Privacy notices

Who we are

The FJC offers a multi-disciplinary comprehensive service to victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence (DASV) and their children. We employ Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) and also rely on a team of volunteers to assist our clients. We work in close collaboration with Croydon Council and other partner agencies (statutory and non-statutory) when delivering our services.

The FJC is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our service.

This Privacy Notice explains how we use personal information about you and how we protect your privacy in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Notice applies to any activity involving our use of your personal data, for example, collecting, storing, sharing, protecting, and destroying it.

Why we collect your information

Clients are referred to the FJC via other services/agencies, or can self-refer by attending our drop-in sessions.

Your consent

We require your explicit consent to use our services so that we can understand what help you may need. As we rely on your permission to collect, share and use your personal information, you have a right to withdraw your consent at any time. We will always make it clear where we need your permission to undertake specific processing activities.

If you wish to withdraw your consent, please contact us by fjc@croydon.gov.uk  or by calling us on 020 8688 0100. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain services to you. If this is the case, we will tell you. 

Overriding your privacy rights

There will be situations when we will share your personal information without your consent if we feel there is a good reason that is more important than protecting your privacy. Sometimes we have a legal duty to provide personal information to other organisations, for example, to:

• prevent or investigate a crime
• protect you, your children, our staff, or the public
• protect other professionals
• if we are required to do so by any Court/Tribunal or law

If we are worried about you or other people’s physical safety and decide we have to take action to protect you from any harm, we will first discuss our concerns with you and, if possible, obtain your permission to disclose this information.

There may also be rare occasions when we consider the risk to you or others is so great that we decide to disclose your information without delay. If this is the case, we will make sure we record what information we share and our reasons for doing so. We will also let you know what we have done and why if we think it is safe to do so.

We also use your data to:

• perform our statutory functions and duties including safeguarding vulnerable adults and children
• identify clients and their families that are being harmed or abused, or at risk of harm or abuse to comply with safeguarding policies and procedures
• produce statistics and reports to plan our services. Statistics are used in such a way that individuals cannot be identified from them
• research and plan new services
• make sure the service you receive is efficient and effective
• some of the services we provide are optional: in that case, we will only process your information and provide the service if you have asked us to do so

What information we collect

This includes but is not limited to:

• personal details including contact information, any mental health issues or disabilities
• housing status, financial situation and immigration status
• details of any children
• details of any alleged perpetrator
• details of the reported abuse
• employment details
• medical records, police records, information received from Children Social Care and/or Adults Social Care including case notes, assessments, support plans and reports about you/your family
• whether you need an interpreter or translator
• information that other organisations (such as health or other care services) tell us to help us understand your situation and needs
• information provided by you to us whether on paper, by telephone, electronically or provided verbally to a member of staff in person
• safeguarding information such as Court Orders and professional involvement
• we also collect information when you voluntarily complete customer surveys and provide feedback, including complaints

Who we share your information with

We routinely share your information with some of the organisations listed below but this list may not be exhaustive:

• Croydon Council’s Children/Adult Social Care Services
• Your lawyer or other representative (if you have instructed one)
• local law firms
• immigration advisory services
• Croydon’s multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) bringing together the police, IDVAs, Children/Adult Social Services, health, social landlords and other relevant agencies to plan for the safety of high-risk victims of domestic abuse
• emergency services (e.g. treatment centres, hospitals in their function of providing in patient care)
• Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC)
• HM Courts and Tribunals System
• Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)
• lawyers and other advocates offering legal support to clients
• other local authorities if Croydon MARAC clients move out of the borough
• mental health services
• police (e.g. Community Safety Unit)
• Turning Point
• NHS
• housing, social care and counselling services
• Best Start
• benefit agencies
• FJC volunteers who provide our clients with emotional and practical support, and comply with training, policies and procedures
• other local and local housing authorities
• Early Help family services and other preventative services
• Family Resilience Service
• Functional Family Therapy
• emergency accommodation providers
• youth offending services / probation services
• community and voluntary sector partners (e.g. Bromley & Croydon’s Women’s Aid)
• translation and interpreting services
• domestic violence refuges

The lawful basis on which we use this information

• Compliance with our legal obligations
• Tasks carried out in the public interest
• Contract for the supply of services
• Consent

This is in accordance with Article 6(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018, the Children Act 2004, the Care Act 2014, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

Storing this information

Personal data will not be retained for longer than necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected as specified in this notice.
There is usually a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period of time i.e. 7 years. If you would like to know more about how we store your data, please contact us on fjc@croydon.gov.uk or 020 8688 0100.

Providing us with accurate information

It is very important that you provide us with accurate information to enable us to process your request for services more quickly. If any of your details have changed, or change in the future, please inform us as soon as possible so that we can update your records.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to request access to information that we hold about you. To make a request, contact the Council’s Information Management Team at SAR@croydon.gov.uk.

Change in systems

In January 2021 the FJC completed a change in systems of where client information is recorded and stored.  This system replacement has been done to provide clients with a more efficient service.  If you would like to know more about how we store your data, please contact us on fjc@croydon.gov.uk or 020 8688 0100.
 

Further information

The GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us. Information about your data rights are listed in the Council’s Privacy Notice on the Council’s website at www.croydon.gov.uk/privacy.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we collect, store or use your personal information, please contact the FJC in the first instance at fjc@croydon.gov.uk.

For independent advice about data protection issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Notice at any time and will keep it under review. If we do make any changes, we will post the current version to our website at this address.

Last updated: January 2021