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Privacy Statement

Privacy Statement (updated September 2024)

Explaining the legal bases we rely on

The law on data protection [General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679 EU) (GDPR)]  sets out a number of different reasons for which a company may collect and process your data, including

  • Legitimate Interest – in some situations we will process your data to pursue our legitimate interests as a charity, in ways which might reasonably be expected as part of running the charity and which do not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. For example, one of our charitable objects is to raise awareness of socio-economic inequality, and we will use data you provide to us to send you the latest news, research, events, campaigns and ideas of how you can contribute, by email or post. 
  • Legal compliance – if the law requires us to, we may need to collect, store and process your data. For example, we pass on your contact details to HMRC if you claim Gift Aid on your donation to us.
  • Consent – in specific situations we may process your data with your consent. For example, if you are interested in joining or setting up a local group, we will seek your consent before sharing your details with others in your area who may also be interested. 

When we collect information about you

  • When you donate to us
  • When you sign up to our newsletter
  • When you sign up to attend an event
  • When you sign a petition or lobby action
  • When you email us
  • When you contact us by post
  • When you contact us by phone 

  • When you engage with us on Facebook or Twitter

  • When you respond to one of our questionnaires 

What information we collect about you

  • We collect personal data, including name, email address, postal address, post code and telephone number
  • We may also collect dietary requirements for certain events
  • We may also collect accessibility requirements for certain events
  • We may also collect sensitive personal data on diversity – including age, disability, sexual orientation, race and gender during recruitment and in the follow up to events. This data is anonymised and analysed so we can plan to reach as diverse an audience as possible in order to achieve our charitable objectives and/or fulfil our Equal Opportunities Policy. 
  • We occasionally email optional questionnaires in order to learn more about our contacts and supporters. We may collect and analyse sensitive personal data such as political views or ask for opinions on current events.
  • We collect information about your engagement with our emails – if you have opened them and if you have clicked on the links in the email. 
  • If you offer to volunteer or offer pro-bono services, we maintain a record of this so we can contact you if required. 
  • Our website uses cookies, which are explained below. 

How and why do we use your personal data?

  • We use your personal data in order to achieve our aims as a charity – our key charitable objects are to raise awareness of socio-economic inequality, educate on the drivers and impacts of socio-economic inequality and to disseminate research on socio-economic inequality as widely as possible.
  • We use your personal data to inform you of ways in which you can get involved, and ways in which you can support us – including fundraising. 
  • We use your personal data to process donations to us.
  • We use your personal data to find out how engaged our contacts and supporters are in the content that we email them, so we can modify as necessary in order to better achieve our charitable objectives. 
  • We use anonymised personal data to measure the impact of content on our website, to learn how we can more effectively communicate digitally. 
  • We use anonymised personal data to detect trends in the demographics and interests of those who support us. 
  • If you have applied for a paid or volunteer role, we will use the information provided to us to assess your suitability for the role. 
  • The data privacy law allows this as part of our legitimate interest in maintaining our operations to work towards achieving our charitable objectives.
  • You are free to opt out of communications with us at any time – please email Jo Wittams
  • As a fundraising organisation, we undertake in-house research and, from time to time, engage specialist agencies to gather information about you from publicly available sources, such as Companies House, the Electoral Register, company websites, ‘rich lists’, social networks such as LinkedIn, political and property registers, and news archives. 
  • We may also carry out wealth screening to fast-track the research using trusted third-party partners. You will always have the right to opt out of this processing. We may also carry out research using publicly available information to identify individuals who may have an affinity to our cause but with whom we are not already in touch. This may include people connected to our current major supporters, trustees or other lead volunteers. We also use publicly available sources to carry out due diligence on donors in line with the charity’s Gift Acceptance Policy and to meet money laundering regulations.
  • This research helps us to understand more about you as an individual so we can focus conversations we have with you about fundraising and volunteering in the most effective way, and ensure that we provide you with an experience as a donor or potential donor which is appropriate for you.
  • We conduct this on the basis of Legitimate Interest.
  • If you would prefer us not to use your data in this way, please email Jo Wittams

We do not store your credit or debit card details or bank account details

Credit and debit card donations to The Equality Trust are processed by PayPal and your card details are not stored by us and cannot be seen or used by our staff.  Card information is only used for the purpose of taking donations.

Direct debit donations to The Equality Trust are processed by GoCardless and your bank details are not stored by us and cannot be seen or used by our staff. Bank details are only used for the purpose of taking donations. 

Standing order donations to The Equality Trust are processed by your bank and our bank (CAF Bank Ltd). Your standing order instruction will be posted to your bank, and we will take a copy for our records. This will be stored securely in our office for 6 years after the financial year in which you make your final donation to us. If you would like your standing order instruction to be destroyed prior to this, please email Jo Wittams

How long do we keep your information?

