Date last reviewed:  September 2024

At Neighbourhood Watch Network we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about you, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how we keep it safe and secure and your rights and choices in relation to your information.

Any questions regarding this policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to enquiries@ourwatch.org.uk  or by writing to Chief Executive, Neighbourhood Watch Network, Vox Studios, Room V108, 1-45 Durham Street, London, SE11 5JH. Alternatively, you can telephone 0116 4026111.

Who are we?

We are Neighbourhood Watch Network, the largest crime prevention charity in England and Wales dedicated to supporting Neighbourhood Watch groups to work with the police and other agencies to build safer and stronger communities,

In this policy ‘Neighbourhood Watch Network, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means:

Neighbourhood Watch Network: CIO charity no: 1173349. Registered address is:  Vox Studios, Room V108, 1-45 Durham Street, London, SE11 5JH

In this policy, our website refers to http://www.ourwatch.org.uk and our Knowledge Hub refers to https://ourwatch.myhubintranet.com.

The information you provide when joining Neighbourhood Watch through our website is entered into the Neighbourhood Watch Register.

Data held on the Neighbourhood Watch Register is controlled by Neighbourhood Watch Network and processed on our behalf by VISAV Limited (VISAV), Sherwood Business Centre, 616a to 618a Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham, NG5 2GA.

Data held on the Knowledge Hub is controlled by Neighbourhood Watch Network and processed on our behalf by MyHub Intranet Solutions Limited, PO Box 32 340, Devonport, Auckland 0744, New Zealand.

How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you in the following ways:

  • Information you give us directly i.e. through email, through our website or local Neighbourhood Watch web pages that are linked to it or our Knowledge Hub
  • Information you give us indirectly e.g. that is entered onto our website or local Neighbourhood Watch web pages on your behalf by your Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator or Administrator
  • When you visit our website
  • When you visit our social media pages of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube
  • Photograph consent forms
  • When you apply for a job with us
  • When you tender for a contract with us
  • Through our shop [https://nwnshop.myshopify.com/]which is covered by a separate privacy contract that can be found here: https://nwnshop.myshopify.com/policies/privacy-policy
  • When you donate or sign up to our lottery

 

What type of information is collected from you?

The personal information we collect, store and use might include:

  • your name and contact details (including postal address, email address and telephone number)
  • your year of birth or age range
  • your geolocation, browser and device information (for a full list of information collected by Google Analytics from our website or social channels click here)
  • questions, queries or feedback you leave
  • your information provider preferences when you sign up for email alerts
  • how you use our emails - for example, whether you open them and which links you click on
  • how you use our social media channels – for example, whether you engaged (clicked, shared, commented) on our post, watched a video and how long for
  • information about your activities on our website and about the device used to access it, for instance your IP address and geographical location, your activity such as length of stay on a page, clicks and downloads
  • Individuals that sign up to our lottery
  • Individuals who donate
  • any other personal information you have shared with us.

Data protection laws recognise certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring greater protection, for example information about your health, ethnicity and religion.

We do not collect sensitive data about you unless there is a clear and valid reason for doing so, data protection laws allow us to, and you consent to sharing that data with us.

Where appropriate, we will clarify why we are collecting this type of information, and what it will be used for and ask for your explicit consent to share it with us.

 

How and why is your information used?

We may use your information for different purposes, which may include:

  • Send you communications which you have requested or that may be of interest to you. These may include information or surveys about crime prevention, campaigns, fundraising, and activities, our newsletter and promotions of goods and services provided by us, our partners or our sponsors
  • Provide you with other services, products or information you ask for
  • Keep a record of Neighbourhood Watch schemes, coordinators, supporters and members
  • Improve the website by monitoring how you use it
  • Gather feedback to improve our services, for example our email alerts
  • Notify you of changes to our services
  • Respond to any feedback you send us
  • Carry out our obligations under any contracts entered between you and us
  • Process job applications.
     

How long is your information kept for?

