Introduction

This privacy notice describes the types of personal information Coram Children's Legal Centre collects from people visiting the School Exclusions Hub, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how long we keep it for, how we keep it secure, and what your rights are in relation to your information.

The School Exclusions Hub is provided by Coram Children’s Legal Centre, the UK’s leading legal children’s charity which is part of the Coram Group. We are a registered charity, no. 281222.

Please find Coram's policies and privacy statements here. 

Any questions regarding this privacy notice should be sent by email to: info@coramclc.org.uk

What personal information do we collect?

Coram Children's Legal Centre collects the following kinds of information from people visiting the School Exclusions Hub:

• From people submitting a referral form to the School Exclusions Clinic, we collect basic personal information relating to your case, including your name, contact details, demographics, exclusion letter, and brief notes on your situation/case.
• Feedback collected through users submitting client feedback forms;
• Feedback collected through users submitting responses to client satisfaction surveys;
• site usage information, using cookies and page tagging techniques (based on consent to cookies when you access our site, you can withdraw consent at anytime)

How does Coram Children's Legal Centre store your information?

Information you provide to the School Exclusions Clinic, including copies of any emails or documents you send us, will be securely stored on our computer system. We will use the information you provide to determine whether you are eligible for representation and, if so, to assist us in representing you.

How does Coram Children's Legal Centre use your information?

Information collected from people visiting the School Exclusions Hub is used to:

• Assist in the provision of legal services to you and for related purposes, including:
  • updating and improving client records,
  • analysis to help us manage our school exclusions clinic,
  • statutory returns, and
  • legal and regulatory compliance;
• monitor and evaluate our services;
• report to our funders (data is always shared on an anonymous and non-identifiable basis);
• improve the content and design of the website.

Coram Children's Legal Centre will never share your personal information with other organisations for marketing, market research, or commercial purposes. All information collected from you is strictly confidential. To deliver our School Exclusions Clinic, we collaborate with other organisations. We may share information about your case with staff from that organisation so that they can assist you. Aside from these partnerships, we will not share your personal information with anyone outside of Coram Children's Legal Centre for purposes other than assisting you with your case.

We share information about our work with our funders, including anonymised, aggregated information about the advice we have provided. However, we never share personally identifiable information.

Legal basis for processing your data

The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which an organisation may collect and process your personal data, including:

Consent

In specific situations we can collect and process your data with your consent. For example, when you tick a box to receive email newsletters from us. When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.

Contractual obligations

In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations. For example, if you have placed an order on our website, we’ll collect your address details to deliver your purchase.

Legal compliance

If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data. For example, in order to claim gift aid on a donation, HMRC requires us to retain your gift aid declaration which includes personal details such as your name, home address, and UK tax-payer status.

Legitimate interest

In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our charity and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. 

Vital interests

In limited cases we may need to use your data to protect your vital interests, or those of another person. For example, we may share personal information with agencies, including local authority services and the police, where it is necessary to safeguard the welfare of a child or adult at risk. Any such decisions will adhere to the Government’s advice: Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners. 

Your rights

We take reasonable steps that are designed to keep your personal data accurate, complete and up-to-date for the purpose for which it is collected and used. We have implemented measures that are designed to ensure that our processing of your personal data complies with this privacy notice and applicable law e.g. General Data Protection Regulations.

You have the right to request access to the personal data that we have collected about you for the purposes of reviewing, modifying or requesting deletion of the data. You also have the right to request a copy of the personal data we have collected about you and withdraw your consent at any time.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to make sure that the site reflects your needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes. Overall, cookies help us 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 can choose to accept or decline cookies. If you want to prevent our cookies being stored on your computer in future, you may do so by referring to your internet browser’s instructions. You can do this by clicking on the “Help” menu. Please note, however, that if you disable our cookies you may not be able to access certain services or facilities on our site and your use of our site may be restricted. Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at: www.aboutcookies.org.

Contacting us

For further information on how your information is used, how we maintain the security of your information, and your rights to access information we hold on you, please contact us via email at: info@coramclc.org.uk