Data Protection Policy

Northern Heartlands is an independent Charitable Incorporated Organisation – based in Barnard Castle and continuing to support communities and organisations across County Durham and the North East. Our work is built on trust and our belief that communities working with creative practitioners can find their own answers to the issues we all face. 

Northern Heartlands’ nominated data protection officer is

Jill Cole
Director
Northern Heartlands CIO
3 Witham Studios
Barnard Castle
DL12 8JB

Tel: 01833 200220
Email: jill.cole@northernheartlands.org

Under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, we adhere to the following principles:

1. Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully
   Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.
2. Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.
3. Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
4. Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
5. Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.
6. Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
7. Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

How we collect your data

We collect your data on the basis that your consent is:

• Freely given
• Specific to the purpose
• Informed
• Unambiguous indication of your wishes

We collect data

• By your completion of online contact form on our website
• By you contacting us via email or telephone or mobile phone
• By you completing a paper form requesting personal information
• By you completing digital surveys and forms requesting personal information

Why we collect your data

• To ensure we have your consent for participating in Northern Heartlands projects and events
• To contact you about other Northern Heartlands projects or events that may be of interest you
• To arrange a meeting or contact via telephone or email
• To collect statistical information for research and evaluation purposes
• For reporting purposes to funders

What data we will collect

• Name
• Address
• Age range
• Male/female
• Contact information: telephone, mobile, email
• Comments
• Images
• Audio and video recordings

Transparency

Information we provide and communication with you about your personal data will be:

• Concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible
• In clear and plain language
• in writing or by other means, e.g., electronic
• If requested, we will provide information orally
• Information will be provided free of charge

How we protect your data – storage, security, deletion, risk assessment

We recognise that you retain rights in the personal information we hold about you. We will keep that information secure and use it only for specific legitimate purposes.

We take sensible and reasonable precautions to ensure data security and safe storage:

• Risk assessments on type of data we hold
• Deploy industry standard security software to prevent security breaches, e.g., firewall, anti-virus, anti-malware
• Utilise extensive access control
• Deploy regular software updates
• Ensure physical security of premises and all mobile devices, e.g., laptops and mobile phones
• Staff training on security procedures
• Staff training on data protection

With whom we share your data

We will not share your data with any other organisation or individual without your consent.Information is anonymised for the purposes of statistical reporting.

Your rights under data protection legislation

1. Right to be informed – the date we provide will be:

• concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible;
• written in clear and plain language, particularly if addressed to a child; and
• free of charge.

2. Right of access

• you have the right to access your personal data and supplementary information.
• The right of access allows you to be aware of and verify the lawfulness of the processing.

3. Right to rectification

• You have the right to have personal data rectified.
• Your personal data can be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

4. Right to erasure

• You have the right to be forgotten, that is you can request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.

5. Right to restrict processing

• You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data.
• When you restrict processing of your data, we will store the personal data, but not further process it.
• We will retain enough information about you to ensure that the restriction is respected in future.

6. Right to data portability

• You can obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services, e.g., other applications to help you find a better deal or understand your spending habits
• You can move, copy or transfer personal data easily from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way, without hindrance to usability.

7. Right to object to your data being processed based on grounds relating to your situation

• You have the right to object to any processing based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling);
• You have the right to object to direct marketing (including profiling); and
• You have the right to object to any processing for purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics.

8. Rights related to automated decision making including profiling

• We will carry out automated decision making and profiling only if necessary to our activities and we have your consent to do this
• We will provide you with information about any automated information processing
• Enable you to access this data

How to make a request or a complaint

Contact Michelle Gorman, Managing Director, Visit County Durham or Jill Cole, Director, Northern Heartlands

Michelle Gorman
Visit County Durham
1stFloor
3-4 Millennium Place
Durham
DH1 1WA
Tel: 03000 261 221
Email: michelle.gorman@visitcountydurham.org.uk

Jill Cole
Northern Heartlands
3 Witham Studios
Hall Street
Barnard Castle
County Durham
DL12 8JB