Privacy and cookies

At SpecialEffect we take your privacy seriously and this privacy statement explains what personal data or information we collect from you via this our website and how we use it.

Who are we?

SpecialEffect is a registered charity (1121004) and our registered office address is: SpecialEffect, Units 9-12, Southill Business Park, Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, OX7 3EW. SpecialEffect is a registered data controller (ICO registration number Z1643859).

What personal data or information do we collect?

We may collect personal data about service users, prospective service users, family members, guardians, carers, PAs, healthcare professionals, donors, supporters, event participants, corporate sponsors, partners, job applicants, our current and former employees, our current and former volunteers and suppliers. The personal information we collect may include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding what pages you access on this website and when.

How do we collect data or information from you?

We collect personal information about you when you:

  • Make a donation to us
  • Fundraise on our behalf (e.g. through taking part in an event)
  • Work with us as a service user
  • Make an enquiry via our website or via the telephone
  • Use our website
  • Enquire about a job opportunity
  • Volunteer for us
  • Work for or with us
  • Exchange business cards with a member of our staff

How is your information used?

We collect your personal data or information to operate the charity effectively and provide you with a high-quality service. We may use your information:

  • To deliver tailored services to you at your request
  • To answer enquiries that you make to us
  • To process a job or volunteer application
  • To fulfil our obligations as an employer
  • To provide benefits to you as an employee
  • To adhere to regulations set out by the Charities Commission
  • To manage fundraising events you are taking part in
  • To keep you informed about the work we’re doing, following a donation you have made
  • To send you our newsletter, if you have consented to receive it
  • To maintain security of our office and IT infrastructure
  • To invoice you, and to track payments you make or payments made to you
  • To track donations you have made to us

We believe that all these purposes are justified on the basis of our legitimate interests in running and promoting the charity, our contractual requirements to deliver agreed services to you (or your family member), and our legal obligations, both as a charity and responsible employer. The exception is for sending email marketing, which we carry out on the basis of consent. If you would like to know more, please read below:

Service Users

As one of our services users, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • Information relating to your health
  • Demographic information such as postcode, interests and preferences
  • Information and documents relating to the service we are providing, including communications with you
  • Photographs or videos of you using the equipment
  • Contact information for your family members/guardians/ carers/PAs/healthcare professionals

We store your information and communications (written and verbal) in our CRM (Harlequin) on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information, stored securely at our Charlbury office. Communications with you will be stored in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your information for the duration of our relationship with you, then for a maximum of 40 years afterwards, if required for audit purposes. If you have agreed for us to use your experience with SpecialEffect as a case study to help us promote the charity, we may continue to hold your data beyond the typical 40 year period.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.
  • Google Documents are sometimes used to store information, some of which may be about our service users. For more information, please view Google’s Privacy Policy.

Prospective Service Users

As we ask for information about you to find out if we can help you, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • Information relating to your health
  • Demographic information such as postcode, interests and preferences
  • Information and documents relating to the service we may be able to provide, including communications with you

We store your information in our CRM (Harlequin) on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information, stored securely at our Charlbury office. Communications with you will be stored in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your information to enable us to assess whether we can help you and for the duration of our relationship with you, then for a maximum of 2 years afterwards, if required for audit purposes.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business to store large files, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.
  • Google Documents are sometimes used to store information, some of which may be about our service users. For more information, please view Google’s Privacy Policy.

Job Applicants

When you apply for a job with us, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • References where we take them up
  • Information and documents relating to the review, interview and selection process, including communications with you

We store your information on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information stored securely in the Charlbury Office. We will also store communications with you relating to the interview process in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your personal data relating to the review, interview and selection process for a minimum period of 6 months and a maximum period of 1 year after the interview date.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.

Current and Former Employees

When you work for us, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • National insurance number and Unique Tax Reference (UTR) if applicable
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information and documents relating to your performance and supervision as an employee of the charity, including communications with you
  • Your photograph, including Passport and Driving Licence
  • Financial information, such as bank details, pension scheme and salary details
  • Information about your next of kin
  • Health information
  • Criminal convictions

We store your information on secure servers in the EEA and in hard copy in a secure filing cabinet in the Charlbury office. We will also store communications with you in our email system, based in the UK, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your personal data for the duration of your employment and for a period of 7 years after you leave the charity. However, we will retain pension records for 10 years after benefit ceases. Beyond this point, we only retain minimal information about you to confirm the period of time you were employed by the charity for reference purposes. We share your information with HMRC, and our chosen pension / benefits providers. Information about Trustees/Directors and Senior Management of the charity will be held indefinitely for historical purposes.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.