  • If you donate to us, we will keep your information for 6 years after the financial year in which you make your last donation.
  • If you are on our mailing list, we will keep your information for 5 years after your last engagement with one of our mailings. 
  • If you have emailed us, we will keep your information for 3 years after your last engagement with a member of our staff. 
  • If you have applied for a paid or volunteer role, we will keep your information for a maximum of 12 months.
  • If you are a current volunteer, we will keep your information for up to 7 years after your placement ends.
  • At the end of the period, your data will be deleted or anonymised. 
  • Any paper records will be securely shredded and disposed of. 

How do we store your data?

  • All transactional areas of our website use secure ‘https://’ technology, which encrypts any data sent to us (information  or to one of our payment processors
  • We store your data in a password protected, encrypted CRM system which only staff have access to.
  • We store any sensitive data on paper securely in our locked office.
  • We store all email communications and documents using Google Apps for Business, which is protected by Google’s own robust security. 

Who do we share your personal data with?

  • We only share your data when necessary to perform the task you expect us to perform. We will only share your data with trusted third parties who take data protection seriously. Depending on why you have provided your data to us, we may share this with
    • our banks (CAF Bank Ltd, Unity Trust Bank)
    • our accountant (Adrian Harper)
    • a delivery service (e.g. Royal Mail or other courier service)
    • HMRC
    • our IT company (Outlandish)
    • Event venues (e.g. UCL or LSE)
    • Our email and cloud storage (Google Apps for Business, Dropbox, OneDrive)
    • Web analytics software (Google Analytics, HotJar)
  • Occasionally we will ask for your consent to share your contact details with someone else on our mailing list. For example, if you are interested in campaigning in your local area, we may ask if we can share your contact details with other activists in your local area.
  • We never share data with third parties for their own purposes. 

What are your rights over your personal data?

You have the right to request: 

  • Access to the personal data we hold about you
  • The correction of your personal data when out of date or incorrect or incomplete
  • That we stop using your personal details for marketing and communications (including our newsletter and fundraising)
  • That we stop any consent based processing when you withdraw that consent 

You can contact us at any time – Jo Wittams, Freepost EQUALITY TRUST, telephone 020 3637 0324 or you can email Jo and she will deal with your request within one month of receipt. If the request is manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive, we reserve the right to charge a ‘reasonable fee’, as per the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance. 

How can you stop the use of your personal data for legitimate interest direct marketing?

  • click the ‘unsubscribe button’ at the end of all our mailings
  • email Jo Wittams

How can you contact the regulator?

If you feel that we have not handled your data correctly, or you are unhappy with the response to any of the requests you have made to us about how we handle your data, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can call them on 0303 123 1113 or via their website.

Any questions?

Please email Jo Wittams or call her on 020 3637 0324

Cookies

Cookies are small text files which a website may put on your computer or mobile device when you first visit a site or page. The cookie will help the website, or another website, to recognise your device the next time you visit.

Using cookies helps us to provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You have the ability to prevent your computer from accepting cookies but, if you do, certain functionality on the website may be impaired. Information on how to manage cookies within your browser can be found below.

Managing your browser cookies

Chrome
Firefox
Opera
Safari (OSX)
Safari (iOS)
Microsoft browsers
Android

Changes to this statement

Any changes to our Privacy Statement will be placed here and will supersede this version of our Policy. We will take reasonable steps to draw your attention to any changes in our Policy. However, to be on the safe side, we suggest that you read this document each time you use the web site to ensure that it still meets with your approval.

In September 2024, we amended the Privacy Statement to add the following:

As a fundraising organisation, we undertake in-house research and, from time to time, engage specialist agencies to gather information about you from publicly available sources, such as Companies House, the Electoral Register, company websites, ‘rich lists’, social networks such as LinkedIn, political and property registers, and news archives. 

We may also carry out wealth screening to fast-track the research using trusted third-party partners. You will always have the right to opt out of this processing. We may also carry out research using publicly available information to identify individuals who may have an affinity to our cause but with whom we are not already in touch. This may include people connected to our current major supporters, trustees or other lead volunteers. We also use publicly available sources to carry out due diligence on donors in line with the charity’s Gift Acceptance Policy and to meet money laundering regulations.

This research helps us to understand more about you as an individual so we can focus conversations we have with you about fundraising and volunteering in the most effective way, and ensure that we provide you with an experience as a donor or potential donor which is appropriate for you.

We conduct this on the basis of Legitimate Interest.

Cancellation policy

If you wish to cancel your donation (or be removed from our mailing list) please contact Jo Wittams.