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Privacy Policy

Privacy and Cookie Policy

Foreword

Recovery Networks is the overarching title for the online platforms (Sobersocial & Familiessocial) that are owned by Changing lives. The platforms have been designed and created by Changing Lives with support of our partner Adfam.

Background

Changing Lives understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your information is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this Site and will only collect and use information in ways that are useful to you and are consistent with your rights and Our obligations under the law.

This Policy applies to Our use of any and all data collected by us in relation to your use of Our Site. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of Our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of Our Site. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you should not agree to our policies.

1. Definitions and Interpretation

In this Policy the following terms shall have the following meanings:

  • "Account" means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site;

  • "Cookie" means a small text file placed on your computer or device by The site when you visit certain parts of The site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by The site are set out in section 12, below

  • "Our Site" means this website, https://sobersocial.org

  • "United Kingdom and EU Cookie Law" means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 as amended in 2004, 2011 and 2015;

  • "We/Us/Our" means Changing Lives a registered charity (500640) we are also a registered company (995799) and our registered address is Unit D13 Marquis Court, Tenth Avenue West, Team Valley, Gateshead, NE11 0RU

2. Information About Us

  1. The Site, https://sobersocial.org is operated by Land Digital Agency a limited company registered in England under 09724384 whose registered address is Citibase Limited, Newcastle Market Street, Broadacre House, Market Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6HQ

  2. Changing Lives’ data protection officer is Gary Simpson who can be contacted at central.office@changing-lives.org.uk

3. Scope – What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of The Site. It does not extend to any websites that are linked to or from The site (whether We provide those links or whether they are shared by other users). We have no control over how your data is collected, stored or used by other websites and We advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.

4. What Data Do We Collect?

Some data will be collected automatically by The Site, for further details, please see section 12 on Our use of Cookies. Other data will only be collected if you voluntarily submit it and consent to Us using it for the purposes set out in section 5, for example, when signing up for an Account. Depending upon your use of Our Site, We may collect some or all of the following data:

  • Name;
  • Contact information such as email addresses
  • IP address (automatically collected);
  • web browser type and version (automatically collected);
  • Operating system (automatically collected);
  • A list of URLs starting with a referring site, your activity on Our Site, and the site you exit to (automatically collected);

5. How Do We Use Your Data?

  • All personal data is stored securely in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (GDPR). For more details on security see section 6, below.

  • We use your data to provide the best possible services to you. This includes:

  1. Providing and managing your access to Our Site;
  2. Personalising and tailoring your experience on Our Site;
  3. Responding to communications from you;
  4. Analysing your use of The site and gathering feedback to enable Us to continually improve The site and your user experience;

  • In some cases, the collection of data may be a or contractual requirement, and We will be limited in the [products and] services We can provide you without your consent for Us to be able to use such data.

  • With your permission and/or where permitted by law, We may also use your data to inform you about any services which may be helpful to you which may include contacting you by email and telephone and text message and post with information, or news onOur services. We will not, however, send you any unsolicited marketing or spam and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that We fully protect your rights and comply with Our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, as amended in 2004, 2011 and 2015.

  • Under Data Protection legislation we will ensure that your personal data is processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently, without adversely affecting your rights. We will only process your personal data using the following lawful bases:

  1. You have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes; e.g to receive emails about our services or surveys

  2. Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at the request of you prior to entering into a contract;

6. How and Where Do We Store Your Data?

  • We only keep your data for as long as we need to in order to use it as described above in section 5, and/or for as long as We have your permission to keep it. In any event, We will conduct an annual review to ascertain whether we need to keep your data. Your data will be deleted if we no longer need it in accordance with the terms of our Data Retention Policy.

  • Data security is of great importance to us, and to protect your data We have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure data collected through our Site.

  • Notwithstanding the security measures that we take, it is important to remember that the transmission of data via the internet may not be completely secure and that you are advised to take suitable precautions when transmitting data to Us via the internet.

7. Do We Share Your Data?

  • We may compile statistics about the use of The site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers,. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying information.

  • In certain circumstances we may be legally required to share certain data held by Us, which may include your personal information, for example, , where We are complying with the requirements of legislation, a court order, or a governmental authority. We do not require any further consent from you in order to share your data in such circumstances and will comply as required with any legally binding request that is made of Us.

  • Adfam will be providing the Familiessocial site with moderators who will be able to support healthy conversations and try to answer any questions members may have. Adfam will have access to the information on the site and provided by members.

8. What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?

  • We may, from time to time, expand or reduce Our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of Our business. Data provided by users will, where it is relevant to any part of Our business so transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use the data for the purposes for which it was originally collected by Us.