Current and Former Volunteers

When you volunteer for us, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact information
  • Information relating to your experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information and documents relating to your role as a volunteer for SpecialEffect, including our communications with you
  • Photographs of you when volunteering at an event for us
  • Information about your next of kin
  • Health information

We store your information in our CRM (Harlequin) on secure servers in the EEA. We also store your information as files on secure servers in the EEA and in hard copy in a secure filing cabinet in the Charlbury office. We will also store communications with you in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your personal data for the duration of your time volunteering with us and for a period of 4 years after you leave the charity.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.
  • Google Documents are sometimes used to store information, some of which may be about our volunteers. For more information, please view Google’s Privacy Policy.

Individual Donors, Supporters and Fundraising Event Participants

When you sign up to or join us at an event either run by SpecialEffect or by someone else but in aid of SpecialEffect, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name, date of birth and contact information
  • Information relating to your business activities (if relevant)
  • Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • Information relating to you which helps ensure you enjoy the event, such as your dietary or access requirements and including our communications with you
  • Billing and payment information
  • Donation information
  • Health related information, where events involve physical activity
  • Photographs of you supporting or participating in fundraising activities

We store your information in our CRM (Harlequin) on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information stored in the Charlbury Office. Communications with you will be stored in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your personal data for the duration of your time supporting us and for a period of 4 years after the Charity’s last communication with you.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.
  • Online fundraising and donation platforms such as Just Giving, BT My Donate, Virgin, PayPal etc. This will vary for each event, so please see individual Privacy Policies based on which platform you are using or which event you are taking part.

Corporate Sponsors

If your business is supporting SpecialEffect as a charity of the year or on an ongoing basis, we may hold the following information about you, if you are involved in their activities:

  • Name and business contact information
  • Information relating to your business activities (if relevant)
  • Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • Information relating to you about your fundraising activities and including our communications with you
  • Billing and payment information
  • Donation information
  • Photographs of you supporting or participating in fundraising activities

We store your information in our CRM (Harlequin) on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information stored securely in the Charlbury Office. Communications with you will be stored in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your personal data for the duration of your time supporting us and for a period of 4 years after the Charity’s last communication with you.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.

Suppliers

When you work with the charity as a supplier, we may hold the following information about you:

  • Name and business contact information
  • Information relating to your qualifications and experience
  • Demographic information such as postcode
  • Information relating to your business activities
  • Information and documents relating to the services or products you offer, including our communications with you
  • Financial information

We store your information in our accounting programme (QuickBooks) on secure servers in the EEA. We may also hold paper copies of your information stored securely in the Charlbury Office. We will also store communications with you in our email system, which we use Microsoft Office 365 to manage.

We will retain your information for the duration of our relationship with you and for 7 years after the last financial transaction we made with you.

We currently use third-party online tools:

  • Dropbox Business for our back up and to store large files and videos, which may contain some of your information. Dropbox Business uses servers that are based in the US, therefore personal information is transferred outside of the EEA. For more information please view Dropbox’s Privacy Policy.

Who has access to your information?

We do not sell or rent your personal data or information to any third party or share your information with third parties for their marketing purposes.

We will disclose your data or information if required by law, for example by a court order or for the prevention of fraud or other crime.

We may pass your information on to third party service providers, agents or subcontractors for the purposes of completing a task or providing services to you on our behalf. However, we disclose only the personal information necessary to deliver that service and have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for other purposes.

We do use third party providers for our IT Support, Accounting and Payroll Services, CRM system, Website and Backup system. We also sometimes use external consultants for projects. If you require more information on these, please contact us on dataprotection@specialeffect.org.uk.

Transfers outside of the European Economic Area

Your personal information in the European Economic Area (EEA) is protected by data protection laws, but other countries do not necessarily protect your personal information in the same way. The EEA covers all countries in the EU plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. SpecialEffect uses some online tools which host data outside of the EEA. Prior to selecting such tools, we review their privacy policy and check that the company is signed up to the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. Companies who have signed up to this agreement commit to securing personal data in line with EU data protection legislation.

