Privacy – UK, EU
We are Better Impact Software Limited, a software company which provides solutions to charities and non-profits to help them manage volunteers, donations and members. We refer to ourselves as Better Impact in this notice.
This notice provides information about the types of personal information we collect about you as part of our activities and when you engage with us. It also provides information about how we will use your personal information and your rights over your personal information. See Section 3 for more information.
1. Who we are and how to get in touch
We are Better Impact Software Limited, a limited company based in England. Our company number is 07709427. Our principal place of operation is: Better Impact Software Ltd. c/o Mindspace, 8th Floor, 9 Appold Street London, EC2A 2AP and our email address is privacy@betterimpact.co.uk
2. What is personal information?
When we use the term personal information we mean any information that could be used to identify you. At its simplest, this includes your name and your email address. Personal information will also include your associated charities, your profile picture and any feedback about your experience.
3. What does this notice cover?
This notice is about our suite of software products, the Donor Impact Software, the Member Impact Software and the Volunteer Impact software (together the Software), as well as our general business activities. Our customers are charities and non-profit organisations. The Software is a charity / non-profit management platform, with volunteer, donor and/or member (end user) profiles, and tools that include applications, communications, training, scheduling and reporting functionality. Most of the time, we use personal information of the end users exclusively on behalf of our customers. For example, when:
- Customers import their end user records into the Software
- Customers add custom fields to end user profiles (like CPR certification for volunteers)
- Customers schedule volunteers based upon availability
- Customers track donations made by donors
When this is the case, we will act as a processor on behalf of our customers, and you should ask the relevant charity or non-profit for more information about how they use your personal information. We will also act as a processor on behalf of our customers when our customers use our Client Impact Software, which connects the beneficiaries (or clients) of a charity or non-profit with relevant volunteers. We will never use personal information held in the Client Impact Software for our own purposes.
However, the Software is also a useful tool for end users – especially when you are associated with more than one charity or non-profit. It helps you keep a record of your engagement with these organisations. This means that we will use limited amounts of your personal information for certain specific purposes. These are described more in section 6 below.
This notice also covers our general business activities – for example, when we work with customers or suppliers.
If we process your personal information in a new way (for example, through a different software product) we may provide you with new privacy notices with more information.
4. Whose personal information we use
We collect and use personal information about people who are involved in Better Impact and the Software, or who we feel could be useful to Better Impact. For example:
- Individuals who volunteer with customers
- Individuals who donate to customers
- Individuals who are members of customers
- Individuals who are clients of customers
- Individuals who act as administrators at customers
- Contacts at customers (former, current, and prospective customers)
- Contacts at suppliers
You are not under any statutory or contractual requirement to provide us with your personal information. But if you do not do so, you may not be able to use the Software.
5. How we obtain your personal information
We collect your personal information from three sources:
- Directly from you
For example, when you upload a picture to your profile on the Software.
- Indirectly from another source
For example, when customers upload volunteer information directly into the Software.
- When it is available publicly
For example, we may identify customer contacts from a prospective customer’s website.
6. The personal information we collect and use
The personal information that we collect and use about you includes, but is not restricted to:
- personal details such as full name, address, personal email address and phone numbers
- details about your relationship with Better Impact (for example, a customer or prospective customer, a volunteer with a customer, a donor to a customer, a member of a customer or a supplier)
- username and password for the Software
- I.P. address when you log in
- your photograph (if you have a profile on the Software)
- your role within your organisation (for example, if you are a customer contact or a supplier)
- records of your volunteering with customers (if you are a volunteer)
- records of your donations to customers (if you are a donor)
- records of your membership with a customer (if you are a member)
- the date you are registered with the Software, and the date(s) you cease using the Software with a particular customer
- records of your interaction with us (for example, emails)
- information about your use of the Software (for example, when you log into the Software and the browser you use)
- the terms of your relationship with Better Impact (for example, a contract for services for a supplier)
7. More sensitive personal information
Certain types of personal information are sensitive and need more protection. For example, information about your race or ethnic origins, political opinions, sex life or sexual orientation, religious beliefs, health information, biometric and genetic data. There are also special rules about the use of criminal information (information about criminal convictions or allegations about criminal convictions).
We will not normally collect this type of information. We will only process these types of personal information about you if we have a valid reason for doing so and only if the law allows us to do so.
8. What we do with your personal information
We use your personal information to help us run Better Impact. Specifically, we use your personal information to:
- work with customers to provide the Software (including maintenance and ongoing development)
- pre-populate contact details into forms, when you choose to become associated with another customer (so that you do not need to enter your personal information for each customer with which you work)
- provide volunteers and donors with records of their engagement with customers
- identify new prospective customers
- consider and respond to any complaints or requests made to us
- promote Better Impact and the Software in particular (only when customer contacts have consented to provide testimonials)
- analyse, evaluate and improve Better Impact and the Software (including our overall strategy)
- run Better Impact (for example, procuring services, considering and applying for new avenues of funding, considering new customers and administering our existing relationships with customers – for the record we do not use end user personal information for these purposes)
- satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us (for example, reporting to Companies House or HM Revenue and Customs)
- establish, defend or enforce legal claims
9. When we will get in touch
We will never use end user contact details to get in touch for anything other than issues with the Software (for example, to reset your password should you forget it).
