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
We collect and use the details you give us so we can help you. We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. We'll always explain how we use your information.
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 UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
You can check our National 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.
Citizens Advice North Lancashire may collect your data in the following ways:
Where someone fills in our enquiry form on our website, we ask you for permission to store your data in our Casebook recording system
Where someone sends us a Facebook message asking for help we may pass your details onto our admin team so that we can contact you to offer an appointment
Where we work in partnership with other organisations we will ask you for permission to add you to our Stakeholder mailing list so that you can receive our regular email; this email has an unsubscribe link on it
If you ring us, we may collect your data over the phone and add this to our database with your permission, so that we can call you back or arrange an appointment
If you come and see us in person we will ask you to fill out our 'client permission and consent form'
There are numerous ways in which we obtain your consent to store and use your personal data.
Recorded message - when you call our Adviceline on 01524 481508 you hear a message that informs you that by leaving a voicemail for us to pick up, you give your consent for us to create a case record of your details, and for us to be able to use your contact details to communicate and provide advice
Web enquiry - if you send us an enquiry via our website, you will be giving us consent to use the data you include to provide advice
Advisers - when you speak to our advisers on the telephone, via email or in person, they will regularly ask you to update your consent which allows us to use and store your personal data to allow us to give advice
Form of Authority - if you need somebody else to act on your behalf, you will sign a form that gives us consent to speak to to the nominated person on your behalf which will include sharing personal data and circumstantial information
To find out what information we ask for, please visit the National Citizens Advice policy.
To find out how we use your information, please visit the National Citizens Advice policy.
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.
Examples of who we share you information with could be, but are not limited to:
Local authorities
Foodbank
DWP
Charitable support agencies (ie Age UK, Dementia UK)
Any of your creditors (people you owe money to)
Bailiffs/enforcement agencies
Courts
Social prescribers
GP surgeries
All client information is stored on our case management system called Casebook.
Your details are not stored separately on individual computers.
If you have any questions about how your information is collected or used, you can contact our offices.
Lancaster Office
5 George Street
Lancaster
LA1 1XQ
Email: enquiries@northlancashirecab.org.uk
Phone: 01524 400404 (Admin Line) or 01524 481508 (Adviceline)
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Morecambe Office
Oban House
87-89 Queen Street
Morecambe
LA4 5EN
Email: enquiries@northlancashirecab.org.uk
Phone: 01524 400404 (Admin Line) or 01524 481508 (Adviceline)
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
The National Citizens Advice charity and Citizens Advice North Lancashire 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.
