Our privacy policy has been reviewed in line with new GDPR rules and is updated regularly.
GDPR is here
This legislation which was introduced on 25th May 2018, replaces previous data privacy law, giving more rights to you as an individual and more obligations to organisations holding your personal data.
One of the rights is a right to be informed, which means we have to give you even more information about the way in which we use, share and store your personal information.
This means that we regularly update our 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.
How we use your information
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when Lifeboat Lettings Ltd. collects personal information. It applies to information we collect about:
- visitors to our website
- people who use our services, eg landlords and tenants
- complainants and other individuals in relation to data protection or freedom of information complaint or enquiry
- people who notify under the Data Protection Act
- job applicants and our current and former employees
- suppliers and third party contractors
Visitors to our websites
When someone visits www.lifeboatlettings.com we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.
People who use Lifeboat Lettings services
Lifeboat Lettings offers various services to the public. We use third parties to provide and fulfil some of the services offered, but they are only allowed to use the information to process the work specified.
We have to hold the details of the people who have requested the service in order to provide it. However, we only use these details to provide the service the person has requested and for other closely related purposes. For example, we might use information about people who have requested a particluar service to carry out a survey to find out if they are happy with the level of service they received. When people do subscribe to our services, they can cancel their subscription at any time and are given an easy way of doing this.
People who contact us via social media
We use a third party provider, Hootsuite to manage our social media interactions.
If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored by Hootsuite for three months. It will not be shared with any other organisations.
People who email us
We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic in line with government. If your email service does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit.
We will also 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 is within the bounds of the law.
People who make a complaint to us
When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the 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 do compile and publish statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone.
We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.
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 ‘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.
Job applicants, current and former Lifeboat Lettings Ltd. employees
Lifeboat Letting Ltd. is the data controller for the information you provide during the process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at contact@lifeboatlettings.com.
What will we do with the information you provide to us?
All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.
We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
What information do we ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.
The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t.
Application stage
If you use our online application system, this will be collected by a data processor on our behalf (please see below).
We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.
You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.
Shortlisting
Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details or with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it.
Assessments
We might ask you to participate in assessment days; complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires; and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes. This information is held by Lifeboat Lettings.
If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we may ask if you would like your details to be retained in our talent pool for a period of six months. If you say yes, we would proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise.
Conditional offer
If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.
You will therefore be required to provide:
- Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions.
- We will provide your email address to the Government Recruitment Service who will contact you to complete an application for a Basic Criminal Record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service, or Access NI, which will verify your declaration of unspent convictions.
- We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work. This is done through a data processor (please see below).
If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:
- Bank details – to process salary payments
- Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
- Membership of a Civil Service Pension scheme – so we can send you a questionnaire to determine whether you are eligible to re-join your previous scheme.
Use of data processors
Data processors are third parties who provide elements of our recruitment service for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.
How long is the information retained for?
If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.
If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 6 months from the closure of the campaign.
Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for 6 months following the closure of the campaign.
Equal opportunities information is retained for 6 months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.
Third parties will provide us with management information about our recruitment campaigns. This is anonymised information which tells us about the effectiveness of campaigns, for example, from which source did we get the most candidates, equal opportunities information for monitoring purposes. This anonymised information will be retained for 6 years from the end of the campaign.
How we make decisions about recruitment?
Final recruitment decisions are made by hiring managers and members of our recruitment team. All of the information gathered during the application process is taken into account.
If used, online testing is marked and a result is generated automatically. However, if you wish to challenge the mark you have received, the result can be checked manually.
You are able to ask about decisions made about your application by speaking to your contact within our recruitment team or by emailing contact@lifeboatlettings.com.
Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you.
You can read more about these rights here – https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/is-my-information-being-handled-correctly/
Complaints or queries
Lifeboat Lettings tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.
This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of Lifeboat Letting’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below.
If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, you can contact the statutory body which oversees data protection law – www.ico.org.uk/concerns.
Access to personal information
Lifeboat Lettings tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. If we do hold information about you we will:
- give you a description of it;
- tell you why we are holding it;
- tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
- let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.
To make a request to Lifeboat Lettings for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing addressing it to our Information Governance department, or writing to the address provided below.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting the Information Governance department.
Disclosure of personal information
In many circumstances we will not disclose personal data without consent. However when we investigate a complaint, for example, we will need to share personal information with the organisation concerned and with other relevant bodies. Further information is available in our Information Charter about the factors we shall consider when deciding whether information should be disclosed.
You can also get further information on:
- agreements we have with other organisations for sharing information;
- circumstances where we can pass on personal data without consent for example, to prevent and detect crime and to produce anonymised statistics;
- our instructions to staff on how to collect, use and delete personal data; and
- how we check that the information we hold is accurate and up to date.
Links to other websites
This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 17 July 2018.
How to contact us
If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can email us or write to:
- Lifeboat Lettings Ltd.,
- The Old Granary,
- Penstock Hall,
- Canterbury Road,
- East Brabourne,
- Ashford,
- Kent.
- TN25 5LL
Company number
Lifeboat Lettings is incorporated in the United Kingdom, Company Number: 10833911
