. Necessary for the client’s legitimate interests (to provide them with access to emergency assistance in situations where they are at risk or experiencing domestic abuse by the perpetrator). N/A

We also collect

  • The IP address of our website users which is aggregated to give statistical usage reports (website hit counts).
  • We also use “cookies” to help our site run effectively.  We use this information to personalise the way our website is presented when you visit to make improvements and to ensure we provide the best service and experience for you. Wherever possible we use anonymous information which does not identify individual visitors to our website.  

Who we share personal data with

During the ordinary course of providing our services, your personal data may be provided to the following recipients or categories of recipients:

  • In the event a client requires further support, with their consent, we may share their data with specialist support services.
  • Our volunteer solicitors who are providing their services to our clients under confidentiality agreements.
  • We use a third party as to provide and support our IT system on which your personal data is stored.
  • When contacting our clients, we can offer a translation service for people whose first language is not English. This service is provided by ClearVoice. ClearVoice does not retain any information from the calls or record them.
  • If there are safeguarding concerns about children or vulnerable adults, we may need to make the appropriate safeguarding authorities aware.

Overseas transfers

We do not transfer any personal data we collect out of the United Kingdom.

Our marketing activities

We do not use any personal data we collect for marketing purposes.

How we keep your data secure

Your personal data is securely stored on our electronic database and can only be seen by those who have access to the system.  Those with access to your personal data have been vetted and have received record management training.

We constantly work to make sure that your personal data is properly protected through encryption, firewalls and monitoring.

In addition, our servers containing personal data are situated in the cloud. This data is backed up frequently and tested regularly in line with our standard backup procedures.

How long we keep your data

Personal data relating to a particular case will be retained for 3 years from the conclusion of the case or the last contact with our client, whichever is the latter. In exceptional cases, where there is a domestic homicide review or serious case review, it may be necessary to retain your data for a further period, and only for purposes of the review.

Your rights

Under data protection law you have the following rights in relation to your personal data: 

  • The right to be informed – you have the right to be informed about how we process your personal information.  This information is provided to you via this Privacy Notice.
  • The right of access – you have the right to access your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”);
  • The right to rectification – you have the right to request that we correct any personal data that we hold about you that you believe is incorrect or incomplete;
  • The right to erasure – you have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions;
  • The right to object – you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data in certain circumstances;
  • The right to restrict processing – you have the right to request restriction on our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.;
  • The right to data portability – you have the right to request that we transfer your personal data to you or to a third party where this is technically feasible;
  • You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.

It is usually free of charge to exercise your data subject rights.

Please note, we may not always be able to do what you have asked. This is because your rights will not always apply (e.g. if it would impact the duties we owe to our clients and the general public, or if the law allow us to deal with the request in a different way). 

We will always explain to you how we are dealing with your request. If you are our client, in some circumstances) exercising a right (such as the right to erasure or withdrawal of consent) might mean that we can no longer provide our services to you. 

However, where we have a reason to suspect that the exercise of your rights has been made under duress or pressure from a third party, such as the perpetrator, we may still have to process your data for a separate purpose, as follows: (i) your personal data on the basis of your legitimate interests; and (ii) your sensitive personal data on the basis of protecting you or any children from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm; or protecting your physical, mental or emotional well-being.

Automated decision making and profiling

Data subjects also have rights in relation to their personal data where data controllers undertake automated decision making and profiling.  However, as an organisation we do not currently undertake automated decision making or profiling activities.

If you wish to invoke any of your these rights, please contact Laura Hunter at hello@flagdv.org.uk.

How to contact us

For further information on how your personal data is used and your rights in relation to your personal data please contact us by:

  • Writing to us at FLAG DV, Broadway House, 4-8 The Broadway, Northbrook Street, Newbury, RG14 1BA; or
  • Emailing us at hello@flagdv.org.uk.

Complaints

If you’re not happy with the way we’re handling your personal data, you have a right to make a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority at any time. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact the ICO on 0303 123 1113. However, we ask that you please attempt to resolve any issues with us before contacting the ICO.

Updates to this Privacy Notice

We may need to make changes to this Privacy Notice periodically, for example, as the result of government regulation, new technologies, or other developments in data protection laws or privacy generally. Our website will show the most recent version of this Privacy Notice, and you will be directed to this in our communications with you.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on: 31.01.2022

 

contact Flag Dv Helplines

Telephone Referrals

01635 015854

In Immediate Danger

Call 999

National Domestic Abuse Helpline

0808 2000 247