Privacy Policy

Cancer Support UK (CSUK) promises to protect any personal data you share with us as a donor, fundraiser, volunteer or by ordering our Cancer Kits online. This includes any data you share with us directly or from other organisations we work with. We aim to be clear when we collect your data and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect.

Developing a better understanding of our supporters through their personal data allows us to make better decisions, fundraise more efficiently and ultimately helps us to achieve our aim of supporting people with cancer.

• We use an ‘opt-in only’ communication policy for electronic communications. We will only send you marketing information electronically (e.g. by email or text/SMS) if you have specifically agreed to us doing so. We rely on consent for this processing, and you can withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any of our messages to you.
• We may send marketing information by post or call you for marketing purposes, unless you have previously opted out or said that you don’t want to be contacted. We also use a data cleansing company based in the UK to ensure that our address records are accurate and up to date, and to stop mailings to people who have died. We rely on legitimate interests for these activities, as we consider that we have a legitimate interest to promote Cancer Support UK to potential and actual supporters.

You can change your marketing preferences at any time by emailing  hello@cancersupportuk.org or calling us on 020 3983 7616.

If you ask us to stop sending marketing information we will update our records to stop further mailings as quickly as we can. However, you may still receive further mailings which were already in progress before you asked us to stop.

Our fundraising and marketing communications include information about how we are helping to support adults and children living with cancer. If you would like to receive such communications but have not opted in please contact us via email at hello@cancersupportuk.org.

We collect information in the following ways:

You may give us your information in order to sign up for one of our events, tell us your story, make a donation, order a Cancer Kit or communicate with us. Sometimes when you support us, your information is collected by an organisation working for us (e.g. a professional fundraising agency), but we are responsible for your data at all times.

Your information may be shared with us by independent event organisers, 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 Cancer Support UK and with your consent. You should check their Privacy Policy when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.

We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external sources in order to gain a better understanding of our supporters to improve our fundraising methods, products and services.

The information we get from other organisations may depend on your privacy settings or the responses you give, so you should regularly check them. This information comes from the following sources:

• Third party organisations
You may have provided permission for a company or other organisation to share your data with third parties, including charities. This could be when you buy a product or service, register for an online competition or sign up with a comparison site.
• Social Media
Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or LinkedIn you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.

Like most websites, we use “cookies” to help us make our site – and the way you use it – better. Cookies mean that a website will remember you. They’re small text files that sites transfer to your computer (or phone or tablet). They make interacting with a website faster and easier – for example by automatically filling your name and address in text fields. There are more details in our cookie policy.

In addition, the type of device you’re using to access our website or apps and the settings on that device may provide us with information about your device, including what type of device it is, what specific device you have, what operating system you’re using, what your device settings are, and why a crash has happened. Your device manufacturer or operating system provider will have more details about what information your device makes available to us.

The type and quantity of information we collect and how we use it depends on why you are providing it.

Supporters

If you support us, for example, by making a donation, volunteering, registering to fundraise, signing up for an event or by ordering a Cancer Kit, we will usually collect some of the following information:

• Your name
• Your contact details
• Your date of birth
• Your bank or credit card details.

Where it is appropriate we may also ask for:

• Information relating to your health (for example if you register to take part in our Cancer Coach Support Groups)
• Why you have decided to donate to us. We will never make this question mandatory, and only want to know the answer if you are comfortable telling us.

We will mainly use your data to:

• Provide you with the services, products or information you asked for
• Administer your donation or support your fundraising, including processing gift aid
• Keep a record of your relationship with us
• Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted
• Understand how we can improve our services, products or information.

If you enter your details onto one of our online forms, and you don’t ‘send’ or ‘submit’ the form, we may contact you to see if we can help with any problems you may be experiencing with the form or our websites.

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

We are permitted to use your personal data due to one of the following reasons (legal bases):

– We are using your personal data to execute a contract that you have agreed to;
– We have your explicit consent in some cases;
– We are using your data under legitimate interests which means we have balanced our interests to communicate as a charity with yours not to have your privacy invaded with intrusive, unexpected content;
– We are compelled to do so by law;
– We are compelled to do so in public or vital interest e.g. due to a legal court case or to help save someone’s life.

We will hold onto your personal data for no longer than is necessary to complete the task that is agreed or might be expected by you. This will be for a maximum of 7 years after the agreed or expected activity has been completed for you. We store the personal data within the EU or the US, following all current legal requirements and data security best practice.

