When you give us your information we want you to understand what we do with it. 

This document tells you all about why we need your information, how we look after it, and what we do with it. 

Why and how we use your data: 

We're here to help you get support. To do this we need to record information about you and what you tell us. The information you give us helps us know what support you need, to keep track of the support we have given you and how this has helped. 

You can receive this support directly from Live Well Kent and Medway but sometimes we might be able to let you know of other organisations that can help. These could be other services run by Porchlight, or external services who are specialists in areas where you might need support. 

We use what you tell us in order to help you with any problems you might have. We may sometimes receive information about you from other people who are helping you; where this happens we will check what they have told us with you to make sure it's correct. We will always ask for your consent if we have to ask for your information from other organisations, or if other organisations ask us to share your information with them. 

We also use your information anonymously for our reporting. This allows us to see if lots of people have the same issues which helps us to make our services better. We are contractually required to keep a record of everyone we work with for up to 12 years after the end of the Live Well Kent and Medway service, but if you've been in care we will keep this longer: the law says we must keep this until your 75th birthday. 

Where we keep your data: 

We keep what you tell us safe in a secure database called Salesforce. Access to this is protected so that only people who are allowed to can see your records. 

Your rights: 

You can ask us to see what information we have about you, to correct any information that is wrong or to delete information if you don't want us to keep it. We have a document that sets out your full rights to your information: you can ask your support worker to see this and to explain it to you. You can also find a copy on our website at porchlight.org.uk/data 

The legal basis for processing your data and consequences of not providing it: 

The law sets out that we must have a legal basis for using your information. We use 'legitimate interests' so that we can use your information to provide an effective service which is suitable to your needs and is safe for you and your support worker. If you don't want us to have your information then we may be limited in how we can help you. 

Transfer of data: 

The majority of our data is stored within the European Union (EU), where it is protected by strict privacy laws. If we have to send any information outside the EU it will be done in a secure way where there is a formal contract in place with the receiving organisation. 

Automated decision making: 

Our database can carry out 'automated decision making'. For example, when we enter a person's address it can automatically tell us which support service is nearest to them. This automated decision making is based on information entered manually by your support worker and they can change the result of this if they need to. 

Supervisory authority and data controller: 

The data controller is Kent County Council. It is registered with the Information Commissioners Office and can be found on their register of data controllers. 

Data Protection Officer, Kent County Council, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone ME14 1XQ 

E: dpo@kent.gov.uk ICO registration: Z5297748 Privacy notice: tiny.cc/kccprivacynotice Categories and recipients of data: 

We collect different types of information based on the service that you are part of and the paperwork that you are completing. We collect personal information such as your name, date of birth, address and contact details, but we can also record sensitive personal information such as your ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or other things that tell us more about you. 

You can see all the types of information we collect on the Kent County Council website and your support worker can tell you more about this. 

We share information with the organisations that fund our services so that they can see the impact of the work we do and they can check the quality of the services we provide. We will not share what you tell us without consent unless we believe you or someone else might be in danger, or if there is a legal requirement for us to share it. We do not take decisions about breaking confidentiality lightly and we will tell you if we have to do this.