Introduction to our privacy policy

This Privacy Policy applies in respect of information collected on Scope's website and our associated websites. These websites are collectively referred to in this Privacy Policy as "Scope's Website".

We at Scope regard the privacy of those who use Scope's Website as very important. We have created this Privacy Policy to explain what personal information we collect about you and the purposes for which we may use such personal information. We will always treat your personal information with respect, as well as handling it in accordance with the law.

By submitting personal information to us you consent to our collection and use of it as set out in this Privacy Policy and (unless otherwise indicated) are opting to be added to our postal marketing mailing lists. We will not add you to any of our electronic mailing lists without obtaining your consent. If at any point you do not wish to be included on any of our marketing mailing lists, please see the heading "How do you stop us from using your information other than for dealing with a specific enquiry?" below for instructions on how to let us know.

Who is Scope (we) ?

Scope is registered in England as a charity (number 208231) and a company limited by guarantee (number 520866). With offices, service centres and shops throughout the United Kingdom, our registered office is at 6 Market Road, London N7 9PW, England. Our VAT number is 805156939.

We are the Data Controller under the United Kingdom's Data Protection Act 1998 in respect of the personal information to which this Privacy Policy applies. We have notified the Office of the Information Commissioner's Office of our information processing activities: our registration number is Z8748114.

What information do we collect from visitors to Scope's Website?

We collect information from you if you choose to contact us with an enquiry or if you fill in one of the forms displayed on Scope's Website. The information we collect includes your contact details (such as name, postal address and email address) together with other information that you provide to enable us to respond to your enquiry. You warrant that any information you supply to us is accurate and up-to-date, that you will inform us if any such information requires updating and that if you submit personal information about a third party to us you have that third party's permission to do so.

How do we use your personal information?

As well as dealing with your enquiries, we may use your personal information to provide you with details of the services we offer, changes to Scope's Website, fundraising and other campaigns we are running and other information about Scope and its activities which we think you may find of interest. We may communicate this information to you by post, telephone and, if we have your consent, email. We will always give you the opportunity of opting out of receiving email communications from us each time we contact you.

How do you stop us from using your information other than for dealing with your specific enquiry?

If you do not wish to receive this information other than as necessary to deal with your specific enquiry, or you wish to receive information only via a preferred medium, please contact us or write to the Data Protection Officer at Scope, 6 Market Road, London, N7 9PW, England with details of your request. If may take up to five working days to deal with your request.

Which third parties might we disclose your personal information to?

Unless you agree otherwise we will only share personal information about you with third parties who are directly involved in dealing with your enquiry or where we are legally required to do so or where we have stated otherwise on Scope's website. If we enter into a joint venture with or merge with another organisation, your information may be disclosed to our new partners.

We will not otherwise sell, trade or rent your personal information to third parties. We disclose aggregate statistics about those who use Scope's Website and related information to third parties but these statistics do not include information which could enable you to be identified.

How do you access the personal information we hold about you?

To obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you please write to the Data Protection Officer at Scope, 6 Market Road, London, N7 9PW, England with details of your request. As soon as we are satisfied as to your identity we will send you a copy of the personal information requested which we hold about you and which we are legally required to disclose. We may ask you to pay a fee, which we will ask for as soon as practicable following receipt of your request. Please contact us at the same address if you have any reason to believe that information we hold about you is inaccurate.

Important consent considerations

Use of cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small electronic files that can be saved to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. These cookies store information about your visit and help us provide you with a tailored experience. For example, we use cookies and similar devices to remember when you visited Scope's Website, what content you viewed and your browsing patterns. This information is anonymous and helps us understand how well our site is working, letting us optimise our content for you and improve your experience. Cookies are also used to remember your site preferences, such as accessibility settings so that you don't have to keep telling us. Some cookies are also essential to make the site work properly. Without them, things such as our donation forms and event registrations wouldn't work.

We may also collect information about the geographic reach of Scope, how you found our site, and the software you are using to browse. This may include the URL you came from, your IP address, your browser type, the country where your computer is located, the pages of our website that were viewed during your visit and any search terms you entered on Scope's Website. We may collect this information from both registered and unregistered visitors to Scope's Website.

We monitor our site and use information about your visit to Scope's Website to improve the quality of the service we provide. This may include monitoring of traffic patterns and the site usage to help us develop and administer Scope's Website. The information we hold about you may also be used to analyse your browsing preferences as part of our marketing and fundraising programmes. This will help us to select and tailor content that is relevant to you.

Our cookies can also be used to control adverts you see on some other sites. For example, if you have read some information about a particular event on Scope's website we can use this information to present more relevant and interesting adverts whilst you are on other websites. These sorts of cookies are called behavioural or re-marketing cookies and help us present you with more relevant adverts.

We also allow users to share our content through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Google +1. This functionality is provided by the social networks and may use cookies. Cookies that are used by other sites on scope.org.uk are called third party cookies. If you choose to share content using these networks then these social networks may use third party cookies to enhance your experience and gain information about you.

You can review the types of cookies we and third parties use on our site on our cookies page. This page also lists each cookie that is used on the site and gives a clear explanation of what each one does.

