At Citizens Advice we collect and use your personal information to help solve your problems, improve our services and tackle wider issues in society that affect people’s lives.

We only ask for the information we need. We always let you decide what you’re comfortable telling us, explain why we need it and treat it as confidential.

When we record and use your personal information we:

• only access it when we have a good reason
• only share what is necessary and relevant
• don’t sell it to anyone

At times we might use or share your information without your permission. If we do, we’ll always make sure there’s a legal basis for it. This could include situations where we have to use or share your information:

• to comply with the law – for example, if a court orders us to share information. This is called ‘legal obligation’
• to protect someone’s life – for example, sharing information with a paramedic if a client was unwell at our office. This is called ‘vital interests’
• to carry out our legitimate aims and goals as a charity – for example, to create statistics for our national research. This is called ‘legitimate interests’
• for us to carry out a task where we’re meeting the aims of a public body in the public interest – for example, delivering a government or local authority service. This is called ‘public task’
• to carry out a contract we have with you – for example, if you’re an employee we might need to store your bank details so we can pay you. This is called ‘contract’

• to defend our legal rights – for example, sharing information with our legal advisors if there was a complaint that we gave the wrong advice

We handle and store your personal information in line with the law – including the General Data Protection Regulation.

You can check our main Citizens Advice policy for how we handle most of your personal information.

This page covers how we, as your local charity, handle your information locally in our offices.

How Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch collect your data

To find out how we collect your data, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy

What Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch ask for

To find out what information we ask for, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy

How Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch use your information

To find out how we use your information, see our national Citizens Advice privacy policy

Working on your behalf

When you give us authority to act on your behalf, for example to help you with a Universal Credit claim, we’ll need to share information with that third party.

For example, Bromsgrove District Council, Redditch Borough Council, Bromsgrove District Housing Trust, D.W.P.

How Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch store your information

Whether you get advice face to face, over the phone, or by email, our adviser will log all your information, correspondence, and notes about your problem into our secure case management systems. If you have seen us for face to face advice we also store a hard copy of your consent form and where necessary, any paperwork related to your case.  This is kept securely within our main office.

Some of your information might also be kept within our secure email and IT systems.

We keep your information for 6 years. If your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute we keep the data for 16 years.

How Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch share your information

We will always ask for your permission before referring you to another organisation and may ask you to sign a form of authority to enable us to do so.

We may refer you to Citizens Advice Contact Centre for help with debt, to local foodbanks for food parcels and to our partners in the Worcestershire Advice Network, Age UK Bromsgrove and Redditch, Worcestershire Association of Carers, Dial North Worcestershire as well as Bromsgrove District Council, Fry Housing and DWP home visiting service.

Contact Citizens Advice Bromsgrove and Redditch about your information

If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our office.

Main Office;
50 – 52 Birmingham Road
Bromsgrove B61 0DD

Tel: 0808 278 7890

Email: enquiries@cabr.org.uk

You can contact us to:

• find out what personal information we hold about you
• correct your information if it’s wrong, out of date or incomplete
• request we delete your information
• ask us to limit what we do with your data – for example, ask us not to share it if you haven’t asked us already
• ask us to give you a copy of the data we hold in a format you can use to transfer it to another service
• ask us stop using your information

Who’s responsible for looking after your personal information

The national Citizens Advice charity and your local Citizens Advice operate a system called Casebook to keep your personal information safe. This means they’re a ‘joint data controller’ for your personal information that’s stored in our Casebook system.

Each local Citizens Advice is an independent charity, and a member of the national Citizens Advice charity. The Citizens Advice membership agreement also requires that the use of your information complies with data protection law.

You can find out more about your data rights on the Information Commissioner’s website.