Deaf Progress Privacy Policy

Introduction

Welcome to Deaf Progress (“we”, “us”, “our”). We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and safeguard your personal data when you visit or use our website (https://www.deafprogress.co.uk/), interact with our services, or otherwise engage with us. By using our website or services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.



Deaf Progress is a service provider supporting the Deaf community, offering interpreting services, advocacy, employment support and other accessibility-related services (as described on our website). We act as a data controller for the personal data we collect in connection with our website and services.

Grounds for data collection 

Under UK/EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK Data Protection Act 2018, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases to process your personal data:

  • Contractual necessity: to provide the services you request and to perform our contract with you (or your organisation).
  • Legal obligation: to comply with legal obligations (e.g., accounting, regulatory or health-care obligations).
  • Legitimate interests: where we have a legitimate interest in processing your data (for example improving our services, marketing) and this is not overridden by your rights.
  • Consent: where you have given your consent (for example to receive marketing communications).
  • Vital interests / special category: for special category data, we may process data where it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, or for the purposes of managing your health care / support services.


What information we collect?

We may collect the following types of personal data:

  • Contact information: your name, email address, telephone number, postal address (when you contact us or engage our services).
  • Service-related information: details you provide when requesting our services, including Deaf / hearing status, preferences, location, organisation name (if applicable).
  • Usage data: information automatically collected when you visit our website, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, pages visited, time and date of visits, referral URL, click-throughs, and other technical data.
  • Communications data: any correspondence between you and us (via email, telephone, chat, or other means).
  • Special category data (if applicable): where you engage our interpreting or advocacy services, you may provide information about your health, disability status, or other sensitive attributes. We will handle this as special category data under UK/EU data protection law.

How do we receive information about you?

We collect data in the following ways:

  • When you fill out forms or otherwise provide information via our website (for example to request a quote, contact us, book services).
  • When you correspond with us by phone, email or other means.
  • Automatically through your use of our website (via cookies and web analytics).
  • From third-party sources (e.g., publicly available information or referrals) where you have given permission for the data to be shared.

User Rights

Under data protection laws you may have the following rights:

  • The right to access the personal data we hold about you.
  • The right to rectify any inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • The right to erase your personal data in certain circumstances (“right to be forgotten”).
  • The right to restrict or object to our processing of your data.
  • The right to data portability (receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used format) where applicable.
  • The right to withdraw consent at any time (where processing was based on consent).
  • The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office (“ICO”)) if you believe our processing of your data breaches data protection law.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.

Retention

We will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including to comply with legal, accounting, tax, regulatory or professional requirements. After this period we will securely delete or anonymise your data. If you have opted-in to marketing communications, we will retain your contact details for marketing until you opt out.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website to help improve your experience, gather usage information and personalise content.

  • You can set your browser to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being used. However, some parts of the website may not function properly if you disable cookies.
  • We may use third-party analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to help evaluate how visitors use the site, what pages are popular, where visitors come from, and how long they stay.
  • We may also use embedded social-media features (links to Instagram, etc) and tracking by social-media or advertising providers.


Third party collection of information

We may disclose your personal data:

  • To our employees, contractors and service providers who perform services on our behalf (e.g., interpreters, IT providers, marketing agencies) and who are bound by confidentiality obligations.
  • To regulatory, professional or governmental bodies where required for legal or regulatory compliance.
  • To third parties in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets or business transfer (in which case personal data may be among transferred assets).
  • With your explicit consent, or as otherwise described at the time of collection.
    We will not sell your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes without your consent.


How do we safeguard your information?

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. These include encryption, access controls, secure backups, and staff training. While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission over the Internet or storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Transfer of data outside the EEA 

If we transfer your personal data outside the UK or European Economic Area (EEA), we will ensure a similar level of protection is afforded to it by using appropriate safeguards (for example, standard contractual clauses, and ensuring the recipient is subject to an adequate level of data protection). We will inform you if a transfer requires your explicit consent or additional protections.

Advertisement

Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third-parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control those third-parties and are not responsible for their privacy practices.


Marketing

We may use your Personal Information, such as your name, email address, telephone number, etc. ourselves or by using our third party subcontractors for the purpose of providing you with promotional materials, concerning our services, which we believe may interest you. 


Out of respect to your right to privacy we provide you within such marketing materials with means to decline receiving further marketing offers from us. If you unsubscribe we will remove your email address or telephone number from our marketing distribution lists. 


Please note that even if you have unsubscribed from receiving marketing emails from us, we may send you other types of important e-mail communications without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them. These may include customer service announcements or administrative notices.

Corporate transaction

We may share information in the event of a corporate transaction (e.g. sale of a substantial part of our business, merger, consolidation or asset sale). In the event of the above, the transferee or acquiring company will assume the rights and obligations as described in this Privacy Policy.

Minors

We understand the importance of protecting children’s privacy, especially in an online environment. The Site is not designed for or directed at children. Under no circumstances shall we allow use of our services by minors without prior consent or authorization by a parent or legal guardian. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from minors. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with Personal Information without their consent, he or she should contact us at contact@deafprogress.co.uk.

Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Effective date” at the top of this page and post the updated policy on our website. We encourage you to check periodically for changes. Continued use of our website or services after changes indicates your acceptance of the updated policy.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our processing of your personal data, you may contact us at:

  • Email: contact@deafprogress.co.uk
  • Phone: 0203 488 3159
  • Postal address: [Insert full postal address of Deaf Progress]
    We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as reasonably possible and in any event within statutory time-limits.