HomePrivacy policy

Privacy policy

Introduction

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT), unlike NHS emergency services, is a Charity providing a free life-saving pre-hospital Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) to the people of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas.

At EHAAT we take the protection of our supporters’ personal information seriously and we are committed to ensuring that we are completely transparent about why we need the personal information we request when you support us and how we will use it.

Developing a better understanding of our supporters through their personal information allows us to make better decisions, communicate more effectively, raise funds and helps us to achieve our charitable objectives.

Privacy matters to us, so we have produced this document to explain what information we might collect about you, why we collect it and what we may use it for. We also want to provide you with more detail about how we handle your information.

This policy relates to our use of any personal information we collect from you through our website or that you provide us by email, in letters, by phone, SMS, in other correspondence and in person.

We will also explain your rights about your information and how we look after it while we have it.

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy and how we use your information please contact us in writing at:

Data Protection Officer, Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Flight House, Earls Colne Business Centre, Earls Colne Business Park, Earls Colne, Colchester, Essex, CO6 2NS

Or by email: contactus@ehaat.org or by phone 0345 2417 690.

What information do we collect about you?

The information that we collect about you may vary based on how you have chosen to support EHAAT.

We collect personal information (information that can be used to identify you) such as:

  • Your name and address so we know who you are and how to contact
  • Contact information such as telephone numbers and email addresses so we can keep in touch with
  • Your bank account or financial details if you take part in the Flight for Life Lottery, our raffles or make a regular donation to us via direct debit or standing

We only collect information about you that we need to make sure your donation, event registration etc. is processed correctly and that it is recorded accurately so that we can enter you into our lottery or raffle or contact you about our work. We respect your privacy and we try to minimise what personal data we do collect. We destroy any financial data as soon as we no longer need it.

The Data Protection law recognises that certain categories of personal information are more sensitive. This is known as sensitive personal data, or special categories of data, and covers health information, race, religious beliefs and political opinions. We do not usually collect ‘sensitive’ personal data about our supporters unless there is a clear reason for doing so such as providing appropriate facilities or support to enable you to participate in an event. When we do collect this type of information we will tell you why we are collecting it and how we will use it.

 

How do we collect information about you?

We collect information in the following ways:

  • Directly from you
    For example, when you donate to us, sign up to be a volunteer, register for an event or sign up to the Flight for Life Lottery or a regular giving programme.
  • From our website
    When you visit, donate or place an order via our website you may be asked to provide information about yourself. We may also collect information about your usage on our site.
  • From third parties
    We may receive your information from third parties such as fundraising sites like Just Giving and Virgin Money Giving. This can include information such as your name, postal address, email address and phone number. These independent third parties will only pass us your information if you have indicated that you wish to support EHAAT. You should check the third party websites for their Privacy Policy to understand fully how they process your information.
    In specific circumstances we may use legitimate interest as a form of consent when processing data collected on our behalf by authorised suppliers who have obtained your consent to pass your details on to us.

We may also purchase your contact information from data brokers or third parties such as data providers whom follow the GDPR guidelines and supply postal data suitable for third party mailings.  These independent third party data providers will only provide us with your information where they have your consent to do so. You have the right to be removed from any such databases upon request.

What do we do with the information we collect about you?

We use your information in various ways, such as:

  • to meet the purposes that you provided your information for i.e. your lottery direct debit
  • to process any donation you make, claim any relevant Gift Aid and maintain records of your past financial contributions
  • to let you know about EHAAT news and activities that you have requested to hear about
  • to keep our records accurate and up to date
  • to prevent fraud
  • to comply with any legal obligations we may have, for example to claim Gift Aid, or to adhere to the social responsibility elements of the Gambling
  • to create anonymised statistical information and analysis to help us understand who is supporting us.
  • to target our digital and social media marketing. For example, we may use your information to enable us to display adverts to you, or to potential similar supporters.
  • to help devise the most suitable targeting for our direct mail campaigns, or to create anonymised statistical information to help us understand who is supporting us
  • to manage our recruitment and staff

Who do we share your information with?

Your details will not be passed on to third parties for their own use. We will never sell your details to any third parties

We use third party suppliers known as ‘data processors’ to process data on our behalf e.g. to send out mailings such as the Flight for Life Magazine. When we use such suppliers, we ensure that they are under a contractual obligation to only use your information in accordance with our instructions and for no other purpose.

We will ensure that your data is transferred safely and securely and that the data processors agree to process your data in such a way as to be compliant will all Data Protection legislation.

We will only disclose your information if required to do so by law. In such cases we will do everything we can to make sure it is protected from misuse or loss.

