Privacy Policy
PWSA UK is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy.
This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, the lawful bases we rely on, when we may share it, how long we keep it, and your rights under UK data protection law.
We aim to be clear and transparent about our processing of personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and, where relevant, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).
For data protection purposes, the data controller is PWSA UK, C/O Metcalf’s Commercial Decorators, 3 Deer Park Road, Moulton Park, Northampton, NN3 6RX.
PWSA UK is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number Z4713484.
Information we may collect from you
- Information you provide when you fill in forms on our website, make a donation, sign up for newsletters or updates, register for events, volunteer, request support, or otherwise contact us.
- Information you provide when you post or contribute material to our site or social media channels where we operate them.
- Records of correspondence if you contact us by email, post, phone or through our website.
- Details of donations, purchases, event bookings, or other transactions you make with us, together with related administration and fulfilment information.
- Technical and usage information about how you use our website, including pages visited, device and browser information, IP address, referring websites, and similar analytics or advertising information collected through cookies and similar technologies where permitted.
How we use your personal data and our lawful bases
We use personal data to administer our charity, provide services and support, process donations and other transactions, manage events and volunteering, respond to enquiries, improve our website and communications, comply with legal obligations, and where appropriate send updates about our work and ways to support us. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under UK GDPR: consent, performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, and legitimate interests.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we will do so only where our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, governance, and certain communications that you would reasonably expect from us.
Cookies
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small file which is placed on your computer by a site when you visit it. Basic cookies contain the site name and a unique user ID. The next time you visit that site, your browser checks to see if it has a cookie for it and sends the information contained in that cookie back to the site. The site then ‘knows’ that you have been there before, and can, for example, tailor your experience of the site. More sophisticated cookies allow you to do other things, like create accounts on a site or use an online shop.
Cookies on our website
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies for essential functions and, where applicable, analytics, advertising, marketing, or embedded content.
Some cookies may be set by third-party services used on our website.
If you use social sharing or social media features on our website, relevant third parties may set cookies or collect information in accordance with their own privacy and cookie policies.
If we embed third-party content such as video players, those providers may set cookies or process data when you interact with that content. Please review the relevant third-party privacy information for details.
Meta Pixel and Advertising
We may use the Meta Pixel, a tool provided by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, to help us understand how visitors use our website and to improve the effectiveness of our advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
The Meta Pixel may collect information about your interactions with our website, such as pages viewed, actions taken on our website (for example completing a form, making a donation, or registering for an event), information about your device and browser, IP address, and referring websites.
This information helps us to:
- measure and improve the effectiveness of our advertising and awareness campaigns;
- better understand how visitors engage with our website;
- reach people who may be interested in our charitable work, services, campaigns, events, fundraising, or support activities; and
- create audiences for future advertising campaigns.
The information collected through the Meta Pixel may be processed by Meta in accordance with Meta's own privacy information and terms. We do not receive personal information that directly identifies individual website visitors through the Meta Pixel.
Where the Meta Pixel is used for advertising or marketing purposes, it will only be activated where you have given your consent through our cookie preferences tool. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time through our cookie settings.
For further information about how Meta processes personal data, please see Meta's Privacy Policy.
Can I refuse cookies?
Yes. You can use a setting on your browser which allows you to refuse to accept cookies. However, if you select this setting, you will be unable to use certain parts of our site, and it may not work smoothly.
Different browsers have different instructions for managing cookies and you may also be able to accept certain cookies and not others. For example, you may be able to refuse third party cookies.
Direct marketing and soft opt-in
We may send you direct marketing by post where permitted by law and you can ask us to stop at any time. For marketing by email, text message, or similar electronic means, we will comply with PECR. This means we will either ask for your consent where required or rely on a valid soft opt-in where the law allows.
Where the charitable purposes soft opt-in applies, we may send you email, text message, or similar electronic communications about our charitable purposes where:
- you provided your contact details directly to us
- you did so when expressing an interest in, or offering or providing support for, our charitable purposes
- we gave you a clear opportunity to opt out when we collected your details, and
- every subsequent message includes a simple way to opt out
If you opt out of marketing, we will stop sending you marketing messages, but we may still contact you where necessary for administrative or service-related reasons.
Where we store your personal data
All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted. We do not store sensitive financial information (such as credit card data) on our servers.
How long we keep your personal data
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, safeguarding, regulatory, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason we hold it.
Disclosure of your information
We may disclose your personal information to third parties if:
- PWSA UK is acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets.
- We are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use or terms and conditions of sale and supply and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of PWSA UK, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you may have rights including the right to be informed, to access your personal data, to request rectification or erasure, to restrict processing, to object to processing, and, in some circumstances, to data portability. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. You also have the absolute right to object to direct marketing.
Access to information
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will respond in accordance with applicable data protection law. In most cases, you will not have to pay a fee unless a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive.
Changes to our privacy policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email or otherwise communicated to you.
Contact
Please send any questions, comments, requests about this privacy policy, or data protection enquiries to admin@pwsa.co.uk. You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites. Those websites have their own privacy policies and we do not accept responsibility or liability for their policies or practices. Please review their policies before submitting any personal data.