We keep your information for no longer than is necessary for the purposes it was collected for. The length of time we retain your personal information for is determined by operational and legal considerations as outlined in our Retention Schedule. For example, we are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory and regulatory obligations (e.g. health/safety and tax/accounting purposes).

We review our retention periods on a regular basis.

 

Who has access to your information?

We share your personal data with Visav Ltd if you register to support or join Neighbourhood Watch through our website. This is so that Visav Ltd can process the data and keep it secure on our behalf.

In some areas your data may also be shared with Neighbourhood Watch volunteers who have been trained as Multi Scheme Administrators and help us to keep the personal data held on the Neighbourhood Watch Register up to date and accurate.

If there is a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area, your details will be visible to the local Coordinator who runs that scheme and the Force Area or District Lead for your area (if there is one).

If you choose to contribute to the Knowledge Hub via the Forum or any other interactive element of the Hub, some of your data may be visible to other Hub users. Access to the Hub is limited to Neighbourhood Watch staff and volunteers.

We do not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We do not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

 

Lawful Processing

Data protection law requires us to rely on one or more lawful grounds to process your personal information. We consider the following grounds to be relevant:

  • Specific consent
  • Performance of a contract
  • Legal obligation
  • Vital interests
  • Legitimate interests

 

Communications

We may use your contact details to provide you with information about the work we do, crime prevention advice and opportunities to support us, including fundraising, as well as the products and services offered by our sponsors, if we think it may be of interest to you. We do this through our e-newsletter and other occasional communications which are sent through the Neighbourhood Alert system to people who have registered as Neighbourhood Watch members and other people who have agreed to receive information from Neighbourhood Watch. We may do this through our social media channels as well.

 

Your choices

We are committed to putting you in control of your data so you are asked when you register your details on our website to give your explicit consent to receive communications from us, which may include marketing material from our sponsors. If you do not want to continue to receive communications from us about the work we do and the products and services provided by our sponsors, you are free to change your preferences at any time. You can do this by logging into your account on our website or by using: enquiries@ourwatch.org.uk or by telephone: 0116 4026111, or post: Chief Executive, Neighbourhood Watch Network, Vox Studios, Room V108, 1-45 Durham Street, London, SE11 5JH.

Where appropriate, you can also use the settings button on any Alert email you receive via the Neighbourhood Alert system or contact VISAV on 0115 9245517 or at support@neighbourhoodalert.co.uk.  

 

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have certain rights over the personal information that we hold about you. Here is a summary of the rights that we think apply:

  • Right of access to personal data held about you
  • Right to have your inaccurate personal information corrected
  • Right to restrict use of your personal data
  • Right of erasure of your personal data
  • Right for your personal information to be portable
  • Right to object to the processing of your personal data.

If you want to exercise any of the above rights, please email us at enquiries@ourwatch.org.uk  or write to Chief Executive, Neighbourhood Watch Network, Vox Studios, Room V108, 1-45 Durham Street, London, SE11 5JH. Alternatively, you can telephone 0116 4026111. We may be required to ask for further information and/or evidence of identity. We will endeavour to respond fully to all requests within one month of receipt of your request, however if we are unable to do so we will contact you with reasons for the delay.

Please note that exceptions apply to a number of these rights, and not all rights will be applicable in all circumstances. E.g. if fulfilling a subject access request may expose personal data about another person or if you ask to delete data which we are required to keep by law.  For more details we recommend you consult the guidance published by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office or our Subject Access Request Policy.

 

Keeping your information safe

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that appropriate technical and organisational controls are in place to protect it through compliance with our internal Data Protection policies and practices. We also make sure that any third parties that we deal with keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure.

Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where you have chosen a password which enables you to access certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

If you choose to contribute to the Knowledge Hub via the Forum or any other interactive element of the Hub, your contributions will be visible to other Hub users. We would recommend that you do not disclose any personal or sensitive information within the Hub environment, however it is your own decision whether to do so.

