Privacy Policy
April 2019 - V1.1
At Serene Communications, we are committed to protecting your privacy so to keep the information you share with us as safe as possible, we've updated our Privacy Policy in line with the requirements set out by the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
These updates will give you details on what personal information we collect from you and how we store and use it. You don’t need to do anything, but we want this information to be readily available to you.
Serene Communications Privacy Notice
Serene Communications gathers and processes your personal information in accordance with this privacy notice and in compliance with the relevant General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and laws. This notice provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why and when we process your personal data.
About Us
We are a training and consultancy company and our goal is to provide organisations – whatever their size – with a people-centered approach. We use our energies, skills and experience in addressing client needs in an empathetic way. In pursuing this goal we visualise ourselves in the place of the people most immediately involved and affected by the issue and create successful solutions accordingly.
We are passionate about human development as a whole. In conducting our business, we are guided by our strong commitment to the importance of social capital. The recognition of the value that each person brings to any endeavour helps us create and deliver solutions that achieve business objectives and develop the self-awareness of participants. This concept that every human being is a “mine rich in gems of inestimable value”, enables the programmes we create to achieve success and raise workplace morale through knowledge gain, increasing vision and warming the heart of participants.
Serene Communications’ registered office is at: The Dormers, Lower Street, Ruscombe, Stroud GL6 6BU. Serene Communications Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 04929045).
Personal Data
Information that we collect
Serene Communications processes your personal information to meet our legal, statutory and contractual obligations and to provide you with our products and services. We will never request any unnecessary personal data from you and will not process your information in any way, other than as specified in this notice.
All data collected will be for legitimate business interest.
We do not collect any data on individuals below the age of 15. For those individuals between the age of 15 and 18, we ensure they have their parent/guardian/school’s permission before they provide any personal information to Serene Communications.
The extent of information we gather is limited to:
- Name
- Address
- Email address
- Home Telephone Number
- Mobile Telephone Number
- Health information
- Passport details
- Photographs (for the purpose of identifying individuals)
- Parents contact details (if individual under the age of 18)
- Personal information such as height, weight to be passed on to 3rd parties as part of our learning trips and if necessary
How we use your personal data:
Serene Communications takes your privacy very seriously and will only share your information with third parties e.g. hotels, airlines etc, if and only if you join one of our learning trips and where there is a legitimate reason for sharing the data.
- If you are a learner on a Serene Communications course then we may need to share your data with Training Assessment bodies, etc.
- If you participate in one of our projects and are funded by a third party then we may share your data with the funder.
- If you participate in one of Learning Opportunities trips/projects, we may need to share your data with external organisations with whom we collaborate eg the United Nations, British Council etc.
If you engage with Serene Communications as a user of our website, your data will not be shared with any third party. We will never disclose, share or sell your data without your consent; unless required to do so by law. We only retain your data for as long as is necessary and for the purpose(s) specified in this notice and other guidance provided by Serene Communications. Where you have consented to us providing you with promotional offers and marketing, you are free to withdraw this consent at any time.
To withdraw consent, please contact Soroush Fadaei, on 01453 756675.
The purposes and reasons for processing your personal data are detailed below:
- We will process your personal data as part of verifying your identity for a training course, a consultancy project or as part of one of our Learning Opportunities trips.
As part of our ongoing endeavours, you may receive regular updates regarding Serene Communications products and services and items of interest pertinent to our industry. Such information will be non-intrusive.
How long will you keep my data?
We only ever retain personal information for as long as is necessary and we have strict review and retention policies in place to meet these obligations. Our policy is to keep your personal data for a maximum of 5 years after which time it will be destroyed. However, should you have been issued a Serene Communications certificate of training, our policy is to keep your information indefinitely. You can request to have your data destroyed once you have received your certificate but in doing so Serene Communications will not be able to provide confirmation of achievement or re-issue lost certificates.
Sharing and disclosing personal information
We do not share or disclose any of your personal information without your consent, other than for the purposes specified in this notice or where there is a legal requirement. Serene Communications may, from time to time, use Mailchimp to provide the services below. However, all processors acting on our behalf only process your data in accordance with instructions from us and comply fully with this privacy notice, the data protection laws and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
Mailchimp
Serene Communications may use Mailchimp for bulk e-mail & newsletter delivery services. They act as a processor on our behalf. The only information we provided them with is your e-mail address.
For more information about Mailchimp, please read their privacy notice here.
Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?