How do we look after and secure your information?

When we use information about you we take all reasonable efforts to do so fairly and lawfully.

We never use information about you unless it is lawful for us to do so and we have a clearly defined need or purpose.

When we collect information about you we make sure that we minimise what we collect. We try not to keep your information longer than we need it and we make sure that the records we have about you are managed properly and deleted promptly and securely when we no longer need them.

We take appropriate care to secure the information we hold about you. We have robust technical security such as passwords and information encryption.

We have policies and procedures to make sure your information is only available to our employees who need to see it to do their job, and we train those employees appropriately.

Emails – You should be aware that information conveyed by email could be deliberately or accidentally intercepted or corrupted. While we make every effort to make sure that emails we send you are free from viruses, this cannot be guaranteed. We recommend they you scan all email for viruses with appropriate and frequently updated virus checking software.

Keeping your details up to date

We will use publicly available sources to ensure that the information we hold is accurate and up to date. For example, where you have signed up for a postal redirection service, we will use the Post Office’s National Change of Address database to keep in touch. We may use other services to cross-check the accuracy of the contact details we hold for you.

If you move house you can update your details with us at any time by contacting us by phone 0345 2417 690 or by emailing us at contactus@ehaat.org or in writing to us at Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Flight House, Earls Colne Business Centre, Earls Colne Business Park, Earls Colne, Colchester, Essex, CO6 2NS

Visiting our website

When visiting our website, you may also be providing us with certain information through our use of website ‘cookies’. To see how we use cookies, what they are and which ones we use please look at our Cookie Policy on our website.

You can find out more about how we use the information we gather through our website by looking at our online privacy statement here.

Your data protection rights

The Data Protection Act 2018 gives you certain rights towards your personal information. We take all reasonable efforts for you to exercise those rights.

  • Right to be informed
    You have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This policy document, and shorter summary statements used on our communications, are intended to be a clear and transparent description of how your data may be used.
  • Right of Access
    You have the right to request a copy of all or part of the personal information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. Please make all requests for access in writing, and provide us with evidence of your identity. You can make a data subject access request in writing to: Data Protection Officer Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Flight House, Earls Colne Business Centre, Earls Colne Business Park, Earls Colne, Colchester, Essex CO6 2NS
  • Right of Erasure
    You can ask us to delete your personal information where it is no longer necessary for us to use it, you have withdrawn consent, or where we have no lawful basis for keeping it.
  • Right of Rectification
    We take all reasonable steps to make sure that the information we have about you is accurate and up to date. If it is not please tell us as soon as possible and we will correct it.
  • Right to restrict processing
    You can ask us to restrict the personal information we use about you where you have asked for it to be erased or where you have objected to our use of it.
  • Right to data portability
    You can ask us to provide you or a third party with some of the personal information that we hold about you in a structured, commonly used, electronic form, so it can be easily transferred.
  • Right to object
    You can object to our processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes. Please contact us providing details of your objection.
  • Withdrawal of Consent
    You have the right to stop us sending marketing materials to you. You can choose to stop receiving our marketing communications at any time. You can update your preferences via our website www.ehaat.org/keepintouch, by phone 0345 2417 690.

Please note, some of these rights only apply in certain circumstances and we may not be able to fulfil every request.

What we do if you choose to tell us about your experience as a patient of EHAAT?

If you share your personal experience or the experiences of a friend or relative, we may also collect limited health information. If you provide us with any Sensitive Personal Information by telephone, email or by other means, we will treat that information with extra care and confidentiality and always in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

You can of course decide if you want to remain anonymous, if you are happy to share your personal details with staff members or if you would like us to share your story with the media or other parties as part of our work

If you share your story with us we will seek your consent before using it in any way. We will communicate with you at the time you share your story as to how we intend to use your information and ensure that you are happy with the story before it is published.

Fair Processing

Privacy and confidentiality of patient information is of paramount importance to us. Anonymised patient data may be used for improving patient care or research.

What to do if you are not happy?

If you have any complaints about how we handle your personal data, please contact us so we can resolve the issue, where possible. Read more about how to make a complaint.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint about any use of your personal information with the Information Commissioners Office, the UK data protection regulator.

Where you have a complaint about the way in which we have used your personal information in our fundraising, you can also complain to the Fundraising Regulator.

 

Changes to this statement

From time to time, we may amend this privacy statement to reflect changes in the law, guidance from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), our experience of handling your information, or for other legitimate reasons.

We will do this by posting the amended privacy statement on our website. We therefore suggest you check our online privacy statement regularly to make sure you are aware of the latest version.

This statement was last updated on 01 December 2021