Privacy notice

When and why we collect personal information about users of our services, how we use it, when we may disclose it to others and how we keep it safe.
July 2023

The information below explains when and why we collect personal information about users of our services, how we use that information, when we may disclose it to others and how we keep it safe.

This privacy notice will be updated from time to time so please make sure that you check this page occasionally to make sure that you still agree with the way your information is being handled. By use of our services, you are agreeing with the uses set out below.

Who are we?

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We are Safeguarding Network Limited, a company dedicated to providing support to individuals and agencies to enable them to meet their responsibilities in relation to keeping children and young people safe. We provide online resources, elearning and training sessions aimed at organisations that work with children and young people.

We are registered with Companies House, our registration number is 10661282.

Our registered address is Chimmels, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EQ.

Our website address is https://safeguarding.network/.

We are also registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner, our registration number is ZA273089.

How do I get in contact?

If you have any questions about this information or the way that Safeguarding Network handles the privacy of your information please get in contact via:

Online: Please use our contact form.

Post: Safeguarding Network Ltd., Chimmels, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EQ

Telephone: 01803 862336

How do we collect information about you?

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This privacy notice relates to the way in which Safeguarding Network’s uses any personal information we collect from you. Data collection may be from several different sources, including:

  • from our website – for example by registering for an account, contacting us through our contact forms, signing up to our bulletin, booking training and applying for vacancies with Safeguarding Network (please note this list is not intended to be exhaustive).
  • from your use of our products and services.
  • from you contacting us in person via our website, telephone, or post.
  • from you accessing official Safeguarding Network content on other websites including social media.

We process this data to assist with customer and technical support, to verify your credentials and access levels and to help our business understand the way our users interact with our service.

We also may collect data from the following third-party data sources (provided such collection and use is in accordance with data protection laws):

  • Any publicly available social media sources that may help us understand our audience and what products that audience might be interested in (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc).
  • Our third-party service providers.
  • Other subscribers to our services (i.e., through our ‘invite a colleague’ referral function or other individuals at your organisation).
  • Third party list providers, such as organisations hosting training sessions on our behalf.

What type of information is collected about you?

The types of this direct information we collect about you may include;

  • your name and job title.
  • your username.
  • your email address.
  • your postal address.
  • your telephone number(s).
  • your marketing preferences.
  • your user generated content.
  • your billing details.
  • details of the organisation(s) of which you are registered as a user.
  • your career experience (e.g., through an application form).
  • other information we receive from your organisation.
  • training records.

In addition, Safeguarding Network may receive and process technical data about you through:

  • The information we get from your day-to-day use of the site (for example frequency of visits, how long you spend on each page and the content you view, interact with, download and upload).
  • Your IP address (which is a number that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet) and other unique online identifiers such as Google Advertising IDs.
  • Your browser type.
  • Your device’s operating requirements and its settings and permissions.
  • Your location.

For example:

Where you submit information by forms such as through completing audits, surveys or using our contact form, this information is stored on our servers.

We do not collect any information that is classed as sensitive by the Information Commissioner (a list of which can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/special-category-data/). Where we are undertaking any work that requires to process sensitive data, for example undertaking independent investigations, we will ensure that any data is held separately and destroyed once the reason for holding the data comes to an end (e.g. the final report is submitted).

Where you complete any online learning, data is stored in our Learning Management System (LMS). Data within the LMS is used to confirm course completion and allow us to understand if there are certain areas which are causing problems for users. This information is stored on our servers.

How is your information used?

We may use your information to:

  • provide you with learning materials and associated resources.
  • process any purchases that you have made.
  • meet our obligations as a result of contracts entered into between you or your organisation and us.
  • seek your views and comments on our services.
  • make you aware of changes to our services.
  • send information to you that you have requested and identified may be of interest to you – this may include updates and advertising of our services.
  • allow Safeguarding Network to undertake analysis of who is using our services.
  • reduce the potential for spam on our network.
  • gather business intelligence – this allows us to better understand our members and their locations so that we can personalise content, use analytical tools, improve online navigation, and inform product and service improvement.
  • ensure the technical security and business continuity of our site.
  • fulfil our legal rights and complying with our legal obligations.
  • ensure we are charging you correctly for services you are receiving.

By using Safeguarding Network to meet your learning needs you are acknowledging that your data will be processed as set out above to provide you with the services you (or your organisation on your behalf) have signed up to. You do however retain the right to control how Safeguarding Network use your information in relation to contacting you as set out below.

How long do we keep your information for?

Safeguarding Network will store your personal information for a period of up to three years after the date that your account is last updated or accessed (whichever is later). This length of time has been chosen as any learning that you have completed through our services will then require updating. Where possible we will contact you prior to deleting your account and provide information that will assist you to choose whether you wish Safeguarding Network to keep your account active.

You retain the right to request that Safeguarding Network delete your account at any time. When your account is deleted this will remove all your personal information from our network, including any records of learning accessed / completed. You can delete your account by using the link in the “Profile” section of the site, by contacting Safeguarding Network through the contact form on our website (https://safeguarding.network/contact) or by writing to us at Safeguarding Network, Chimmels, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EQ.