If you have been on one of our courses or received our consultancy services, we may send you emails to let you know about our new training courses or consultancy services.
Similarly, if have been on one of our learning trips, we may contact you to let you know about any upcoming destinations and projects. In such cases, we will only contact you through the school or organisation that put your name forward for your previous trip(s).
We will only send you marketing emails if you have provided consent to receive such e-mails. Where you have consented to us using your details for direct marketing, we will keep such data until you notify us otherwise and/or withdraw your consent.
Privacy and your activity
Your rights
- You have the right to be informed of any information Serene Communications processes and why we are processing this information.
- You have the right to access any personal information that Serene Communications holds about you.
- You have the right to rectification. If you believe that we hold any incomplete or inaccurate data about you, you have the right to ask us to correct and/or complete the information and we will strive to do so within 20 working days; unless there is a valid reason for not doing so, at which point you will be notified. Serene Communications will also advise any third parties holding your data to update as notified.
- You have the right to have data erased, however in doing so Serene Communications may not be able to continue to provide the expected service delivery, at your request data will be erased within 20 working days.
- You have the right to restrict processing of your personal data when:
- The accuracy of the data is contested (for a period of time to enable the controller to verify the accuracy).
- The processing is unlawful and you object to the erasure of the data and request restrictions of its use instead.
- You object to processing based on the grounds of legitimate business interests.
- Where Serene Communications as the controller no longer requires the data but you do to exercise or defend a legal claim (If you exercise this right, it may mean that Serene Communications will be unable to continue to provide the expected service delivery).
- You have the right to data portability allowing you to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purpose across different services. It allows you to move, copy or transfer personal data easily from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way, without hindrance to usability.
You have the right to object to:
- Direct Marketing which is absolute. You do not need to demonstrate grounds for your objection, there are no exceptions which will allow processing to continue.
- Processing based on legitimate interests or performance of a task in the public interest/ exercise of official authority.
- Processing for research or statistical purposes.
If we receive a request from you to exercise any of the above rights, we may ask you to verify your identity before acting on the request; this is to ensure that your data is protected and kept secure. Please note: Serene Communications does not participate in automated decision making or profiling.
Serene Communications will always advise:
- Why we require your data;
- With whom your personal data may be shared;
- How long we intend to hold your data for and means of storage and disposal;
If we did not collect the data directly from you, information concerning the source.
Safeguarding measures
Serene Communications takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure your personal data. We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures in place, including:-
- Secure emails & website
- Full live network protection through our firewall
- Network level protection between the secured and unsecured networks with centralised user authentication on our wireless network
- Full antivirus scanning across all systems.
Transfers outside of the EU (if applicable)
Personal data in the European Union is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but some other countries may not necessarily have the same high standard of protection for your personal data. Serene Communications transfers personal data outside of the EU for the below purposes:
- Personal details & email addresses to providers or organisations Serene Communications contracts with for legitimate business objectives or those charitable work objectives we are involved in.
Where we transfer personal information for the above reasons, we utilise the aforementioned safeguarding measures and mechanisms to ensure that your personal data is always safe and secure.
Further information
To make a complaint
Serene Communications only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy notice and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws. If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to make a complaint with the supervisory authority.
Make the complaint in the first instance to:
Serene Communications Ltd
Soroush Fadaei – Data Controller: Soroush@serenecommunications.com
The Dormers, Lower Street, Ruscombe, Stroud GL6 6BU
Telephone: 01453 756675
www.serenecommunications.com
Report a concern:
Information Commissioners Office (ICO) – Supervisory Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SKP 5AF Telephone: 0303 123 1113
www.ico.org.uk
Cookie notice
A cookie is a piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user’s computer by the user’s web browser while the user is browsing. When you visit a site that uses cookies for the first time, a cookie is downloaded onto your computer/mobile device so that the next time you visit that site, your device will remember useful information such as items added in the shopping cart, visited pages or logging in options.
Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or to work more efficiently, and our site relies on cookies to optimise user experience and for features and services to function properly.
Most web browsers allow some control to restrict or block cookies through the browser settings, however if you disable cookies you may find this affects your ability to use certain parts of our website or services. For more information about cookies visit: https://www.aboutcookies.org
Changes to Serene Communications’ Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy will be updated from time to time. Therefore, you may wish to revisit each time you are requested to provide us with information.
Serene Communications Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 04929045). Registered office: The Dormers, Lower Street, Ruscombe, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 6BU, UK.
Serene Communications, a values-based training social business