Privacy Policy

Advice Services

We collect personal information to provide advice and support, meet legal obligations, and improve services. This may include your contact details, case details, and relevant sensitive data (e.g., health, ethnicity, or disability) with legal justification. Your information is kept confidential and only accessed when necessary.

We only access it when we have a good reason. We only share what is necessary and relevant. We never sell it to anyone.

We may share limited data with funders or partner organisations where necessary, always in compliance with data protection laws. At times, we may use or share your information without permission if there is a legal basis, such as:

Legal obligation – to comply with the law (e.g., court order). Vital interests – to protect someone's life. Legitimate interests – to carry out our charitable aims. Public task – to deliver a government-funded service. Contract – if you work with us and we need details like bank information. Defending legal rights – e.g. if there is a complaint about our advice.

Research, Feedback, and Statistics

We collect anonymised data to improve services, monitor trends, and meet funding requirements. Any data shared for research is anonymised to protect your identity. We process this under legitimate interests, ensuring opt-out options where consent is required.

Recruitment and Volunteering

If you apply for a job or volunteer role with us, we collect personal information such as your name, contact details, work history, references, right-to-work verification, and if required for the role, DBS checks. This data is used solely for recruitment purposes and will be kept securely for only as long as necessary.

Website Usage

We collect limited, anonymised website statistics to understand how our site is used and to report to funders. This includes pages visited, device type, advice articles shown in search results, and approximate region (borough level) derived from your IP address at the time of your visit. We do not store IP addresses, search queries, postcodes, or cookies for this purpose. Processing is based on our legitimate interests in improving services and demonstrating reach. Essential cookies may still be used for site functionality — see our Cookie Policy.

We retain data for only as long as necessary. Advice records are kept for 6 years. Recruitment records for unsuccessful applicants are kept for 1 year. Volunteer and employee records are kept for the duration of engagement plus 6 years. Feedback and survey responses are kept only as long as needed to improve our services and meet reporting requirements. Anonymised website statistics are kept in aggregated form for up to 24 months.

You have the right to access your data, request corrections if it's wrong or out of date, request deletion of your data, ask us to limit how we use your data, request a copy of your data in a transferable format, and object to how we use your data.

For concerns or to make a data request, contact us:

Citizens Advice SORT Group
The Express Building
9 Ancoats Street
Manchester
M4 5AD

If you're unhappy with our response, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at 0303 123 1113.

You can find more about your data rights on the ICO website.