Privacy policy

Your privacy is important to us and we’re committed to protecting it.

This privacy policy aims to clearly explain how and why we use the personal data you give us, and demonstrate our compliance with current data protection legislation (for example, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). If after reading it you still have questions, please contact us

Collecting and processing personal data is essential for us to deliver our charitable objects – to provide affordable accommodation to key Christian workers. 

When do you collect information about me?

Personal information is data that may be used to identify you. We collect this in the following ways:

When you share information with us directly

For example, when you apply to become a Mission Housing shared owner or tenant, when you make a loan or donation to us, complete an online contact form, engage with us on social media, or make an enquiry by telephone. Some of the information that you give us might be sensitive data, including but not limited to, your religious beliefs, or your physical or mental health.

When you share information with us indirectly

For example, when you when you complete a survey for us via SurveyMonkey, book into an event via Eventbrite, make a donation via Stewardship, or via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We only do this when you have chosen to engage with Mission Housing in this way and in line with the permissions you have given. You may wish to check their privacy policies to find out more information on how they use your data.

From publicly available data:
We may collect publicly available data published in articles, newspapers, or websites. We may also collect data made public from Companies House or the Charity Commission.  

From website interaction:

Every time you visit our website, we will collect non-personal data such as the IP address of your computer, details of pages accessed and files downloaded, and cookies stored on your computer. See our cookie policy for more information.  

What is your legal basis for processing my data and what do you do with it?  

At Mission Housing, there are several distinct groups of people we engage. For each group there are clear differences to why we need to collect personal data and what we do with it.  

In addition to the specifics outlined below, we may use your personal data, and non-personal data, to enable us to evaluate the work of Mission Housing in order to achieve greater impact and improve our services.  

Tenants, shared owners, and those who are benefiting from our Housing Support Fund

If you are a tenant, shared owner or benefiting from our Housing Support Fund we process your data in order to be able to administer the agreement we have with you. The legal basis for this is ‘contractual’ and it is not possible to benefit from our services without us being able to process certain personal data.  

Our tenants, shared owners and those benefiting from our Housing Support Fund are part of the Mission Housing community, and therefore, from time-to-time we will also use the legal basis of ‘legitimate interest’ to process your data. For example, sending you (via email or post) an invite to our AGM, a copy of our annual report, or significant news that impacts Mission Housing. We will not automatically subscribe you to our e-newsletter, as we require your consent for this.

From time-to-time we ask our tenants, shared owners, and those who are benefiting from our Housing Support Fund to complete surveys - for example, to learn more about your mission activities and find out how we can improve our services. Each survey will clearly state how the information you provide will be used.  

Those applying to receive support from us

If you are applying to benefit from Mission Housing’s services – for example, become a tenant, shared owner or recipient of our Housing Support Fund – we will require your consent in order to process your application and it is our legal obligation to process some of the data we do. We consider all the personal information we ask for during the application process to be necessary for us to make an informed decision.  

It will be necessary for us to pass required information to third parties. For example, solicitors, estate agents and to carry out credit checks. (We use a company called ‘Credit Safe’ to perform credit checks.)

Lenders

By completing the Mission Housing loan application, you consent to Mission Housing processing your personal data. This information is required, and you would not be able to enter into the contract you apply for it you did not provide it. 

There may be circumstances where the information may be shared with our solicitors and accountants and situations where we have a legal obligation to disclose the information or we are required to do so by a competent authority or regulatory body such as the police, a court or the Financially Conduct Authority. Before the loan is made, we will need to conduct an ‘Anti-money laundering’ check. (We use a company called ‘Credit Safe’ to perform our Anti-money laundering checks.)  

The loan application form includes an option to remain anonymous to the key Christian worker that your loan will support, or for us to share your contact details, along with the loan amount, with them.

From time-to-time we will also use the legal basis of ‘legitimate interest’ to contact you. For example, sending you (via email or post) an invite to our AGM, a copy of our annual report, or significant news that impacts Mission Housing. 

You are under no obligation to give consent to receive regular marketing from Mission Housing (for example, our e-newsletter) and not doing so will not adversely impact your loan application.  

For more information read our Loan Terms and Conditions and Privacy Information.  

Supporters

If you generously make a donation to support the work of Mission Housing, we will use the legal basis of ‘legitimate interest’ to say thank you – by email or mail – for your donation. Both at the time of your donation and at other times to communicate our gratitude and to let you know how your gift as made a difference. On occasions, we may invite you to an event to find out more about the difference your support is having. In addition, we will process your data using the legal basis of ‘legal’ – as we are expected to retain financial records for at least six years. If you sign a Gift Aid declaration, we will also need to share information with HMRC.  

We rely on consent for all our email newsletters, marketing and fundraising activities. We take this consent very seriously which is why we do all that we can to make sure that when we’re asking for your consent we do so clearly, concisely and unambiguously. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by phone, email or post

Members
If you are a member of Mission Housing we use the legal basis of ‘contractual’ to process your data. This will include regular communication about all aspects of Mission Housing’s activities to enable you to undertake your duties.

Job applicants
If you apply to work for us, we will process the data you provide us as part of the application process – for example, application form, CV and/or cover letter. This may include sensitive data. If your application is unsuccessful, all the data associated with your application will be deleted within one year.  

How do you handle my data?

The security of your data is very important to us and we ensure that appropriate procedures are in place to protect your data.  

Data storage
We store data in three places – on our Salesforce Customer Relationships Management database, on our Microsoft Sharepoint site, or in a locked filing cabinet in our office.   

Data retention
The length of time that we store your data will depend on the context you provided us with that data. For example, we will keep any records of financial transactions you enter into with us for a minimum of six years. 

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we will keep a record indefinitely of the names of tenants and shared owners and the dates they were living in a house owned – in full or part – or managed by Mission Housing.  

We regularly review the way we store and use your data, ensuring that we don’t hold onto data longer than necessary.

Data sharing
We do not pass any of your personal data on to any other organisations or individuals for their marketing purposes.

We may need to pass on information if required to do so by law or a regulatory body.  

We will only share your personal data – with potential lenders, partner organisation or third parties (e.g. solicitors) – if you have given us consent to do so. 

We may allow third parties acting on our behalf to access and use your information. For example, our accountants or companies we use to send out postal mailings). Mission Housing will only use reputable third parties who will comply strictly with our instructions and with data protection laws, and we will make sure that the appropriate agreement, and controls, are in place.   

What are my rights?

The General Data Protection Regulation gives you eights rights. You can find out more about your rights by visiting the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

• The right to be informed
  We hope that our privacy policy demonstrates that we take transparency seriously. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact us.

• The right of access
  You have the right to access your personal data. To do this, you need to submit your request in writing, and we will require adequate proof of identity before we can process your request.

• The right to rectification
  We will do all we can to make sure the information we hold on you is up to date. If you are aware that the details we have are not accurate, please let us know.

• The right to erasure
  In certain circumstances you have the right to ask us to erase your information – which we will do as far as we are able and required to do so. 

• The right to restrict processing
  You have the right to ask for processing of your personal information to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate use.

• The right to data portability
  You have the right to obtain, and reuse, the personal data that you have provided us with.  

• The right to object
  You can object to how we’re using your personal data by contacting us by phone, email or in writing. We have one calendar month to respond to an objection.

• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
  We do not undertake automated decision making and will not do so without your consent. We will also use anonymised data when profiling.