SCMA PRIVACY POLICY

Our Privacy Policy - your rights, your information and how we use it.
Scottish Childminding Association is committed to protecting your personal information.

Our Privacy Policy contains important information about what personal details we collect; what we do with that information; who we may share it with and why; and your choices and rights when it comes to the personal information you have given us.

Who we are

We (or ‘us’) means Scottish Childminding Association, registered charity SC010489. We are a limited company (number 144696) and our registered address is Argyll Court, Castle Business Park, Stirling, FK9 4TY.

This Privacy Policy applies to Scottish Childminding Association. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller (number Z6865813).

How to contact us

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or the information we collect or use about you, please contact:

FAO Data Protection Officer
Scottish Childminding Association
Argyll Court
Castle Business Park
Stirling
FK9 4TY
Email: dpo@childminding.org

Information we collect and use

Information about you that we collect and use includes:

Information about who you are e.g. your name and contact details.
Information connected to the service you receive from us e.g. your bank account details, card details.
Information about your contact with us e.g. emails and/or letters.
Information that is automatically collected e.g. via cookies when you visit our website.
Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser.
For your security, we also keep an encrypted record of your login password.

To deliver the best possible web experience, we collect technical information about your internet connection and browser as well as the country and telephone code where your computer is located, the webpages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms you entered.

We also collect your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.

Cookies

We use cookies to enable our visitors to have the best possible online experience. The information below explains what cookies are and how childminding.org uses them.

SCMA uses cookies to collect website usage information via Google Analytics and to help recognise a user’s device. You can find more information about cookies at allaboutcookies.org and youronlinechoices.eu. For a video about cookies visit www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/data-on-the-web/cookies.

What type of information is collected? The data collected relates to each specific visit to the website. The information gathered includes the time a user is on the website, the way a user navigates between pages, the device that is being used and the approximate geographical location of the visitor.

Google Analytics does not collect any personal information such as a user’s name or email address.

How is the data used?

Data collected by Google Analytics is used in order to develop and improve the quality of the SCMA website; usage data is collected and analysed. Some of this data is collected by the web server (the computer that holds the website) and some is collected using cookies that are sent to the web browser of each web site visitor.

Data collected by the Google Analytics service is stored in the United States and non-personally identifiable information may be used by Google and its partners (for further details visit the Google Privacy Policy).

Can I use this website without cookies?

By using childminding.org website, you consent to cookies being stored by us and our providers.

Should you not wish to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to reject cookies set by us or our providers. The allaboutcookies.org website provides more information about how to block cookies and/or remove existing cookies. Please note that disabling cookies may prevent some parts of our website working correctly for you.

Where we collect your information

We may collect your personal information directly from you, from a variety of sources, including:

phone conversations with us
emails or letters you send to us
an application for a service
registering for one of our events e.g. training sessions or our annual Conference
participating in surveys to help us understand you better and improve our products and services
our online services such as websites and social media

What we collect and use your information for

We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only where:

you have given us your permission [consent] to send you information about products and services which we believe may be of interest and benefit to you.
it is necessary to provide the product or service you have requested e.g. if you wish to pay your membership and insurance by Direct Debit, we will require some personal information including your name, address, bank account details.
it is in the legitimate interests of Scottish Childminding Association e.g. where we need to process your information to better understand you and your needs so we can send you more relevant communications about the products and/or services you have with us and to develop new products and services.
it is in the legitimate interests of a third party.
SCMA will share appropriate personal data with Childcare Insurance Services, in order to arrange SCMA Practitioner Insurance.

If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that we will be unable to provide you with our products or services.

We sometimes use systems to make automated decisions based on personal information we have - or are allowed to collect and use from others – about you. These automated decisions can affect the products, services or features we offer you now or in the future. We use automated decisions in the following ways:

Tailoring products and services e.g. placing you in groups with similar customers to make decisions about the products and services we may offer you to help meet your needs.
When designing and enhancing our online services to help meet your requirements for on-going guidance and support.

Who we may share your information with

We may share your information with third parties for the reasons outlined in 'What we collect and use your information for.

These third parties include:

Companies we have chosen to support us in the delivery of the products and services we offer to you and other customers e.g. insurance intermediary; magazine circulation; public bodies or companies who can help us in our contact with you, for example an internet service provider.

We will never sell your details to someone else. Whenever we share your personal information, we will do so in line with our obligations to keep your information safe and secure.

How we protect your information

We take information and system security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations.

Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically.

How long we keep your information

We will keep your personal information only where it is necessary to provide you with our products or services while you are a customer.

We may also keep your information after this period but only where required to meet our legal or regulatory obligations. The length of time we keep your information for these purposes will vary depending on the obligations we need to meet.

Your individual rights

You have several rights in relation to how we use your information. They are:

Right to be informed

You have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we have, why and who we share it with – we do this in our Privacy Policy.

Right of access

You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR).

Right to request that your personal information be rectified

If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected.

Right to request erasure

You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for Scottish Childminding Association to continue to have it.

Right to restrict processing

You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information – but only to ensure we don’t use it in the future for those reasons you have specified.

Right to object

You can object to Scottish Childminding Association processing your personal information where: it’s based on our legitimate interests (including profiling) and for direct marketing (including profiling).

How to make a complaint

SCMA aims to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in our Privacy Policy, please write to:

Data Protection Officer
Scottish Childminding Association
Argyll Court
Castle Business Park
Stirling
FK9 4TY

Contacting the Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.

Or go online to ico.org.uk/concerns. This link opens in a new window; please note we can't be responsible for the content of external websites.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

We may need to make changes to our Privacy Policy; so please check our website for updates from time to time. If there are important changes such as changes to where your personal data will be processed; we will contact you to let you know.

This version of our Privacy Policy was last updated March 2022.