 

Keeping your information up to date

We take reasonable steps to ensure your information is accurate and up to date.

To help us to do this we would really appreciate it if you could update your contact details when they change by logging into your account on our website or alternatively let us know so we can update them for you on enquiries@ourwatch.org.uk or 0116 4026111

 

Cookies

What is a cookie?

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information that are downloaded to your personal computer, mobile or other device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.

Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages more efficiently, remembering your preferences, tracking information about the visit and generally improving the user experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.

Users must opt in to allow cookies to be set to comply with the EU Cookie Law. If they choose not to do so, some parts of the site may not function properly.

You can find more information about cookies at http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Persistent cookies

These cookies remain on a user’s device for the period of time specified in the cookie. They are activated each time that the user visits the website that created that particular cookie.

Session cookies

These cookies enable services you have specifically asked for. For any types of cookies that are strictly necessary, no consent is required. By using the website, you agree for these types of cookies to be placed on your device.

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies enable services you have specifically asked for. For those types of cookies that are strictly necessary, no consent is required. By using the website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.

These cookies are essential for the site to function. They are used for features such as e-commerce baskets, site log in and user tracking to ensure users can navigate the site effectively. These cookies are not available to third party sites and are not used to track behaviour or to place personalised adverts or any other content. Neighbourhood Watch does not currently use this type of cookie.

Functionality cookies

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) to improve your experience and provide enhanced, more personalised features.

These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog.

You can control or delete these cookies in your browser settings. Neighbourhood Watch does not currently use this type of cookie.

Performance cookies

These cookies collect anonymous information about how visitors use the website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how the website works.

You can control these cookies via the Cookies tab at the bottom of each page or in your browser settings.

Google Analytics*
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Google Analytics collects information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.

Find out more about Google Analytics data privacy and security.

You can choose to opt out of Google Analytics using the Google Analytics Out-out Browser Add-on.

*These cookies are provided by a third party, who could change their cookies in future outside of our control. We will review this policy regularly for any such changes.

Managing cookies

To find out how to manage or delete cookies in the web browser you are using, go to AllAboutCookies.org.

Third Party Processors

Our carefully selected partners and service providers may process personal information about you on our behalf as described below:

“Digital Marketing Service Providers

We periodically appoint digital marketing agents to conduct marketing activity on our behalf, such activity may result in the compliant processing of personal information.  Our appointed data processors include:

(i)Prospect Global Ltd (trading as Sopro) Reg. UK Co. 09648733. You can contact Sopro and view their privacy policy here: http://sopro.io.  Sopro are registered with the ICO Reg: ZA346877 their Data Protection Officer can be emailed at: dpo@sopro.io.”

Links to other websites

Our website and Knowledge Hub may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This policy applies only to our website and Hub‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other websites even if you access those using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the privacy policy of that third party site.

 

16 or Under

We are concerned to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

 

Vulnerable circumstances

We are committed to protecting vulnerable supporters and members and appreciate that additional care may be needed when we use their personal information. In recognition of this, we observe good practice guidelines in our interactions with people we know to be vulnerable.

 

Transferring your information outside of Europe

As part of the services offered to you through this website, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EEA. You should be aware that these countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EEA in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this notice.

If you use our services while you are outside the EEA, your information may be transferred outside the EEA in order to provide you with those services.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your personal data is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

 

Contact us or make a complaint

Contact us if you:

  • have any questions about anything in this document
  • think that your personal data has been misused or mishandled.

enquiries@ourwatch.org.uk

 

Chief Executive

Neighbourhood Watch Network

Vox Studios,

Room V108,

1-45 Durham Street,

London,

SE11 5JH

Telephone: 0116 4026111

 

You can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. 

casework@ico.org.uk

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Textphone: 01625 545860

 

Changes to this policy

If we make any significant changes to this notice they will be posted on our website so please check to ensure that you're happy with any changes.

Review of this Policy

We keep this notice under regular review. This policy was last updated in September 2024.