  • In the event that any of your data is to be transferred in such a manner, you will not be contacted in advance and informed of the changes

9. How Can You Control Your Data?

  • When you submit information via Our Site, you may be given options to restrict Our use of your data. We aim to give you strong controls on Our use of your data (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from Us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in Our emails and at the point of providing your details AND/OR by managing your Account).

  • You may also wish to sign up to one or more of the preference services operating in the United Kingdom - The Telephone Preference Service ("the TPS"), the Corporate Telephone Preference Service ("the CTPS"), and the Mailing Preference Service ("the MPS"). These may help to prevent you from receiving unsolicited marketing. Please note, however, that these services will not prevent you from receiving marketing communications that you have consented to receiving.

10. Your Right to Withhold Information and Your Right to Withdraw Information After You Have Given it

  • You may access certain areas of The site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on The site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.

  • You may restrict your internet browser’s use of Cookies. For more information, see section 12

  • You can ask us to remove any personal data we hold as set out in section in 5 at any time by contacting Us using the details set out in section 15, and We will delete Your data from Our systems. However, this may limit Our ability to provide the best possible services to you.

11. How Can You Access Your Data?

You have the legal right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by Us (where such data is held). Please contact Us for more details at central.office@changing-lives.org.uk or using the contact details below in section 14.

12. Cookies

The site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by Us and are used only by Us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of The site and to provide and improve Our services. By using The site you may also receive certain third party Cookies on your computer or device. Third party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than Us. We use third party Cookies on The site for analysing the use of our platform.. In addition, The site uses analytics services provided by Google Analytics which also use Cookies. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse usage statistics, enabling Us to better understand how people use Our Site.

13. What Cookies Do We Use and What For?

  • The site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by Us and are used only by Us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of The site and to provide and improve Our services. For more details, please refer to section 5, above, and to section 12.6 below. We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy is protected and respected at all times.

  • By using The site you may also receive certain third party Cookies on your computer or device. Third party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than Us. We use third party Cookies on The site for advertising services. For more details, please refer to section 5, above, and to section 12.6 below. These Cookies are not integral to the functioning of Our Site.

  • All Cookies used by and on The site are used in accordance with current English and EU Cookie Law.

  • Before Cookies are placed on your computer or device , subject to section 12.5 AND/OR section 12.8, you will be shown a notification e.g. pop-up, message bar etc. requesting your consent to set those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies you are enabling Us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies; however certain features of The site may not function fully or as intended. You will be given the opportunity to allow only first party Cookies and block third party Cookies.

  • Certain features of The site depend on Cookies to function. United Kingdom and EU Cookie Law deems these Cookies to be "strictly necessary". These Cookies are shown below in section 12.6. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 12.10, but please be aware that The site may not work as intended if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.

  • The following first party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:

  • The site uses analytics services provided by Google Analytics. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse usage statistics, enabling Us to better understand how people use Our Site. This, in turn, enables Us to improve The site and the services offered through it. You do not have to allow Us to use these Cookies, as detailed below, however whilst Our use of them does not pose any risk to your privacy or your safe use of Our Site, it does enable Us to continually improve Our Site, making it a better and more useful experience for you.

  • The analytics service(s) used by The site use(s) Cookies to gather the required information. Certain of these Cookies may be placed immediately when you first visit The site and it may not be possible for Us to obtain your prior consent. You may remove these Cookies and prevent future use of them by following the steps set out below in section 12.10.

  • The site You can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.

  • You can choose to delete Cookies at any time however you may lose any information that enables you to access The site more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, login and personalisation settings.

  • It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.

14. Summary of Your Rights under GDPR

Under the GDPR, you have, in certain circumstances:

  • The right to request access to, deletion of or correction of, your personal data held by Us;
  • the right to complain to a supervisory authority;
  • be informed of what data processing is taking place;
  • the right to restrict processing;
  • the right to data portability;
  • object to processing of your personal data;
  • rights with respect to automated decision-making and profiling (see section 14 below).

If you would like to take up any of these rights or if you have any other questions about The site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us using the details set out in section 16 below.

15. Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

The site does not use any form of automated decision making.

16. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about The site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us by email at central.office@changing-lives.org.uk by telephone on 0191 273 8891 or by post at Unit D13, Marquis Court, 10th Avenue West, Team Valley, Gateshead, NE11 0RU Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data we hold about you (as under section 11, above).

17. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy as necessary from time to time, or as may be required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on The site and you will need to read and accept them to continue to use the site The site . We will notify you about any changes made to this policy.

By using this website you agree to our Terms and Conditions