Privacy notices

How we use information

Information collected from submitting an online enquiry form will be used to provide you with information on fostering and to process your application to be a foster carer.

This will require the sharing of information you provide within the council for the purposes of processing your application to be a foster carer and support you and the young people you are fostering if you are working as a foster carer for the council.

We collect a range of information including some or all of the following when you express an interest in or apply to be a foster carer. The categories of information that we process include:

• your personal information (name, date of birth, ethnicity, address, telephone, email address)
• personal information about other members of your household
• personal information about close relatives
• details of family relationships in and outside of your household
• you and your family’s legal status
• your accommodation
• details about your physical and emotional well-being and parenting
• details of any risk issues
• criminal records: offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, convictions and sentences
• medical history
• health, social care or other services you are getting
• any documents sent to us relating to you
• educational progress and attainment information on your legal children
• school attendance, exclusions and behavioural information on your legal children
• employment references
• military record of conduct
• religious affiliations
• previous fostering agencies

The following information can be captured via cookies on the website for targeted re-marketing and will be used to improve user experience, including browser history, device and IP addresses.

• URL of the web page(s) the user visits
• URL of the referrer web page (that is, where the advert was placed)
• ID of the pixel and corresponding cookie
• browser type and settings
• operating system
• device type
• screen resolution
• date and time
• IP address

Re-marketing is the process of storing anonymous identity information for a user who has interacted with a webpage; for example clicking an advert, but has not completed an action such as filling in a form. The use of anonymous identity information allows the council to deliver additional messages in its targeted campaign to recruit foster carers.

Why we collect and use information

We collect this information to:

• enable us to carry out our statutory functions and duties including safeguarding, child protection and corporate parenting
• assess applicants’ suitability to foster
• provide a co-ordinated approach to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
• comply with government department research and statistical returns
• account for our decisions

Lawful basis of processing

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing information are Article 6 (1)(e) Public Task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or in support of the council’s official functions, and it has a clear basis in law, to enable the council to undertake its statutory functions under the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011.

Article 6 (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the Council to process their personal data for in respect of targeted re-marketing as detailed above. Where the processing of data involves Special Category Data for example:

• racial or ethnic origin
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• concerning health
• concerning a person’s sex life

This will be processed under the relevant parts of Article 9.

Collecting information

Information will be collected:

• via email, telephone, application forms, foster care records, case files and enquires made of other organisations (see sharing below)
• via cookies on the website for targeted re-marketing and to help us improve your experience

Storing data

The fostering department will store your personal data in a secure online database. 

Personal data will not be retained for longer than 3 years if your application to foster is not successful. If you are an approved foster carer with Croydon, your data will be securely destroyed no later than 10 years after you leave the service. 

This data is stored within the UK.

Information captured via Cookies for the purposes of targeted re-marketing will be stored in the secure consent management platform, managed by CAN Digital who specialise in digital prospecting for up to 18 months.

This data is stored within the EU.

More Information

If you require more information about how your information is managed, please contact us at CRSProject@croydon.gov.uk.

Who we share information with

Your data is accessed by staff working for Croydon’s Children, Families and Education Department.  The department includes a variety of teams. Which of these teams access your data will depend on what services are involved. The teams include:

• single point of contact (SPOC), also known as the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH)
• assessment
• care planning
• permanence
• looked after children
• leaving care
• adoption
• special guardianship
• fostering
• children with disabilities
• early help
• family resilience service
• functional family therapy
• placements
• youth offending services
• troubled families
• other council teams so they can carry out their statutory roles and support our service (for example: housing, education, complaints, business intelligence, corporate finance, legal services, quality assurance)

We also routinely share your information with external partners and relevant external services including:

• other local authorities e.g. in cases of adoption, special guardianship and fostering arrangements
• government departments e.g. Department for Education, Department of Health
• GPs, NHS Trusts, NHS England, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
• police
• HMRC
• benefit agencies
• housing agencies
• education providers (for example: academies, maintained schools, pupil referral units, independent schools and independent specialist providers, FE and sixth-form colleges)
• early years providers in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors that are funded by Croydon Council
• children's centres
• child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
• youth offending services and probation services
• HM courts and tribunals service
• children and family court advisory and support service (CAFCASS)
• education, employment and training (NEET) support services
• Contracted services including those provided by voluntary organisations and community groups working with young people

Upon acceptance of cookies on the fostering web pages, your IP address will be shared with a third-party digital marketing specialist called CAN Digital, who Croydon have commissioned for re-marketing purposes.   

Staff in each area will only access the personal information that is essential to carry out their work and statutory functions but may share data between the respective teams where this is necessary to enable them to undertake enquires in support of statutory obligations.

All organisations we pass your information to will have an information-sharing agreement with the Council to ensure they process information that is shared with them appropriately and in accordance with data protection legislation and that this is supported by an appropriate legal basis.

In some circumstances, information may be shared with third parties where there is a legal obligation to do so or to prevent fraud. 

If we are worried about your safety, or the safety of others, and believe we need to take action to protect you or others from harm, we will discuss our concerns with you and, if possible, obtain your permission to disclose this information. We may share this information if we assess the risk to you or others to be serious.

There may also be situations when the risk to you or others is so great that we believe we need to share your information without delay. If this is the case, we will make sure that we record what information we share and our reasons for doing so. We will also let you know what we have done, when it is appropriate to do so, and when this would not compromise the purpose of the information sharing.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, data subjects have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your records contact SAR@croydon.gov.uk.

You also have the right to:

• ask us for access to information about you that we hold 
• have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
• restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
• object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics
• not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you

If you have a concern or complaint about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact the data protection officer via email: dataprotection@croydon.gov.uk.