We may use profiling and screening techniques to ensure communications are relevant and timely, and to provide an improved experience for our supporters. Profiling also allows us to target our resources effectively, which donors consistently tell us is a key priority for them. We do this because it allows us to understand the background of the people who support us and helps us to make appropriate requests to supporters who may be able and willing to give more than they already do.  Importantly, it enables us to raise more funds, sooner, and more cost-effectively, than we otherwise would.

When building a profile we may analyse geographic, demographic, and other information relating to you in order to better understand your interests and preferences in order to contact you with the most relevant communications.  In doing this, we may use additional information from third-party sources when it is available.

We use legitimate interest to contact you to let you know about the progress we are making and to ask for donations or other support. Occasionally, we may include information from partner organisations or organisations who support us in these communications. We make it easy for you to tell us how you want us to communicate, in a way that suits you. Our forms have clear marketing preference questions and we include information on how to opt out when we send you mailings. If you don’t want to hear from us, that’s fine.  Just let us know when you provide your data or contact our office manager on 020 3983 7616 or via email at hello@cancersupportuk.org.

We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing.  But, if we run an event in partnership with another named organisation your details may need to be shared. We will be very clear what will happen to your data when you register.

We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing.  But, if we run an event in partnership with another named organisation your details may need to be shared. We will be very clear what will happen to your data when you register.

Some people choose to tell us about their experiences with cancer to help further our work.  They may take on a role as an ambassador or media volunteer, attend our patient-focused events or sit on our committees. This may include them sharing sensitive information related to their health and family life in addition to their biographical and contact information.

We use some of the information provided, including gender, ethnicity or the type of cancer people have experience with, to target opportunities to get involved. We will also monitor the types of people who are involved to ensure that the views we hear are representative of all people affected by cancer. If we have the explicit and informed consent of the individuals, or their parent or guardian if they are under 18, this information may be made public by us at events, in materials promoting our campaigning and fundraising work, or in documents such as our annual report.

We run services to provide support to individuals affected by Cancer, and collect personal data in order to provide those services, this includes our Cancer Coach Support Groups.

Our staff may collect sensitive personal data about your health when you speak, email or send an instant message to them.  They will use this information to assess whether our services such as our Cancer Kits or Cancer Coach telephone groups are right for you. We will also use it for training, quality monitoring or evaluating the services we provide.

Cancer Support UK will only share your details in exceptional circumstances to comply with the nurses’ code of professional conduct or where legally required, for example where a child reports abuse, or someone reports serious self-harm or a serious intention of harming someone else.

We may also collect and retain your information if you send feedback about our services or make a complaint.

Cancer Support UK will only share your details in exceptional circumstances to comply with the nurses’ code of professional conduct or where legally required, for example where a child reports abuse, or someone reports serious self-harm or a serious intention of harming someone else.

We may also collect and retain your information if you send feedback about our services or make a complaint.

We collect and manage information from children, and aim to manage it in a way which is appropriate to the age of the child. Information is usually only collected for the purposes of sending out our Kids’ Kits.

We ensure that there are appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details. For example our online forms are always encrypted and our network is protected and routinely monitored.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

We use external companies to collect or process personal data on our behalf. We do comprehensive checks on these companies before we work with them, and put a contract in place that sets out our expectations and requirements, especially regarding how they manage the personal data they have collect or have access to.

We may need to disclose your details if required to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors. We will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your explicit and informed consent.

Where possible we use publicly available sources to keep your records up to date; for example, the Post Office’s National Change of Address database and information provided to us by other organisations as described above.

We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change.

You have a right to ask us to stop processing your personal data or delete it, and if it’s not necessary for legal reasons, we will do so. Contact our office manager on 020 3983 7616 or via email at hello@cancersupportuk.org if you have any concerns.

You have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. If there are any errors in the personal information we hold, please let us know and we will correct them. You have a right to opt-out of automated profiling and decision making, if relevant.

If you want to access your information, send a description of the information you want to see and proof of your identity by post to Cancer Support UK, Citibase, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. We do not accept these requests by email so we can ensure that we only provide personal data to the right person.

If you have any questions please send these to hello@cancersupportuk.org and for further information see the Information Commissioner’s guidance here.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time.  If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on the Cancer Support UK Website or by contacting you directly.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know by contacting us at Cancer Support UK, The Old Church, 89b Quicks Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 1EX or via email at hello@cancersupportuk.org.

Updated: September 2024