Personal information is information that can be used to identify you. It can include your name, date of birth, email address, postal address, telephone number, fax number and credit/debit card details.

We do not normally collect or store sensitive personal data (such as information relating to health, beliefs or political affiliation) about supporters and donors. However, there are some situations where this will occur (e.g. if you volunteer with us or if you apply for a Medical Assistance Dog). If this does occur, we’ll take extra care to ensure your privacy rights are protected.

We collect personal information when you donate money, undertake fundraising activities, ask about our activities, register on our website, order products and services (such as publications and email newsletters), or otherwise give us personal information online, in paper or electronic form, over the phone or face to face. We only collect your debit/credit card details if you provide them to us to make a donation. The card details are redacted once the donation is processed. We only collect bank account details if you set up a standing order for regular donations to us.

If you are a volunteer (whether specifically for Medical Detection Dogs, or if you are helping us for other reasons – for example you work for another organisation which is running an event with us) then we may collect extra information about you (e.g. references, criminal records checks, details of emergency contacts, medical conditions etc.). This information will be retained for legal reasons, to protect us (including in the event of an insurance or legal claim) and for safeguarding purposes.

Medical Detection Dog’s operations are based in the UK and we store our data within the European Union. Some organisations which provide services to us may transfer personal data outside of the EEA, but we’ll only allow them to do so if your data is adequately protected.

For example, some of our systems use Microsoft products. As a US company, it may be that using their products result in personal data being transferred to or accessible from the US. However, we’ll allow this as we are certain personal data will still be adequately protected (as Microsoft is certified under the USA’s Privacy Shield scheme).

By giving us your personal details, you agree that all personal data you submit may be processed in the manner and for the purposes described below.

We may analyse your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preference so that we can contact you with information relevant to you. We may make use of additional information that is publicly available from external sources to help us do this effectively. This helps us understand the background of the people who support us and helps us to decide which of our communications are likely to be of interest.

We may also use your personal information to detect and reduce fraud and credit risk.

We do not and never will sell or swap your data.

We will use your personal information to provide you with the services, products or information you have requested, for administration purposes and to further our charitable aims, including for fundraising activities. We may need to share your information with our service providers such as external mailing houses that process our appeals. We have strict data protection arrangements in place with these fulfilment organisations.

Any information we collect is stored and processed in the UK.

We reserve the right to share your personal information if we are legally obliged to and to enable us to apply our terms and conditions and other agreements. This includes exchanging information with other organisations for fraud and credit risk reduction and for police investigations.

We will ensure that there are appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details and our network is protected and routinely monitored.

How we collect information about you

We collect information about you in the following ways:

When you give it to us directly – you may give us your information when you sign up to one of our events, tell us your story, make a donation or buy our merchandise or communicate with us. Sometimes, when you support us, your information is processed by an organisation working for us (such as a mailing house), but we are responsible for your data at all times.

When you give it to us indirectly – your information may be shared with us by independent event organisations, for example the London Marathon or fundraising sites like Just Giving.

These independent third parties will only do so when you have indicated that you wish to support Medical Detection Dogs and with your consent. You should check their privacy policies when you provide your information to understand how they will process your data.

When you give permission to other organisations to share it – depending on your setting or the privacy policies for social media and messaging apps like Facebook and Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.

You may also provide permission for third party organisations to share your data with us, such as Vale Lottery, our lottery provider.

We combine information from these sources with that which you provide to us directly. We also use this information to gain a better understanding of our supporters to improve our fundraising methods, products and services.

We ask that you please let us know when you move house or change your contact details, then we can keep our records up to date. If mail (postal or electronic) addressed to you is returned to us as ‘moved away’ (or something similar) then we may use publicly available sources, such as the Post Office’s National Change of Address database, to double-check and update your details.

While we endeavour to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date, we shall assume that in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the information you provide us with is accurate. Should there be any inaccuracies in the information of which you inform us, or of which we become aware, it shall be promptly rectified by us.

We will contact you, from time to time, to keep you up to date with charity news, appeals, events, items from our shop and how supporters like you are helping our ground-breaking work. We invite you to tell us how you want us to communicate, in ways which suit you. We will also include information on how to opt out of future marketing. If you don’t want to hear from us, then we understand.  Just contact us at [email protected] or call 01296 655888.

If we run an event in partnership with another named organisation then your details may need to be shared. We will be very clear what will happen to your data when you register.

If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian’s permission before giving us your personal details.

If you do nothing other than read pages or download information while using this website, we will capture and store information about your visit. We will not be able to identify you from this; it relates to (i) the Internet domain and IP address from which you access the website (ii) the type of browser and operating system you use (iii) the date and time of your visit, (iv) the pages you visit, and (v) the address of the website from which you linked to us (if applicable).

We collect this anonymous information to make each visit more rewarding, and to provide us with information to help improve our service.

About Cookies

Cookies are information packets sent by web servers to web browsers, and stored by the web browsers.

The information is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables a web server to identify and track web browsers.

There are two main kinds of cookies: session cookies and persistent cookies. Session cookies are deleted from your computer when you close your browser, whereas persistent cookies remain stored on your computer until deleted, or until they reach their expiry date.

Cookies on our website

Medical Detection Dogs uses the following cookies on this website, for the following purposes:

• Analytics – We anonymously measure your use of this website to improve your experience
• Social media – Facebook, Twitter and other social websites need to know who you are to work properly

Google cookies

Medical Detection Dogs uses Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users’ computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store and use this information. Google’s privacy policy is available here.

Refusing cookies

• Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies.
• In Internet Explorer, you can refuse all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Internet Options”, “Privacy”, and selecting “Block all cookies” using the sliding selector.
• In Firefox, you can adjust your cookies settings by clicking “Tools”, “Options” and “Privacy”.
• Instructions for cookie control in Chrome can be found here.
• Instructions for cookie control in Safari can be found here.
• If your browser provider is not listed above please check that provider’s website for instructions on how to refuse to accept cookies.
• Blocking cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of some websites.

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping the password confidential. You agree not to share that password with anyone else.

Our website contains links to other websites belonging to third parties, for which we have no responsibility.  We do not control the privacy practices of these other sites. You should therefore make sure when you leave our site that you have read that site’s privacy policy.

Emails aren’t always secure so please bear this in mind when you get in touch.

The information in emails is confidential, so if you’ve received one by mistake, please delete it without copying, using, or telling anyone about its contents.

If you do not wish to receive future communications from Medical Detection Dogs, please contact us at:

Information Officer, Medical Detection Dogs, 3 Millfield, Greenway Business Park, Winslow Road, Great Horwood, Milton Keynes, MK17 0NP or email: [email protected] Tel: 01296 655888

You have a right to access the personal data we hold about you. If you wish to obtain a copy of this information, please write to us or email us at the addresses given below enclosing your postal details:

Information Officer, Medical Detection Dogs, 3 Millfield, Greenway Business Park, Winslow Road, Great Horwood, Milton Keynes, MK17 0NP or email: [email protected] Tel: 01296 655888

If you have any questions regarding this statement, or you wish to update your details or remove your personal data from our records, please contact us at:

Information Officer, Medical Detection Dogs, 3 Millfield, Greenway Business Park, Winslow Road, Great Horwood, Milton Keynes, MK17 0NP or email: [email protected] Tel: 01296 655888