One Social Care
Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information One Social Care collects, why we use it, how we keep it safe, and the choices and rights you have.
Last updated:
1. About this policy
This Privacy Policy explains how One Social Care collects, uses, stores and shares personal information when you use our website, contact us, take part in The Exchange, submit a form, join a discussion, sign up for updates or use any participation route we provide.
We use plain language because privacy information should be easy to understand. If anything is unclear, you can contact us using the details at the end of this policy.
This policy should be read together with our Terms and Conditions, Community Conduct Guidelines and the cookies section below.
2. Who we are
One Social Care is an information, education, support-routing and civic participation platform for social care.
For data protection purposes, the organisation responsible for deciding how and why personal information is used is:
[Insert legal organisation name][Insert registered address]
[Insert company, charity or CIC number if applicable]
Email: [insert-privacy-email]
In this policy, “One Social Care”, “we”, “our” and “us” means the organisation named above.
3. What information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you use the website and whether you choose to take part in any participation process.
| Type of information | Examples |
|---|---|
| Contact information | Name, email address, organisation, role or contact preferences. |
| Participation information | Questions, comments, forum posts, survey responses, event registrations or story submissions. |
| Account or forum information | Username, profile details, login records, moderation records or participation history, where accounts are used. |
| Technical information | IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, approximate location from technical data, cookies and similar technologies. |
| Communication information | Emails, contact form messages, support requests and records of our replies. |
| Optional sensitive information | Information you choose to share about care needs, health, disability, lived experience, family circumstances or support needs. |
Please only share personal or sensitive information that is needed for the purpose of the form, discussion or activity.
4. How we collect information
We may collect personal information when you:
- fill in a form on the website;
- contact us by email or another communication route;
- take part in The Exchange or another discussion space;
- submit a question, comment, story or response;
- register for an event, newsletter or update;
- use the website and allow cookies or similar technologies;
- interact with embedded media or third-party tools on the website.
We may also receive information from trusted partners where you have asked them to share it with us, or where there is a clear lawful reason for doing so.
5. Why we use your information
We use personal information to run the website, support safe participation, respond to people, manage The Exchange and improve One Social Care.
| Purpose | How we use information |
|---|---|
| Website operation | To make the website work, protect it from misuse and understand technical performance. |
| Participation | To manage discussions, surveys, events, submissions, moderation and civic exchange activity. |
| Communication | To respond to messages, questions, complaints, requests and data protection enquiries. |
| Safety and moderation | To prevent abuse, remove harmful content, protect participants and maintain community standards. |
| Editorial and research outputs | To quote, summarise, anonymise or aggregate contributions where the participation route explains this may happen. |
| Updates and newsletters | To send updates where you have asked for them or where we have another lawful basis to do so. |
| Legal and governance duties | To keep records, meet legal obligations, handle disputes and evidence decisions where needed. |
6. Lawful basis
We only use personal information where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The lawful basis depends on the activity.
| Activity | Likely lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to enquiries | Legitimate interests, consent or contract, depending on the request. |
| Managing participation and The Exchange | Legitimate interests, consent or contract, depending on the participation route. |
| Sending newsletters or updates | Consent or legitimate interests, depending on how you signed up and the type of message. |
| Security and misuse prevention | Legitimate interests and, where needed, legal obligation. |
| Legal, safeguarding or governance records | Legal obligation, legitimate interests or vital interests, depending on the situation. |
| Cookies and analytics | Consent for non-essential cookies. Legitimate interests may apply to strictly necessary technical logs. |
The final lawful basis must match the actual form, tool, email system, forum setup and cookie settings used on the live website.
7. Sensitive information
Social care conversations can involve sensitive information. You may choose to share information about health, disability, care needs, family life, lived experience, ethnicity, beliefs or other personal circumstances.
This type of information may count as special-category data under data protection law. We will only use it where there is a lawful basis and a valid special-category condition.
The special-category condition may be: [insert Article 9 condition].
We ask people not to share unnecessary sensitive information about themselves or anyone else. We may edit, remove or anonymise contributions where this is needed for privacy, safety or safeguarding reasons.
9. Who we share information with
We do not sell personal information.
We may share personal information with trusted organisations that help us run One Social Care, including:
- website hosting and maintenance providers;
- email, newsletter and form providers;
- forum, moderation or participation tools;
- analytics, security and spam-prevention services;
- professional advisers, such as legal, accounting or data protection advisers;
- public authorities, regulators or emergency services where required by law or needed to protect someone from serious harm.
Where service providers process personal information for us, they must only use it under appropriate instructions and safeguards.
10. How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, unless we need to keep it longer for legal, safeguarding, audit, research, governance or dispute reasons.
| Information type | Typical retention period |
|---|---|
| Contact form enquiries | [Insert retention period] |
| Participation forms and survey responses | [Insert retention period] |
| Forum posts or Exchange contributions | [Insert retention period or “until removed, archived or anonymised”] |
| Newsletter records | [Insert retention period or “until you unsubscribe, plus suppression records where required”] |
| Security logs | [Insert retention period] |
| Legal or safeguarding records | [Insert retention period] |
We may anonymise information so it can no longer identify you. Anonymised information may be kept and used for learning, reporting or research.
11. How we protect information
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
These measures may include access controls, secure hosting, encrypted connections, staff or volunteer guidance, moderation processes and limits on who can access personal information.
No website or email system is completely secure. Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through general contact routes.
12. Your rights
Depending on the situation, you may have the right to:
- ask for a copy of your personal information;
- ask us to correct inaccurate information;
- ask us to delete information;
- ask us to restrict how information is used;
- object to certain uses of information;
- ask for information to be transferred where data portability applies;
- withdraw consent where we rely on consent.
To make a request, contact: [insert-privacy-email].
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your personal information has been handled.
13. Children and young people
One Social Care is primarily designed for adults, communities, carers, care workers, providers and people interested in social care.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without an appropriate reason and the right safeguards. If a participation activity is designed for children or young people, we will provide specific privacy information for that activity.
14. Other websites and embedded content
Our website may link to other websites or include embedded content from other platforms, such as video, audio, maps or social media content.
Other websites and platforms have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for how they use personal information.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will be published on this page with an updated date.
If we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to make the change clear.
16. Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy or the way we use personal information can be sent to:
One Social CareEmail: [insert-privacy-email]
Address: [insert postal address]