ID	EGM-CO-04	Name	Data Protection Policy
Revision	4	Approved By	Séamus Daly
Approved Date	01/06/2024	Review Date	2025

References & Definitions

East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support: EGM
EGM-MA-01 Master List of Policies and Procedures

Implementation

East Galway & Midlands Cancer Support needs to gather and use certain information about individuals.
These can include volunteers, therapists, councillor’s, clients and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the organisation’s data protection standards — and to comply with the law.

Why This Policy Exists

This data protection policy ensures that: EGM

• Complies with data protection law and follows good practice
• Protects the rights of volunteers, therapists, councillor’s and clients
• Is open about how it stores and processes individuals’ data
• Protects itself from the risk of a data breach

Data Protection Law

The Data Protection Act 1988 & 2003 describes how organisations — including EGM must collect, handle and store personal information.

These rules apply regardless of whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials.

To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The Data Protection Act is underpinned by eight important principles. These say that personal data must:

1. Be obtained and processed fairly
2. Kept only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes
3. Used and disclosed only in ways compatible with these purposes
4. Kept safe and secure
5. Kept accurate, complete and up-to-date
6. Ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive
7. Retained for no longer than is necessary for the purpose or purposes
8. Give a copy of his/her personal data to an individual, on request

People, Risks and Responsibilities

Policy Scope

This policy applies to:

• The head office of EGM
• All branches of EGM
• All staff, volunteers and support workers of EGM
• All therapists, councillors and other people working on behalf of EGM

It applies to all data that the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even if that information technically falls outside of the Data Protection Act 1998. This can include:

• Names of individuals
• Postal addresses
• Email addresses
• Telephone numbers
• …plus any other information relating to individuals

Data Protection Risks

This policy helps to protect EGM from some very real data security risks, including:

• Breaches of confidentiality. For instance, information being given out inappropriately.
• Failing to offer choice. For instance, all individuals should be free to choose how the company uses data relating to them.
• Reputation damage. For instance, the company could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with EGM has some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each team that handles personal data must ensure that it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

The board of directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring that EGM meets its legal obligations.

The [Data Protection Officer], Jacqueline Daly, is responsible for:

• Keeping the board updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues.
• Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies, in line with an agreed schedule.
• Arranging data protection training and advice for the people covered by this policy.
• Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy.
• Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data EGM holds about them (also called ‘subject access requests’).
• Checking and approving any contracts or agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data.

The [IT Manager], Séamus Daly, is responsible for:

• Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards.
• Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly.
• Evaluating any third-party services, the company is considering using to store or process data. For instance, cloud computing services.

The [Director of Services], Jacqueline Daly, is responsible for:

• Approving any data protection statements attached to communications such as emails and letters.
• Addressing any data protection queries from journalists or media outlets like newspapers.
• Where necessary, working with other staff to ensure marketing initiatives abide by data protection principles.

General Staff Guidelines

• The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
• Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, staff can request it from the Director of Services.
• EGM will provide training to all staff to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
• Staff should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
• In particular, strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared.
• Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
• Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
• Staff should request help from the Director of Services or the Data Protection Officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

Data Storage, Use and Accuracy

Data Storage

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT Manager or Data Controller.

When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

• When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked drawer or filing cabinet.
• Employees should make sure paper and printouts are not left where unauthorised people could see them, like on a printer.
• Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required.

When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts:

• Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between staff.
• If data is stored on removable media (like a CD or DVD), these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
• Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers, and should only be uploaded to an approved cloud computing services.
• Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space.
• Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line with the company’s standard backup procedures.
• Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones. Unless they are secured (pattern / pin / password lock), and have been approved by the IT Manager.
• All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and a firewall.

Data Use

Personal data is of no value to EGM unless the business can make use of it. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

• When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended.
• Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email, as this form of communication is not secure.
• Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT Manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
• Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
• Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers.
• Always access and update the central copy of any data.

Data Accuracy

The law requires EGM to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort EGM will put into ensuring its accuracy.

It is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

• Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets.
• Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, by confirming a customer’s details when they call.
• EGM will make it easy for data subjects to update the information EGM holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
• Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on their stored telephone number, it should be removed from the database.

Provision of Information, Access and Disclosure of personal data

Providing Information

EGM aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

• How the data is being used.
• How to exercise their rights.

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement, setting out how data relating
to individuals is used by the company.

Subject Access Requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by EGM are entitled to:

• Ask what information the company holds about them and why.
• Ask how to gain access to it.
• Be informed how to keep it up to date.
• Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations.

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller at [email protected]

The data controller will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days.

The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

Disclosing Data for Other Reasons

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances, EGM will disclose requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the company’s legal advisers where necessary.