Privacy policy

Introduction and general terms

We take our responsibilities very seriously, about the personal data that is shared with us. We promise to keep this safe and secure and use it for the purposes for which it was collected and not do anything that wouldn’t be reasonably expected.

This privacy policy explains the following:

• What information Shared Lives Plus may collect about you
• How we will use any information we have collected from you
• When Shared Lives Plus may use your information to contact you
• Whether Shared Lives Plus will disclose your information to anyone else
• Your choices regarding the personal information you have provided to us

We are committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide information such as this, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection and security of personal information, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 and the Privacy & Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Who we are

Shared Lives Plus is a registered charity (Reg charity number – England and Wales – 1095562 and in Scotland SC42743) and a company limited by guarantee (company number 4511426). Our registered address is Eleanor Rathbone House, Connect Business Village, 24 Derby Road, Liverpool, L5 9PR.

What information will Shared Lives Plus collect about you?

We mainly collect information from our members or subscribers for us to process your membership or subscription and ensure you are aware of all the benefits of your membership or subscription.

We may also collect our Shared Lives carers and other stakeholders (such as social workers, foster care team members etc.) contact details (such as email address and phone number) from the relevant Shared Lives scheme.

One of the standard Shared Lives carer membership benefits is benefit advice and access to ‘ask the legal expert’. To assist your access to this we may pass your details to Stephensons Solicitors. Public liability insurance is included in the full Shared Lives carer membership and should you need to access this support we will pass your details onto Stephensons Solicitors who operate this scheme on behalf of Towergate Insurance Group Ltd and ARAG plc. It may also be necessary for us to pass your details onto Towergate Ltd and ARAG plc.

This information we pass on may include your name, postal address, email address, telephone or mobile number.

We collect information from our Homeshare members to help us to process your memberships and to provide us with the information we need to ensure that your service is listed correctly on the Homeshare UK website.

Information about potential Householder and Homesharers is collected via the Homeshare UK website to enable us to ensure that Homeshare meets your needs and to put you in contact with your local scheme. We only pass on information you have provided to schemes operating in your area.

Provided that we have your permission, we may feature your stories including your experience in Shared Lives or Homeshare and your photographs and videos.

How will Shared Lives Plus use this information?

We will use your information for the following:

• To administer your membership/subscription or your sign-up to our events.
• To keep a record of your relationship with us
• To enable us to record how you’d like to hear from us
• To understand how we can keep improving our products, services and information
• To conduct interviews with Shared Lives carers and other stakeholders to find out about their Shared Lives experience, to carry out a scheme review or stakeholder analysis analysing data of scheme costs and benchmarking costs
• To ensure we are being compliant with various laws.
• To occasionally invite you to participate in surveys from Shared Lives Plus so we can continually improve what we do
• To help identify which Homeshare Scheme is operating in your chosen area and is best placed to meet your needs
• To help us to build profiles of our members, subscribers and potential Homeshare participants so we can better target our communications. From time to time we might use geographic, demographic and other information relating to you, so we can send you the most relevant pieces of mail.
• To tell your story as people who share their lives together by sharing your experiences and stories including your photos and videos.

What is our lawful bases for processing

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract
• Processing is necessary for Shared Lives Plus to comply with their legal obligation
• Processing based on consent
• Processing based on legitimate interest
• Processing based on vital interests of the data subject

Will you send me direct marketing?

If you give us your consent, then we will pass your details on to Towergate Insurance Ltd so that they can contact you regarding offers on household, travel and motor insurance tailored for Shared Lives carers. Occasionally we may include information in our newsletters and magazines from partner organisations. We do our best to make it easy for you to tell us how you’d like us to communicate with you. Our communications all have opt-out statements in them, and the opportunity to indicate your preferences. If you don’t want us to contact you, then we’re fine with that too. You can do so by using the unsubscribe button at the bottom of our emails or by ringing us on 0151 227 3499 or by emailing us at info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk.

Do we sell your details on?

Absolutely not. We will never sell or share the information belonging to our members or subscribers. Sometimes we run an event in partnership with a third party and to administer the event we will need to share the information with them but only if you have expressed an interest and we will always make this clear to you who your information will be shared with before we do anything with it and will respect your wishes if you decide not to participate.

