View our privacy policy for clients in Arabic.
View our privacy policy for clients in Farsi.
View our privacy policy for clients in Urdu.

The Refugee Council is committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we use your data. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully and will comply with the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you have any queries about our privacy policy, please contact Data Protection Officer, c/o IT and Facilities, PO Box 68614, London, E15 9DQ or dataprotectionofficer@refugeecouncil.org.uk.

What is our legal basis for processing your personal information?

Legitimate interests

The Data Protection Act 2018 allows us to collect and process your personal information if it is reasonably necessary to achieve our or others’ legitimate interests, as long as that processing is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact your rights. We consider our legitimate interests to include all activities the Refugee Council carries out in providing services to refugees and asylum seekers.

When we use sensitive personal information we require an additional legal basis to do so under data protection laws, so will either do so on the basis of your explicit consent or another route available to us at law for using this type of information (for example your vital interests, or, in some cases, if it is in the public interest for us to do so).

How long do we store your personal information?

We have specific criteria to determine how long we will retain your information, which may vary between client services. We will only store your personal information for the duration that complies with the regulations set by the funder.

Under UK data protection law, you have rights over personal information that we hold about you:

Right to access your personal information

You have a right to request access to the personal data that we hold about you. You also have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you, and we will provide you with this unless legal exceptions apply.

If you want to access your information, send a description of the information you want to see by post to Data Protection Officer, c/o IT and Facilities, PO Box 68614, London E15 9DQ or email dataprotectionofficer@refugeecouncil.org.uk.

Right to have your inaccurate personal information corrected

You have the right to have inaccurate or incomplete information we hold about you corrected. If you believe the information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, please provide us with details and we will investigate and, where applicable, correct any inaccuracies.

Right to restrict use of your personal information

You have a right to ask us to restrict the processing of some or all of your personal information in the following situations: if some information we hold on you isn’t right; we’re not lawfully allowed to use it; you need us to retain your information in order for you to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim; or you believe your privacy rights outweigh our legitimate interests to use your information for a particular purpose and you have objected to us doing so.

Right to erasure of your personal information

You may ask us to delete some or all of your personal information and in certain cases, and subject to certain exceptions, you have the right for this to be done.

Right to object to the use of your personal information

You have a right to object to our use of your information, although this may impact our ability to provide services to you.

If you want to exercise any of the above rights, please contact Data Protection Officer, c/o IT and Facilities, PO Box 68614, London E15 9DQ or dataprotectionofficer@refugeecouncil.org.uk.

We may be required to ask for further information and/or evidence of identity. We will endeavour to respond fully to all requests within one month of receipt of your request, however if we are unable to do so we will contact you with reasons for the delay.

Please note that exceptions apply to a number of these rights, and not all rights will be applicable in all circumstances. For more details we recommend you consult the guidance published by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

How can you change your contact details and preferences with us?

You can update your contact information and contact preferences by getting in touch with

Refugee Council
PO Box 68614
London E15 9DQ

How to find out what personal information we hold about you

You can request details of the personal information we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 2018. You have the right to access this information free of charge, but we have the right to ask you for a reasonable administrative fee if your request is excessive or repetitive. We will respond within one month as required by data protection legislation. If you would like a copy of the information we hold on you, in the first instance please write to:

Data Protection Officer, c/o IT and Facilities, PO Box 68614, London E15 9DQ

or

dataprotectionofficer@refugeecouncil.org.uk

What if you would like to make a complaint?

If you are unhappy with any aspect of how we are using your personal information we’d like to hear about it. We appreciate the opportunity this feedback gives us to learn and improve. To make a complaint, please contact:

Data Protection Officer, c/o IT and Facilities, PO Box 68614, London, E15 9DQ

or

dataprotectionofficer@refugeecouncil.org.uk

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about any use of your information with the Information Commissioners Office, the UK data protection regulator.

Changes to our privacy policy

 This privacy policy may change from time to time in line with legislation or industry developments. We will not explicitly inform our clients or website users of these changes. Instead, we recommend that you check this page occasionally for any policy changes. Specific policy changes and updates are mentioned in the change log below.

Change log

11/05/2020: policy issued

21/05/2020: policy updated

© Refugee Council – May 2020