Children's Privacy Policy

Your Information: A Simple Guide

For the children and young people we support at Empower Family Group

Hello

Empower Family Group is here to help look after and support you. To do that, we keep some information about you. This guide explains what we keep, why we keep it, and what you can do about it.

If any of this does not make sense, that is okay. You can ask a grown-up you trust to go through it with you.

What is this about?

When people look after you, they need to keep some information about you. This is called your personal information, or your “data”. We have to look after it carefully. The law says we must, and we want to anyway.

What information do you keep about me?

We only keep what we need to look after you well. This can include:

your name, your birthday, and where you live;
how to contact you and the people who care for you;
things about your health and how you are feeling;
notes about how you are getting on and the support we give you;
some private things, like about your health, your background or your family.

Why do you keep it?

We keep your information so that we can:

look after you properly and give you the right support;
help keep you safe;
work well with other people who help you, like your social worker or your doctor;
do what the law says we must do.

Who can see my information?

Only people who need to see it to help you. That might be the people who support you every day, your social worker or local council, doctors or nurses, and people whose job is to keep you safe.

We do not share your information with people who do not need it, and we never sell it.

What if you are worried about my safety?

Sometimes, if we think you or someone else might be in danger or getting hurt, we might need to share some information to help keep everyone safe. If we can, we will explain this to you first. Keeping you safe is the most important thing of all.

How do you keep it safe?

We keep your information locked away and on secure computers. Only the right people can see it, and they know they must keep it private.

How long do you keep it?

We only keep your information for as long as we need it. After that, we get rid of it safely.

What can I do? (Your rights)

Your information belongs to you, and you have a say in it. You can:

ask to see the information we keep about you;
tell us if something is wrong, so we can put it right;
ask us any questions, any time;
tell us if you are not happy about how we look after your information.

A grown-up you trust can help you do any of these.

Who can I talk to?

You can always talk to your key worker or a grown-up you trust.

You can also contact the person in charge of looking after information at Empower Family Group. His name is Fraser McIlwraith, and you can email him at dpo@empowerfamily.co.uk.

If you are still not happy, you, or a trusted adult helping you, can contact the ICO. The ICO is the group that checks that organisations look after people’s information properly. Their website is www.ico.org.uk.