Privacy Policy: Protecting your data

Purpose of privacy policy

The processing of personal data is governed by the Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the GDPR). This legislation will replace current data privacy law, giving more rights to you as an individual and more obligation to organisations holding your personal data.

One of the rights is a right to be informed, which means we must give you even more information than we do now about the way in which we use, share and store your personal information.

This means that we will be publishing a new privacy notice, so you can access this information, along with information about the increased rights you have in relation to the information we hold on you and the legal basis on which we are using it.

At Old School Cattery we take your data protection very seriously and have subsequently outlined how your data is protected. We are registered with the ICO and the Data Protection Officer is Pamela D'Alberto Beehive Cottage Old School Road, Whepstead, Suffolk IP29 4UA.

How do we process your personal data?

We do not ever sell or give out your data to any third parties.

We comply with our obligations under the GDPR by keeping personal data up to date: by storing and destroying securely: by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data: by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data. We use your personal data for the purposes set out below.

We use your name, address, telephone number and email address to make and rearrange appointments. We are unable to send or receive encrypted emails, so you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be fully protected in transit. We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software.
We use your name and email address only if we have explicit consent to send you marketing materials.
We are unable to send or receive encrypted emails, so you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit. We will monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send us is within the bounds of the law.
We record and use any information and advice that we have given, especially when referring to your cat's health and to help you to receive the most appropriate veterinary treatment and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, an insurance claim or complaint.
We record any decisions made in conjunction with you to help you to receive the most appropriate and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, an insurance claim or complaint.
All names and addresses or any other relevant records are recorded on paper only and stored in locked filing cabinets at Beehive Cottage, Old School Road, Whepstead, Suffolk IP29 4UA.
We keep accident records for any Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) to comply with the law and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation and insurance claims or complaint.
In the event of an adverse incident occurring to any of our cats we report the matter to you immediately and take appropriate veterinary action.
Where relevant we maintain records of the owners consent to treatment, or the consent of the person named by the owner to prove that the owner (and/or parent or guardian/next of kin) has given consent to treatment to secure evidence in the event of a civil claim criminal prosecution, insurance claim or complaint.
This section applies to those who complain about our services:
When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally containsthe identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.

We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We suually have to disclose the complainant's identity to whoever the complaint is about. If a complainant doesn't want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may nt be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis. We may need to provide personal information collected and processed in relation to complaints to our insurance company.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for two years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the 'the need to know' principle.

Similarly where enquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.

Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will be shared:

With named third parties with your explicit consent.
With the relevant authority such as the police or a court, if necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject e.g. court order.
With your vet or the police if necessary.

How long do we keep your personal data?

We keep your personal data for no longer than reasonably necessary. At any time you may request that changes are made to your contact details.

Your rights and your personal data

Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR you have certain rights with respect to your personal data as set out below.

The right to request a copy of your personal data which we hold about you.
The right to request that we correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date.
The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for us to retain such data.
The right to withdraw consent to processing at any time. This does not apply where we are processing information using a lawful purpose other than consent.
The right to request that we provide you with your personal data and where possible to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability this right right applies where the processing is based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/excersis of official authority): direct marketing and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics.
The right to be informed if your data is lost. We shall also inform the ICO in accordance with the time limits in the GDPR.
The right to lodge a complaint with the Information commissioner's website.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose not covered by this Privacy Notice then we will provide you with a new notice, explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek prior consent to the new processing details.

Contact Details

To exercise all relevant rights queries and complaints, please contact in the first instance Pamela D'Alberto, Beehive Cottage, Old School Road, Whepstead, Suffolk IP29 4UA. Email: info@oldschoolcattery.co.uk.

You can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the ICO Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF.

The information we hold about you is in paper format and is held in a secure cabinet under lock and key to which only Pamela D'Alberto has access to.

All data files are kept at Beehive Cottage, Old School Road, Whepstead, Suffolk IP29 4UA in a locked cupboard. These files are kept for 4 years then destroyed by incineration.

All e-mails via our website have been secured.