If you would prefer that we did not use cookies to provide the features and benefits described above, but still wish to use our site, most browsers allow you to prevent cookies being stored on your computer: if you want to know how to do this please look at the Help menu on your browser or view Manage your cookies. In addition you may wish to visit www.allaboutcookies.org where you will find all the information you need to manage your web privacy.

Please note that disabling certain cookies may restrict your ability to use most features of Scope's Website.

Related links

All about cookies

A site explaining what cookies are and how to manage them: www.allaboutcookies.org

Your online choices

A guide to online behavioural advertising and online privacy: www.youronlinechoices.com/uk

Google Good to know

Google's advice on how to manage your online data and stay safe online: www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/

What if you register with Scope's Website?

If you register with Scope's Website, we will create a user account for you. You will be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy as are all users of Scope's Website. We will keep a record of your registration and use your personal information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy and all other notices posted on Scope's Website.

The personal information you are required to provide when you register must be accurate and complete. You agree not to impersonate any other person or to use a

false name or personal details. We may at our discretion decline to accept your registration or revoke your registration at any time.

Some information you provide to us when registering will be capable of being viewed by other users of Scope's Website. You can adjust what information is available for other users to see by going to the "Privacy" section in the "My account" area of Scope's Website and adjusting the settings accordingly. Please contact us if you have any queries about how to adjust these settings.

What about third party websites that you can access via Scope's Website?

Scope's Website contains links (either as hypertext links or behind banner advertisements) to other websites which provide information or are able to supply goods or services to you. These websites are outside our control and are not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you access other websites using the links provided, the operators of those websites may collect personal information from you which should be used in accordance with their respective Privacy Policies which you should read. We are not liable for the practices of such third party website operators whether in respect of your personal information or otherwise.

Scope's website also contains links to pages maintained by Scope on third party social media websites. The privacy policies and statements specified on those websites will apply to your use of those websites, in addition to this Privacy Policy.

Security of your information

We keep secure records which contain personal information about you in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. No information transmitted via the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure during transmission: we cannot warrant the security of any information you transmit to us before we receive it. It is also possible that the information you provide to us will be temporarily transferred via a route outside the European Economic Area as it passes between you and us.

We will retain your information for a reasonable period or as long as the law requires. Please note that in accordance with our security procedures we may request proof of your identity before disclosing personal information to you.

What if you apply for a job at Scope?

We regularly post details of vacant positions at Scope on Scope's Website. If you submit your details to us for the purpose of being considered to fill a vacancy we will initially only use your information for that purpose and may ask you to agree to be bound by the terms of a more detailed Data Protection Consent setting out in detail the manner in which we may use your personal information.

What if you apply to become a member of Scope?

This Privacy Policy covers the personal information you submit to us in relation to your use of Scope's Website only. If you apply to become a member of Scope we may ask you to agree to the terms of a separate Data Protection Consent, which include as a minimum the terms set out in this Privacy Policy.

What if you use one of our services advertised on Scope's Website?

This Privacy Policy does not deal with how we will handle information we collect from you in the course of providing a service to you. We will tell you how we intend to handle such information at the time you ask us to provide the service.

What if you make a donation online?

If you make a donation online using the links provided on Scope's Website you will be transferred to a secure server. That secure server will either be operated by a third party payment processor (in the case of donations by credit or debit card) or by us (in all other cases). We and/or the payment processor will collect your credit card, debit card or (if paying by direct debit) bank account details along with other information in order to process your donation. If you are making a donation by direct debit we will collect, store and use your bank details for that purpose and may share that information in order to verify your details and to aid in fraud prevention and detection. The information you provide when donating online or by any other method listed on Scope's Website will only be used in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy.

What if you use the "Send to a friend" facility?

Scope's Website contains a facility which allows you to send an email to a third party using contact details supplied by you. We will only use the third party's contact details for the purpose of delivering the email unless that third party consents to us using its information for other purposes. If you choose to use this facility you will be the data controller in respect of the third party's contact details and we shall merely be providing the medium by which your email is delivered. If you use the facilities you shall be bound by the provisions of the "send to a friend" conditions set out in our Terms of Use.

Mobile and SMS services

The cost of SMS (text messages) sent to Scope depends on your network and what the message is for. Please note that texts to shortcode numbers won't come out of your text bundle (inclusive monthly text messages).

Some messages that we send you, such as confirmation or reminder messages, will be paid for by Scope.

If you've subscribed to a Scope SMS (text message) service, such as Scope Response, you can unsubscribe by replying to the message with the word STOP.

Scope doesn't charge you to look at content using your mobile phone, so it depends on your network and tariff and what you want to look at. Generally, it costs only a few pence to look at a simple webpage, though audio and video will cost considerably more. If you're unsure, you can check with your operator. 

How will you know if we make any changes to this Privacy Policy?

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes to the way in which we use your personal information we will notify you by posting a notice on the homepages of the various websites which are incorporated in Scope's Website. You can view the current version of our Privacy Policy at any time by clicking on the Privacy link on any page of Scope's Website. You are bound by any changes we make to this Privacy Policy with effect from the date of the change.