DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Thrive4Life Limited
Revision 1.01 – 5^th June 2023

Last reviewed by:	Stephen Teasdale Data Security and Protection Lead – Thrive4Life Ltd.
Last review date:	13/May/2023
Next review date:	13/May/2024

Definitions
‘Organisation’ means	Thrive4Life
‘DPA’ means	The Data Protection Act 2018 which implements the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
‘Responsible Person’ means	Stephen Teasdale
‘Register of Systems’ means	A register of all systems or contexts in which personal data is processed by the Organisation.

Overview – Thrive4Life’s Data Protection Principles

The Organisation is committed to processing data in accordance with its responsibilities under the Data Protection Act (DPA).

The DPA requires that personal data shall be:

1. processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals;
2. collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes;
3. adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed;
4. accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay;
5. kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by the DPA in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals; and
6. processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures.”

Overview – General provisions

1. This policy applies to all personal data processed by the Organisation.
2. The Responsible Person shall take responsibility for the Organisation’s ongoing compliance with this policy.
3. This policy shall be reviewed at least annually.
4. The Organisation shall register with the Information Commissioner’s Office as an organisation that processes personal data.

Overview – Lawful, fair, and transparent processing

1. To ensure its processing of data is lawful, fair and transparent, the Organisation shall maintain a Register of Systems.
2. The Register of Systems shall be reviewed at least annually.
3. Individuals have the right to access their personal data and any such requests made to the Organisation shall be dealt with in a timely manner.
4. All data processed by the Organisation must be done on one of the following lawful bases: consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public task or legitimate interests.
5. The Organisation shall note the appropriate lawful basis in the Register of Systems.
6. Where consent is relied upon as a lawful basis for processing data, evidence of opt-in consent shall be kept with the personal data.
7. Where communications are sent to individuals based on their consent, the option for the individual to revoke their consent should be clearly available and systems should be in place to ensure such revocation is reflected accurately in the Organisation’s systems.

Overview – Data minimisation and Accuracy

1. The Organisation shall ensure that personal data are adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed.
2. The Organisation shall take reasonable steps to ensure personal data is accurate.
3. Where necessary for the lawful basis on which data is processed, steps shall be put in place to ensure that personal data is kept up to date.

Overview – Archiving / removal

1. To ensure that personal data is kept for no longer than necessary, the Organisation shall put in place an archiving policy for each area in which personal data is processed and review this process annually.
2. The archiving policy shall consider what data should/must be retained, for how long, and why.

Overview – Security

1. The Organisation shall ensure that personal data is stored securely using modern software that is kept-up-to-date.
2. Access to personal data shall be limited to personnel who need access and appropriate security should be in place to avoid unauthorised sharing of information.
3. When personal data is deleted this should be done safely such that the data is irrecoverable.
4. Appropriate back-up and disaster recovery solutions shall be in place.

Overview – Breach

In the event of a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data, the Organisation shall promptly assess the risk to people’s rights and freedoms and if appropriate report this breach to the ICO (more information on the ICO website).

1.     Data Protection Policy – Introduction

• This Data Protection Policy is the overarching policy for data security and protection for Thrive4Life (hereafter referred to as “T4L”, “us”, “we”, or “our”).

2.     Purpose

• The purpose of the Data Protection Policy is to support the 10 Data Security Standards, the General Data Protection Regulation (2016), the Data Protection Act (2018), the common law duty of confidentiality and all other relevant national legislation. We recognise data protection as a fundamental right and embrace the principles of data protection by design and by default.
• This policy covers
  • Our data protection principles and commitment to common law and legislative compliance;
  • procedures for data protection by design and by default.

3.     Scope

• This policy includes in its scope all data which we process either in hardcopy or digital copy, this includes special categories of data.
• This policy applies to all staff, including temporary staff and contractors.

