The RVC Animal Care Trust Privacy Policy

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

• Contact details
• What information we collect, use, and why
• Lawful bases and data protection rights
• Where we get personal information from
• How long we keep information
• Who we share information with
• How to complain

What is the RVC ACT?

We are a registered charity (281571) created by a Trust Deed in 1982. Initially our main aim was to raise the funds needed to establish a new veterinary referral hospital (the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals) but we now raise funds for a wide range of projects carried out at the Royal Veterinary College. You will find further formal information about us on the Charity Commission website.

Contact details

Post
Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead House, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, HATFIELD, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA, GB

Telephone
01707 666237

Email
act@rvc.ac.uk

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following information to receive donations or funding and organise fundraising activities:

• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Payment or banking details
• Donation history
• Tax payer information (for Gift Aid purposes)

We collect or use the following personal information for service updates or marketing purposes:

• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Marketing preferences
• Recorded images, such as photos or videos
• Purchase history
• Donation history
• Records of consent, where appropriate
• Relationship with the Royal Veterinary College (including educational information)

We collect or use the following personal information to comply with legal requirements:

• Name
• Contact information
• Financial transaction information

We collect or use the following personal information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims:

• Names and contact details
• Address
• Payment details

We also collect or use the following information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims:

Lawful bases and data protection rights
Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are in brief set out below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

• Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. You can read more about this right here.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can read more about this right here.

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to receive donations or funding and organise fundraising activities are:

• Consent - we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – we have to collect or use the information so we can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.
• Legitimate interests – we’re collecting or using your information because it benefits you, our organisation or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to portability. Our legitimate interests are:
• Sending communications to supporters by post for fundraising purposes
• Conducting research to better understand who our supporters are and better target our fundraising activity
• Taking and using photos and/or films of case studies (patients and their owners),event participants and attendees
• Administering donations and events
• Promoting the charity on social media like Facebook and Instagram and other online platforms

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for service updates or marketing purposes are:

• Consent - we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.
• Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to comply with legal requirements are:
• Consent - we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims are:

• Consent - we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.

Where we get personal information from

• Directly from you
• Publicly available sources
• RVC hospitals or clinical services

How long we keep information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need to use it for the purposes set out in this Policy. The criteria we use for determining this need is based on various legal requirements; the purpose for which we hold data and whether there is a legitimate reason for continuing to store it (such as accounting or auditing requirements or in order to deal with any future legal disputes); and guidance issued by relevant regulatory authorities including, but not limited to, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Fundraising Regulator.

We regularly review what personal information and records that we hold, and we never store payment card data after the transaction has been completed

Who we share information with

• Legal bodies or authorities
• External auditors or inspectors
• Organisations we’re legally obliged to share personal information with
• Professional consultants

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Last updated
20 November 2024

Contact us

E-mail: act@rvc.ac.uk

Tel: 01707 666237

Address: RVC Animal Care Trust, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Herts AL7 4RL

The ACT is very keen to fundraise in an appropriate way with our supporters and potential supporters and we are particularly conscious of our responsibilities to vulnerable people. Anyone fundraising on behalf of the ACT must ensure they communicate clearly and do not exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge, or vulnerable circumstances of any member of the public at any point in time – this information will be provided in the fundraising guides provided to all volunteer fundraisers.

Where any member of ACT staff or a volunteer is fundraising for the ACT and is concerned about an individual’s capacity to understand their actions and the consequence of those actions they must cease the fundraising activity immediately and report the situation to the Head of Fundraising. If a vulnerability is confirmed subsequent to a donation being made, and the donor or their representative requires a donation to be returned, this will be reported to the ACT Management Committee and affected as soon as is practicable. Any such incidents would be reported in our accounts.

The RVC Animal Care Trust will always aim to treat supporters with the highest level of care and respect. When a complaint is received it will be logged and investigated promptly in line with the process outlined below.

Complaints are an important opportunity for supporters to express their dissatisfaction with our activities or communications and they are valuable to us in our aim to constantly improve our work.

We are regulated by the Fundraising Regulator (FR), the independent regulator of charity fundraising. The FR sets and promotes the standards for all fundraising activity, known as the 'Code of Fundraising Practice'. We regularly review our activities and the Code to ensure we are fully compliant. For more information on the FR, please visit the Fundraising Regulator website.

If you have a complaint about our activities or communications you can communicate this to us by phone, e-mail or post using the following contact details:

The RVC Animal Care Trust
Hawkshead Lane
North Mymms
Hertfordshire
AL9 7TA
Tel: 01707 666237
Email: act@rvc.ac.uk

We take all complaints seriously and aim to resolve complaints quickly, fairly and effectively. We promise to deal with your complaint respectfully with discretion and sensitivity. We will acknowledge your complaint, no later than two working days after receipt and will aim to resolve you complaint immediately. In order to assist us with your enquiries, please provide your contact details and explain your concerns as clearly and fully as possible.

If we need to undertake further investigations in order to address your complaint, we will provide you with an expected timescale for our response as part of your acknowledgement and keep you updated throughout our investigations. You will receive a full response from us at the earliest possible opportunity and no later than 20 working days from the date we received your complaint. If you feel we have not resolved your complaint in an honest, open and satisfactory way you can request that your complaint be escalated to the Charity’s Senior Management Team who will review your concerns and the initial outcome before responding to you fully.

Following this, if you remain dissatisfied you can get in touch with the Fundraising Regulator or the Charity Commission.

We are required by the FR to maintain a log of all complaints raised, and report this to the FR once a year. This report will include information about you as the complainant. If you would like further information, or have any concerns, about the information we may hold about you in this regard, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

If your complaint relates to the RVC’s Clinical Services please visit here. If you are an RVC student or a parent or guardian of an RVC student and would like to make a complaint, please visit here.