Privacy notice 

KeyRing connects people and inspires them to build the life they want. Our vision is for a welcoming world with communities that celebrate the skills and talents of everybody. 

We're committed to keeping your data safe, making it clear what information we collect from you, and how we use it. 

This page, together with our KeyRing Cookie Policy, sets out how we use and protect your data. KeyRing is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under number Z5081866 is a registered charity under number 1054234, and a registered company limited by guarantee under number 3176431 (England and Wales). 

As part of our commitment to you, we have appointed a Data Protection Officer. You can contact them at enquiries@keyring.org and asking for the information to be forwarded to the Data Protection Officer or by writing to: 

The Data Protection Officer
KeyRing
Unit 21 St Olav's Court
Lower Road
London
SE16 2XB

Data we collect and how we use it 

The type and quantity of data we collect and use depends on why you have provided it. 

We will only collect, use and otherwise handle your personal data: 

• where you have consented to this for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes 
• where this is necessary to fulfil legal obligations that apply to us 
• where it is necessary for our legitimate interests relating to running our daily operations, as long as, in each case, these interests are in line with applicable law and your legal rights and freedoms. 

Volunteers 

If you volunteer with us, or enquire about our volunteering opportunities, we will usually collect your name, contact details, emergency contact details, bank details, contact preferences, ethnicity, gender, availability to volunteer, disability (including physical and mental conditions) and criminal convictions. 

We collect this data so that we can contact you about volunteering opportunities that come up; so that we ensure the safety of our volunteers, staff and customers; can pay expenses and to help us anonymously measure our inclusion and accessibility. We will keep this data for 6 years after you stop volunteering for us. 

Photography 

Our volunteers and Members kindly let us use photography and images of them to illustrate the work we do and share good news. We keep these images stored in a secure location and will only use them with the subject’s permission. We keep these images for as long as they are useful, including after you have left the service, unless you ask otherwise. We will always ask for your permission to use and retain any images you provide to KeyRing.  

Research 

Occasionally, part of the work we do involves carrying out research. If you agree to take part, we will record responses to questions that you give us, and your personal details. This data will be used to fulfil our research objectives, and may be shared for relevant projects. Your data will remain anonymous unless you consent to it being disclosed. The data we collect will be kept for 2 years. 

Services 

KeyRing offers a wide range of services to people who need their support (Members) and sometimes their families. We will collect your contact details and preferences, and any other data necessary for delivering the service. This information will be used for the purposes of the services.  

From time to time, as with photographs, we may wish to use your stories and/or experiences to illustrate our work or share good news. We will contact you to ask your permission before we share anything and will anonymise if you wish.  

We may also contact you about projects KeyRing is involved in if we feel it is in your interests to be involved.   

You can change your mind about sharing any information at any time. 

We will keep the data for up to 6 years, in line with contacts and government regulations from the date we last entered any data about you, unless you ask us to delete it sooner. 

If we become concerned about you or anyone else while using one of our services, we will act in line with our safeguarding policy and procedures. This may involve sharing this information with relevant authorities to ensure we comply with our policies and legal obligations. 

Complaints 

Should you wish to register a complaint we will collect your name, contact details and details about the complaint to enable us to respond, monitor and improve our organisation. This data will be shared with any parts of KeyRing or any third parties who are involved in resolving the complaint, for example, agencies that we have partnered with. 

We will hold this data for 6 years. 

Website 

When someone visits keyring.org.uk we use two third-party services, Google Analytics and Matomo, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out information, such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. 

If we want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be upfront about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it. We will collect any questions, queries and feedback you leave. This will include your email address if you send us an email, your IP address, and which web browser (and version) you use. Information on how people use the site, through cookies and page tagging, helps us improve our website and our services. Find out more about our KeyRing Cookie Policy here. 

We may also pass on your personal information to online advertising tools, including Facebook Custom audiences, Google AdWords Match and Google Analytics to carry out ‘remarketing activities’. These third-party vendors may use cookies to serve these ads based on your previous visits to our website. 

We might also obtain your personal data through your use of social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, X or LinkedIn, depending on your settings or the privacy policies of these social media and messaging services. To change your settings on these services, please refer to their privacy notices, which will tell you how to do this. 

E-newsletter 

We use a third-party provider, Email Blaster, to deliver our e-newsletters. We collect statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies including clear gifs to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. For more information, please see Email Blaster's Privacy Statement. 

