Foyer privacy notice

Who are we?

The Foyers provide supported living for vulnerable Young People at risk of homelessness. We work closely with Medway Council and Social Services; our aims are to ready Young People for independent living and make positive contributions to Medway.

What is a privacy notice?

A privacy notice is a statement from us to you, that describes how we collect, use, keep and share the information we hold about you. We have privacy notices for everyone whose information we hold, for example, staff, people applying for jobs with us and of course for you.  The privacy notice is part of our commitment to making sure that we process your personal information (sometimes called data) fairly and lawfully.

Why do I need to understand what a privacy notice is?

We believe that it is important to protect personal and confidential information and to make sure that we both take care to meet all legal and regulatory responsibilities and that you also understand the legal framework protecting your data and the choices that you have about how your data is used.  This notice explains the choices that you can make about the way in which we use your information and how you have the right to change your mind at any time.

Information we collect and hold about you?

Here at the foyer we processes several different types of information:

  1. Identifiable – this is information that will identifies you either directly or indirectly this may include but is not limited to such information as name, address, date of birth; medical information; information from the social services and the police.  We also like to take a photograph of you when you arrive so we all know who you are so we can keep you safe
  2. Pseudonymised – information where individuals can be identified by using a coded reference which does not show their ‘real world’
  3. Anonymised – information about individuals with identifying details
  4. Aggregated – statistical information about a group of individuals that has been combined to show general trends or used for benchmarking

We need to use information about you in various forms and we will only use the minimum amount of information necessary and never share any confidential information unless we have first gained your consent or if it is required by law in order to keep you or someone else safe. Sometimes we use information that does not identify you, for example, we might include the length of time of your placement with us, along with the data from all other young people, to work out how long on average young people stay with us in placement. This information helps us to understand our service and young people’s experiences of our services better.

Who do we collect information from and who do we share it with?

We only collect and share information that is necessary and we won’t share your information with anyone else without your permission, unless the law says we should or we have to in order to give you the service we promise. We may collect or share information with:

  • The Local Authority
  • Teams supporting you with your health and mental health needs
  • Your parent /guardian
  • The Police, Courts, tribunals, e.g. a requirement in law
  • Contractors who need to do work on our behalf
  • Other staff at mhs homes who help us deliver the service to you
  • Organisation that are supporting you with training or schooling

When we have to share your information we will make sure it’s safe; it won’t be given to anyone else who shouldn’t have it.

Our commitment to data privacy and confidentiality

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only process personal confidential data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality and the Human Rights Act 1998.  

The foyer is managed by mhs homes and is our Data Controller and under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation we are legally responsible for ensuring that all personal confidential data that we have i.e. hold, obtain, record, use or share about you, is done in compliance with this legislation. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and our register number is Z629086X.  

Everyone working for mhs homes has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

All identifiable information that we hold about you will be held securely and confidentially. We use administrative and technical controls to do this. We use strict controls to ensure that only authorised staff are able to see information that identifies you. Only a limited number of authorised staff have access to information that identifies you where it is appropriate to their role and is strictly on a need-­‐to-­‐know basis.

We will never sell any information about you.

 Legal obligations

In the circumstances where we are required to use personal identifiable information, we will only do this if:

  • The information is necessary for your direct support.
  • We have written consent from you to use your information for a specific purpose.
  • In order to keep you or someone else safe.
  • There is a legal requirement for us to use or provide information e.g. a formal court order or subpoena.
  • Emergency planning reasons such as protecting the health and safety of others. For example, the outbreak of an infectious disease.

Your rights

You have certain legal rights.

  • Be told how we use your information
  • Ask to see the information we hold
  • Ask us to change information you think is wrong
  • Ask us to remove information when it’s not needed anymore
  • Ask us to only use your information in certain ways
  • Tell us you don’t want your information to be used

If you’re worried about how we use your information, you can speak to one of our team at our Foyers who will be able to help you and answer any questions that you have.

If we do hold identifiable information about you and you have any queries about the information we hold or use your information, please contact our Data Protection Officer data.protection@mhs.org.uk mhs homes, Broadside, Leviathan Way, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4LL.