Who sees your personal information?

The personal information we collect about you will be held or used by our staff at Shared Lives Plus to ensure we can support you. This information will be known to select staff members of Shared Lives Plus. We may also share relevant information with other trusted organisations who are providing essential services to us. These include:

• The organisations which host our websites and software systems or print our Sharing magazine;
• Our professional advisers (such as insurers);
• Newspaper/publications/radio/TV (if you’ve consented for your story to be shared)

We may also disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

How we keep your data safe and who has access to it

Your information is held on systems that we maintain and manage securely by Shared Lives Plus. We ensure that there are technical controls in place to protect your personal details. We do not transfer your data internationally.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff.

We may need to disclose your details, if required, to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors.

How long will Shared Lives Plus keep your personal data?

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity. By law, you can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, or to stop using your data. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us using any of the below details:

0151 2273499, info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk or write a letter to us at Shared Lives Plus, Eleanor Rathbone House, Connect Business Village, 24 Derby Road, Liverpool, L5 9PR and let us know the information you would like to see.

Keeping your information up to date

It’s important to us to be able to keep your information up to date and as accurate as possible. This is part of our obligation to comply with data protection law.

If you would like to tell us of any changes to your information or change the way we contact you, then please contact us as follows:

Email us at info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk

Write to us at Shared Lives Plus, Eleanor Rathbone House, Connect Business Village, 24 Derby Road, Liverpool, L5 9PR.

Telephone us on 0151 227 3499

Rights in relation to your personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• You have the right to know why your personal data is needed, what will happen to it, and how long it will be retained for.
• Right of access: You have the right to access your personal data that is known to us.
• Right to rectification: you have the right to supplement, correct, have deleted or blocked your personal data whenever you wish.
• If you give us your consent to process your data, you have the right to revoke that consent and to have your personal data deleted.
• Right to transfer your data: you have the right to request all your personal data from the controller and transfer it in its entirety to another controller.
• Right to object: you may object to the processing of your data. We comply with this, unless there are justified grounds for processing.

We will not carry out automated decision making.

We have appointed a DPO you can contact on dataprotection@sharedlivesplus.org.uk

If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you, but you also have the right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority (the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)).

Online information

To improve your browsing experience, we use services provided by third parties such as Facebook, Google and other social media bodies. Whilst every reasonable effort is taken to protect your data and ensure your privacy is respected, please bear in mind that we have no direct control over these services or any information shared with them. Please be aware that it is not always possible for us to guarantee that they adhere to the same standards Shared Lives Plus does. If you have any concerns that you would like further clarification on, then please contact us and we would be delighted to discuss this further.

Shared Lives Plus may gather and share video content already in the public domain, (e.g. on YouTube) that is related to Shared Lives, Homeshare or our projects. This is because videos already in the public domain the relevant permissions has been obtained from the data subject via their specific data controller.

Shared Lives Plus provides this website as a public service and cannot guarantee your connection is always secure. Please be aware that this is your responsibility. Shared Lives Plus values you and your data and will take every reasonable step to ensure a safe and secure browsing experience but it cannot be held liable for data loss or issue whilst accessing our services. By browsing our site and using our digital services you agree to our privacy policy and the limitations outlined therein. Shared Lives Plus is a UK registered charity and subject to all UK legislation regarding data protection.

Like most websites, we use “cookies” to help us make our site – and the way you use it – better. Cookies mean that a website will remember you. They’re small text files that sites transfer to your computer (or phone or tablet). They make interacting with a website faster and easier – for example by automatically filling your name and address in text fields. There are more details in our Cookie Policy.

Changes to this policy

This privacy policy may be updated from time to time, so you may wish to check it each time you submit information to Shared Lives Plus. The date of the most recent revisions will appear on this page. If you do not agree to these changes, you have the option to opt out at any time. We will notify members or subscribers of any major changes by placing a notice on the website or by contacting you directly.

Shared Lives Plus uses cookies and some content from third parties such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. Shared Lives Plus is registered in the UK and subject to its legislation regarding data protection.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy or any concerns regarding your visit to our site please do not hesitate to contact us by email: info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk or phone: 0151 227 3499‎. Entering our site implies agreement to our privacy policy.