Suppression list 

Should you not wish KeyRing to contact you in the future, we will hold your contact details on file. This will enable us to ensure that we comply to your wishes. 

We will hold this data indefinitely. Should you wish to engage with KeyRing again then please get in touch with enquiries@keyring.org. 

Children’s data 

We do not provide support directly to children, but we may support adults who have or care for children. Data is supplied to us where we have a legal basis to collect and retain that data as per the contracts. This information is not shared with anyone not connected to providing the service.  We may share this with external parties who have a legitimate need to access the data in order to provide other support services to the children, or the parent/carer, or where there is a legal requirement such as providing information to police about a child’s care where KeyRing staff have concerns. 

Job applicants 

KeyRing is the data controller for the information you provide during the application process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at recruitment@keyring.org or write to: 

The Data Protection Officer
KeyRing
Unit 21 St Olav's Court
Lower Road
London
SE16 2XB 

What will we do with the information you provide to us? 

All the information you provide during the application process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary. 

We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format and will be in line with GDPR rules. 

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for. 

What information do we ask for and why? 

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary. 

The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t. 

Application stage 

We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions for the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all this information. 

You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics. 

Shortlisting 

Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details or with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it. 

Assessments 

We might ask you to participate in assessment days, complete work related test exercises and/or to attend an interview or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes. This information is held by KeyRing. 

Conditional offer 

If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are legally required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability. 

You will be required to provide: 

• proof of your identity 
• proof of your address 
• proof of your qualifications  
• you will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions 
• we will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references 

If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following: 

• bank details – to process salary payments 
• emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work 

Use of data processors 

Data processors are third parties who provide elements of our recruitment service for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct. 

How long is the information retained for? 

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references. 

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 6 months from the closure of the campaign. 

Service providers and partners 

KeyRing will use contact details of personnel belonging to our service providers and partners for the purpose of managing the relationship and fulfilling each party’s obligations under the agreement with the supplier or provider. These contact details will be kept as long as the partnership or service provider agreement remains in force. 

Sharing your data 

Unless we are required to share your data for legal or regulatory reasons or to help with a complaint, we will never share your data with other organisations. 

We do use third-party organisations to help us collect donations such as JustGiving and Virgin Money Giving, and to help us fulfil our marketing. Where we use external companies to collect or process data on our behalf, we carry out comprehensive checks on these companies, and put in place contracts to control how they manage the data they may collect or have access to. 

Keeping your data safe and up to date 

At KeyRing we ensure that the most appropriate technical controls are in place to keep your data safely. Access to your data is regularly reviewed and only accessible to relevant, trained staff, volunteers and contractors. 

Where we use external companies to collect or process data on our behalf, we carry out comprehensive checks, and put in place contracts to control how they manage the data they may collect or have access to. Your data will be hosted on servers located in the UK, which will not be transferred out of the European Union.

Your rights 

We will only collect the data that we need to carry out the purposes you have contacted us for, or given us permission to use it for. 

To enable us to carry out the purposes you have contacted us for, there will be occasions when we will make some data collection mandatory. If you don’t provide this data, we cannot carry out the purposes you have contacted us for. We will always tell you why these fields are mandatory. 

At any time that you wish you can: 

• gain access to your personal information
• object to the processing of your personal information 
• object to the use of automated decision-making and profiling 
• restrict the processing of your personal information 
• ask for a copy of your personal data (known as data portability) 
• rectify or correct your personal information 
• have your personal information removed (known as Erasure or the ‘right to 
  be forgotten’). 

Where you have provided consent to be contacted or to receive a service, you will be entitled to withdraw that consent at any time. 

It is important to note that if you do ask for any changes as detailed above this may affect what services KeyRing is able to provide you or whether you can work with us. 

If you are at any point unhappy with the way that we handled your personal data, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

Changes to this notice 

We may make changes to this privacy notice from time to time. If we make any changes in the way we use your personal information we will make this clear on the KeyRing website or by contacting you directly. This privacy notice was last updated in January 2024. 

You can change how we contact you at any time by contacting:  

The Data Protection Officer
KeyRing
Unit 21 St Olav's Court
Lower Road
London
SE16 2XB 

or by emailing enquiries@keyring.org