  • Your rights
  • You have certain rights over the processing of your personal information by SpecialEffect. These are:
  • The right to be informed, which is what this privacy policy is for
  • The right to access the data we hold about you
  • The right to object to direct marketing
  • The right to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests
  • The right to erasure (in some circumstances)
  • The right to data portability
  • The right to have your data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
  • The right to have your data restricted or blocked from processing

We ask for your consent to send you direct marketing or fundraising information, and will always provide you with the opportunity to amend your preferences or to opt-out of receiving future marketing communications from us. We will always thank you for any donation you make to us, without a request for further donations.

How you can update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. If you change your contact details or if you want to update any of the information we hold on you, please email us at: dataprotection@specialeffect.org.uk or by post at: Data Protection Lead, SpecialEffect, Units 9-12, Southill Business Park, Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, OX7 3EW

How you can access your personal information

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information SpecialEffect hold relating to you. To do this please contact  dataprotection@specialeffect.org.uk or by post at: Data Protection Lead, SpecialEffect, Units 9-12, Southill Business Park, Cornbury Park, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, OX7 3EW

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about our processing of your personal data with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office.

Keeping your data secure

When you give us personal information we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely and strive to protect it on our internal systems. SpecialEffect mitigates the risk of hosting your information on our secure server by storing it in a locked room in a secure building, with limited access.

Contacting us via email

We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic in line with government standards. If your email service does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit.

We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

Visitors to our Website

Use of Cookies by this website

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. Unless you have set your browser to block cookies, this site will place the following cookies on your computer.

Cookie: Special Effect
Cookie Name: ASP.NET_SessionIdvisitorDeviceClass
Purpose: Necessary for basic functions of the website: ie preserves the visitor’s session state across page requests, and identifies whether the visitor is using desktop, mobile device.

Cookie: Special Effect
Cookie Names:
ANONID_FS553789
ANONID553789
VISID553789
Purpose: Anonymous identifiers that allow us to track web usage statistics.

Cookie: Google Analytics
Cookie Names:
_utm.gif
_utma
_utmb
_utmc
_utmt
_utmz
Purpose: These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information, including IP address, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited. Click here for an overview of privacy at Google

Cookie: DoubleClick by Google
Cookie Names: r/collect
Collects data to measure efficiency of viewed or clicked ads and shows targeted ads. Click here for an overview of privacy at Google.

Cookie: YouTube
Cookie Names:
@@History/@@scroll|#
GPS
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Purpose: YSCGoogle set a number of cookies on any page that includes a Youtube video. While we have no control over the cookies set by Google, they include a mixture of pieces of information to measure the number and behaviour of Youtube users, including information that links your visits to our website with your Google account if you are signed in to one. Click here for an overview of privacy at Google

Cookie: Hotjar
Cookie Name: _hjIncludedInSample
Purpose: This session cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate funnels. Click here for more information about Privacy.

Cookie:Twitter
Cookie Name: lang
This cookie from Twitter helps to determine the language settings of your browser so that we can show you relevant information in the right language. Click here for more information about Twitter cookies.

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help us analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for our website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website

To opt-out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

We are a Hotjar Enabled Website

We use Hotjar to understand how you use our website and make improvements. Hotjar may collect and process information which is automatically and passively collected, whilst you navigate through and interact with the content on our website, together with information on your device or computer (such as cookies). The sole purpose of passively collecting your information is to improve your experience when using our website.

Through the Hotjar code embedded on our website, the information collected and processed includes:

Device-specific data

The following information may be collected related to your device and browser:

  • device’s IP address (captured and stored in an anonymized format);
  • device screen resolution;
  • device type (unique device identifiers), operating system, and browser type;
  • geographic location (country only);
  • preferred language used to display the Hotjar Enabled Site.

User interactions

  • Mouse events (movements, location and clicks)
  • Keypresses

Log data

For a sampling of visitors, Hotjar’s servers automatically record information which is collected from our website and Hotjar’s website. This data includes:

  • referring URL and domain;
  • pages visited;
  • geographic location (country only);
  • preferred language used to display the webpage;
  • date and time when website pages were accessed.

Cookies

Our website uses the Hotjar cookies identified above to collect non-personal information including standard internet log information and details of your behavioural patterns upon visiting our site. This is done to enable us to provide visitors to our website with a better experience, identify preferences, diagnose technical problems, analyse trends and generally to help improve our website.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

More questions?

To contact SpecialEffect with a data protection query regarding the processing of your personal data, please email dataprotection@specialeffect.org.

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 25/01/2024.