4.     Principles

• We will be open and transparent with service users and those who lawfully act on their behalf in relation to their care and treatment. We will adhere to our duty of candour responsibilities as outlined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
• We will establish and maintain policies to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, Human Rights Act 1998, the common law duty of confidentiality, the General Data Protection Regulation and all other relevant legislation.
• We will establish and maintain policies for the controlled and appropriate sharing of service user and staff information with other agencies, taking account all relevant legislation and citizen consent.
• Where consent is required for the processing of personal data we will ensure that informed and explicit consent will be obtained and documented in clear, accessible language and in an appropriate format. The individual can withdraw consent at any time through processes which have been explained to them and which are outlined in our Record Keeping Policy: Withdrawal of Consent procedures. We ensure that it is as easy to withdraw as to give consent.
• We will undertake annual audits of our compliance with legal requirements.
• We acknowledge our accountability in ensuring that personal data shall be:
  • Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner;
  • Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes;
  • Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimisation’);
  • Accurate and kept up to date;
  • Kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed (‘storage limitation’);
  • Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data.
• We uphold the personal data rights outlined in the GDPR;
  • The right to be informed;
  • The right of access;
  • The right to rectification;
  • The right to erasure;
  • The right to restrict processing;
  • The right to data portability;
  • The right to object;
  • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
• Due to our size, we have determined that we are not required to have a Data Protection Officer (DPO), as we do not process special categories of data on a large scale. Nonetheless, to ensure that every individual’s data rights are respected and that there are the highest levels of data security and protection in our organisation, we have appointed a member of staff to be our Data Security and Protection Lead. The Data Security and Protection Lead will report to the highest management level of the organisation. We will support the Data Security and Protection Lead with the necessary resources to carry out their tasks and ensure that they can maintain expertise.

5.     Underpinning policies & procedures

• This policy is underpinned by the following:
  • Privacy Policy – See thrive4life.co.uk/privacy-policy/

6.     Data protection by design & by default

• We shall implement appropriate organisational and technical measures to uphold the principles outlined above. We will integrate necessary safeguards to any data processing to meet regulatory requirements and to protect individual’s data rights. This implementation will consider the nature, scope, purpose and context of any processing and the risks to the rights and freedoms of individuals caused by the processing.
• We shall uphold the principles of data protection by design and by default from the beginning of any data processing and during the planning and implementation of any new data process.
• Prior to starting any new data processing, we will assess whether we should complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) using the ICO’s screening checklist: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/accountability-and-governance/data-protection-impact-assessments/.
• All new systems used for data processing will have data protection built in from the beginning of the system change.
• All existing data processing has been recorded on our Record of Processing Activities. Each process has been risk assessed and is reviewed annually.
• We ensure that, by default, personal data is only processed when necessary for specific purposes and that individuals are therefore protected against privacy risks.
• In all processing of personal data, we use the least amount of identifiable data necessary to complete the work it is required for and we only keep the information for as long as it is required for the purposes of processing or any other legal requirement to retain it.
• Where possible, we will use pseudonymised data to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our staff and those we support.

7.     Responsibilities

• Our designated Data Security and Protection Lead is named one the first page of this document. The key responsibilities of the lead are:
  • To ensure the rights of individuals in terms of their personal data are upheld in all instances and that data collection, sharing and storage is in line with the Caldicott Principles;
  • To define our data protection policy and procedures and all related policies, procedures and processes and to ensure that sufficient resources are provided to support the policy requirements.
  • To complete the Data Security & Protection Toolkit (DSPT) annually and to maintain compliance with the DSPT.
  • To monitor information handling to ensure compliance with law, guidance and the organisation’s procedures and liaising with senior management to fulfil this work.
  • Overseeing changes to systems and processes;
  • Monitoring compliance with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018;
  • Reporting on data protection and compliance with legislation to senior management;
  • Liaising, if required, with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

8. Amendments to this policy

   We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website. You should check our websites occasionally to ensure you are aware of, and are happy with, any changes to this policy. The most recent copy of our Privacy Policy can be found at thrive4life.co.uk/data-protection-policy/

9. Related documents

Privacy Policy – You can consult our Privacy Policy at www.thrive4life.co.uk/privacy-policy/

10. Our details, and how to contact us
    

    Thrive4Life Limited is registered in England under company registration number 2099361. Our registered office is at 1 Grove Way, Esher, Surrey, KT10 8HH.You can contact Thrive4Life by post using the postal address given above; by telephone on 020 8398 9522; by email at info@thrive4life.co.uk; by using our Contact Form on our website at thrive4life.co.uk/contact-us/.