York Time Bank Confidentiality Policy
Due to the nature of our participants, and the nature of the voluntary services we
provide, York Time Bank recognises that a guarantee of confidentiality is an
important factor in determining the level of trust participants feel they can give to
the Time Bank. This policy establishes a clear and agreed understanding of
what confidentiality means to the Time Bank, to encourage uniformity in practice
and ensure that participants know what they can expect from the organisation.
The policy applies to all participants in the Time Bank, and continues to apply
after their involvement with the Time Bank has ended. This policy is related to
the Time Bank's Data Protection Policy, which should be read or consulted in
conjunction with it.
When does confidentially apply?
All information about any individual participating in the Time Bank should be
assumed to be confidential unless the individual in question agrees for it to be
shared. It is sometimes helpful for participants to share information about their
Time Bank work and talk freely about their experiences, in order to get help or to
help others perform better. Because of this, information given to participants
acting on behalf of York Time Bank should be considered to be given to York
Time Bank as a whole. However, it should be absolutely clear to all participants
that they are bound by the member’s rules of confidentiality and that confidential
matters must not be discussed outside York Time Bank. Casual or social
discussion about other participants outside these situations is strictly prohibited.
This requirement does not apply to information collected by the Time Bank about
any individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or other beliefs,
trade union membership, health, sexuality, criminal proceedings and convictions;
such information cannot be shared without the permission of the individual in
question.
The Time Bank acknowledges that, on rare occasions the Time Bank
Management Committee may deem it necessary to break the basic rules of
confidentiality. These may broadly be defined as situations where the safety,
rights and liberties of other people or the person giving information may be
seriously at risk. Decisions to share confidential information and the reasons for
them must be properly recorded. When confidential information is divulged
without consent, except where it might result in more harm to other people, the
individual concerned should be informed and an explanation of the action given.
Where information relating to an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political
opinions, religious or other beliefs, trade union membership, health, sexuality,
criminal proceedings and convictions is collected and processed, the individual
concerned should give explicit consent, although there are some exceptions
under which the information can be collected without explicit consent, including
when information is being collected for the sole purpose of monitoring aimed at
promoting equal opportunities. In such cases York Time Bank will inform the
person about the purposes for which information will be used.
Timebank Marketing and Promotion
Any information the Time Bank releases about their activities to third parties or
the public will be reviewed to ensure that it cannot be used to identify individuals
unless these individuals have given consent for the information to be used in this
way. Information held by York Time Bank will never be used or supplied for the
purpose of direct commercial marketing.
This policy was adopted November 2013 and will be reviewed every September.
York Time Bank Data Protection Policy
Collecting and Holding of Time Bank Participants' Data
The Time Bank acknowledges its legal responsibilities regarding confidentiality in
relation to criminal record (CRB) checks, the Data Protection Act and any current
or future human rights legislation which guarantees a right of privacy, and will
ensure that all participants are made aware of this policy and of their
responsibilities with respect to confidentiality.
The Time Bank collects the following information about participants:
Contact Information
Personal doctor
Emergency contact information
Records of help given and received
Previous volunteer history
Details on their status as vulnerable populations, to ensure that they are
appropriately protected and supported
This information is transferred to York Time Banks ‘Time On-line’, the
membership management system. Only the Time Bank Management Committee
or appointed administrator and broker will have access to this data.
Any paper files that hold personal data of Time Bank participants will be kept in a
locked drawer and only be available to Time Bank administrators.
The Time Bank's publicly-available directory will only include information that
each participant has agreed to be published, and will seek consent from each
participant before publishing this information.
Every participant in the Time Bank has the right to see any information that the
Time Bank keeps on them in paper or computer files and to change that
information where it is inaccurate. Confidential information that has been
provided by a third party may be removed from a file before examination.
Parents of children up to the age of 16, and in some cases 18, have a right to
see their children’s files. If a parent of a child over 16 asks to see his or her file,
we will ask the child for their consent. A parent with this right is either the
mother or the father if he was married to the mother at the time of the birth or has
acquired parental rights through the courts. It should never be assumed that a
father automatically has these rights. No one has the right to see the files of
people over the age of 18 except the person him/herself or someone nominated
by the Court because the person lacks capacity.
According to the Data Protection Act 1998 the Time Bank is exempt from having
to notify the Information Commissioner's Office as it only processes data for the
purposes of establishing or maintaining membership for an association not
established or conducted for profit.
Copyright
In the course of Time Bank activities participants may share artistic or intellectual
property (art, writing, etc.); this work is explicitly considered the property of the
participant who creates it and is protected by this policy and York Time Bank's
Confidentiality Policy.
Time Bank Reports, Monitoring and Funding
Time Bank reports, monitoring, funding applications and publicity will
scrupulously avoid any specific detail about participants that might lead to their
identification unless they have given their permission for it to be so used.
Website and Email
York Time Bank does not uses “cookies” on its website. At this time the York
Time Bank website does not gather information; communication from Internet
users is via the email address posted on the website. The Time Bank will not
electronically store the email addresses of people making general enquiries
through the website or directly.
Emails sent by the Time Bank include standard signatures which refer to
confidentiality, although emails sent by participants to each other from their
personal computers will not have such identification.
This policy was adopted November 2013 and will be reviewed every September.