Your Rights

Safeguarding Network is a data controller; however, you have a number of rights in relation to the information that we hold about you which are summarised below. You can exercise your rights by contacting us via the contact details above. You may also wish to contact your employing or supporting organisation for information they hold as a data controller. You have the right to:

  • choose if you want Safeguarding Network to contact you – these choices can be recorded by using the relevant boxes on the form through which we collect your information.
  • contact you with marketing material. We will not contact you for marketing purposes without your prior consent. You can change your preferences at any time either through your online account (if you are a registered user of our website) or through the methods of contact listed above.
  • be informed about our use of your data. This is met by this Privacy Notice.
  • access information we hold about you and to obtain information about how we process it (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it. Please note that we may ask you to specify what you wish to see in order to focus our search, and we may have to verify your identity / authority before we will give you access to your data.
  • withdraw your consent to our processing of your information, which you can do at any time. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
  • request that we rectify your information if it is inaccurate or incomplete. We may need to verify the accuracy of any new data you provide to us. At any time, you can review, delete or change the information you submitted during registration by visiting the “Your Profile” section once logged in. You should update your information if it changes.
  • object to, and to request that we restrict, our processing of your information in some circumstances. For example, in situations where we are relying on our legitimate interests or using your information for direct marketing. There may be situations where you object to, or ask us to restrict, our processing of your information but we are entitled to continue processing it and / or to refuse your request – you will be advised at the time if this is the case.
  • data portability. You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances. You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you wish to make use of this right, please contact us using the contact details above.
  • complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office by visiting www.ico.org.uk or to the data protection regulator in the country where they live or work – this is a right assigned to individuals as it will relate solely to their information.

Keeping your information up to date

The accuracy of the information that we hold about you is important to us. You can therefore check this information at any time through your online account (if you are a registered user of our website) or by contacting us using the methods above.

You have a right to ask for a copy of the information Safeguarding Network hold about you, and this can be done using the contact details above.

Who has access to your information?

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In this section we set out who may have access to your data either in part or in full.

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties and will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. There are some occasions where your information may be passed to others outside of Safeguarding Network and we will ensure that this is only done for specific reasons.

Safeguarding Network staff: The staff at Safeguarding Network have access to your data and use this in the ways set out in this document.

Your employing agency / professional body: Where the services that Safeguarding Network provide to you are as a result of a contract between Safeguarding Network and your employing or sponsoring organisation (this is the case for volunteers for example), or your professional body (e.g., local safeguarding children board) then we will share information with them so that they can evidence that their staff have completed the necessary training.  The information is shared securely with subsequent storage and use of any information passed to that agency or professional body coming under their privacy policy. Questions relating to how they then use and store your information should be directed to them.

Third Party Providers working on our behalf: We may pass your information to our third-party service providers for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example providing business metrics).  However when we use third party providers we will only disclose personal information that is necessary to deliver the service.  Where we use third party providers we will have contracts in place with third party providers that require them to keep your information securely, not use it for any other purpose than the agreed task and to destroy the relevant records once the task is complete.

Use of credit / debit cards on our website: When making purchases through our website and paying by credit or debit card your payment will be processed by a third-party payment processor.  These payment processors specialise in the online capture and processing of debit / credit card transactions.  If you have any questions regarding this please contact us.

We may be required by law to disclose your personal information, for example through a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

If Safeguarding Network were to sell some or all our business to a third party then we may transfer your personal information to that third party.  We will however take steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected.

Protection of children

We will do everything to ensure that the welfare of any children using our site is protected.  If you are a child please get a parent or guardian’s permission before you provide us with information.

Keeping your information safe

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When you provide us with personal information we will take steps to ensure that it is kept safe.  Communications between your computer and our website are protected using Secure Socket Layer encryption and you can confirm this through the padlock icon appearing in your browser.

We will make every attempt to ensure that information transmitted to us through our website remains safe, however we cannot guarantee that anything is 100% secure. As a result, you provide information to us at your own risk. Where you have created an online account with us you will have a password associated with this. This password will enable you to access your personal information when used with your logon details and you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. You should not allow others to access your account, for example by sharing your login details with a colleague.

Use of Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other video calling platforms

When booking on our training courses, webinars, and forums, you will be notified if the session will be recorded, this is for other participants who unfortunately cannot join the sessions. You may wish to switch your camera off if you are not comfortable with being recorded, however it is recommended to switch it on for any group chats within our training sessions (break out rooms are not recorded).

All recordings for our training sessions are only accessible to Safeguarding Network staff and other course participants. The recordings will be kept for 3 weeks after the course date finishes to allow participants to catch up if needed, after this time they will be removed from the course page.

Recordings of our training sessions are kept for 12 months and are accessed by participants only. Webinar recordings may be kept for longer than 12 months and can be accessed by any website visitors.

Use of cookies

Like many websites, the Safeguarding Network website uses cookies.  Cookies are an industry standard, and are used by most websites.  They are small packages of information sent from a website to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow the website to recognise you when you visit.

Our website uses three different categories of cookie:

  1. Strictly necessary cookies – These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
  2. Targeting cookies – These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
  3. Performance cookies – These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site and will not be able to monitor its performance.

You can switch off cookies through the settings on our website; however, this may result in a loss of functionality when using our website. A full list of cookies we use is as follows:

Links to other websites

Our website may provide links to websites provided by other organisations.  This privacy notice only applies to Safeguarding Network and our services, so if providing information to another website you should read their privacy notice before doing so.  We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites, even if you have accessed them through our website.

If you linked to our website from a third party we cannot be responsible for their privacy policies and practices and recommend that you check the policies of those sites.

Transfer of your information outside of the United Kingdom

It may sometimes be necessary to transfer personal information overseas. Any transfers made will be in full compliance with all aspects of the data protection guidance in place at the time of transfer.

If you are not satisfied with our handling of your personal data

If you are not happy with the way that we have handled any request in relation to your personal information or the manner in which we store your information or allow access to it please contact us.

You can at any time approach the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time – more information about reporting a concern to the Information Commissioner can be found at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office by telephone on 0303 123 1113.

Review of this information

We keep this information under regular review – this document was last updated on the 14th July 2023 and is effective immediately.

  • Privacy Notice

    Downloadable version of our privacy notice.