If you give us your contact details as a prospective customer you may receive follow up information from us directly, including news about the Software, other product offerings, as well as about any specific information you have requested. Some of these communications are administrative (for example to confirm details about your query) but others are to promote Better Impact and our products.
We will only send promotional communications to your personal email address where you’ve requested to receive it. We may also send promotional materials via email to your work email address (if you work at a company, partnership or other incorporated body) if we feel that you may be interested in hearing more about Better Impact and our services.
You can opt out of receiving such automated promotional communications at any time. To opt out of emails, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our messages.
10. Our lawful bases and grounds for using your personal information
We can only use your personal information if we have a valid reason. This is known as a “lawful basis of processing”. Different lawful bases of processing will apply to the different ways in which we use your personal information. Below we explain the lawful bases which we think apply to our use of your personal information:
- Legitimate interests
This is a flexible lawful basis. It allows us to use your personal information, provided that:
- We have a good reason to do so. For example, we want to make volunteering for multiple organisations as easy as possible, so we pre-populate volunteer profiles when you volunteer for more than one of our customers.
- It’s reasonably necessary for us to use your personal information for the reason we’ve identified above.
- It fits with your rights, and doesn’t affect you unfairly. Your rights are explained in section 14
When we rely on legitimate interests as a lawful basis, our use of your personal information must be fair and balanced, and we need to consider the points above.
- Consent
This is where we ask your permission to use your personal information. For example, when we ask you to provide a testimonial to promote the Software.
- Legal obligation
This is where we need to process your personal information to comply with a legal obligation. For example, we are under a legal obligation to report to HM Revenue and Customs about our finances.
- Where it is necessary for the performance of a contract (either with you or for your benefit). For example, we need your email to give you a username and password for access to the Software.
11. When we share your personal information
We work closely with our customers, and so if you engage with more than one customer (as a volunteer or donor or member), then we will share basic elements of your personal information with the relevant customers. As mentioned above, this is simply to facilitate you working with multiple charities and non-profits. Information which is specific to a customer (which we process on behalf of that customer) will never be shared with other customers.
Better Impact is also part of a global group, with companies based in Canada, the US and Australia. While this notice only applies to Better Impact in the UK, we may share your personal information with our group companies for the purposes outlined in section 8.
We use suppliers to help us run Better Impact. For example, we use Better Impact, Inc to create the Software and manage our database. We make sure there are written agreements with our suppliers that requires them to keep your personal information safe, and only use any personal information in line with our instructions.
If we share your information with any other third party, we will let you know in advance where reasonably possible.
There are other circumstances where we may need to share your personal information, for example:
- if we transfer the running of Better Impact (or any part or product of Better Impact) to another organisation;
- with our professional advisors e.g. lawyers, where necessary to protect our or a third party’s interests;
- if we are under any legal or regulatory obligation to do so; and
- in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings, in order to establish, exercise or defend our or a third party’s legal rights.
12. How we keep your personal information safe and international data transfers
It’s our job to keep your personal information safe and secure. We have security measures in place to protect your personal information, and we provide training to our staff about how to keep personal information safe.
Our servers are hosted in Canada. The European Commission has determined that Canadian data privacy laws offer an adequate level of protection to personal information transferred from the UK. As mentioned in section 11, we have group companies based in Australia, the US, and Canada. This means that it is possible that personal information we collect about you may be transferred to and stored in a location outside of the UK or the EEA. Customers have the opportunity in the Software to opt-out of Better Impact sharing your personal information with our group companies in the US and Australia. If you have any questions, you should check with your relevant charity or non-profit.
13. How long do we keep your personal information
We keep your personal information for as long as we reasonably need to use it for the reasons we set out in section 8. If your relationship with a charity customer ends, then we will disassociate your record from that charity customer. You will still be able to access your basic profile with records of your engagement. We will generally retain your profile for two (2) years after your profile ceases to be associated with a customer, provided that the profile is not accessed by the end user. This is just in case you choose to be associated with another customer in the future or want access to your profile for your own processes.
However, we will carefully consider what information we need and whether any of your personal information can be deleted before that time.
We may also retain personal information for longer periods where we are required to do so for legal or regulatory reasons, such as tax and accounting.
Please note that the customer may retain your personal information in accordance with their own data retention practices. You should ask your relevant charity / non-profit for information about their retention practices as well reach out to it/them first, before reaching out to Better Impact regarding your rights as outlined below.
14. Your rights
When we use your personal information you have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of your personal information.
We may ask you for proof of your identity (for example, a copy of your passport). If we are satisfied with proof of your identity, we will give you a copy of your personal information, unless an exemption applies. If you want to know more about how to request your personal information, the Information Commissioner’s Office (or “ICO” for short) has useful guidance: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/your-right-to-get-copies-of-your-data/
- Ask that we erase the personal information we hold about you.
We may not be able to erase your personal information (for example, we may need to keep your personal information for a legal reason or we may be required to retain your personal information by a customer), but we will consider your request and let you know.
- Ask that we correct any personal information that we hold about you which you believe to be inaccurate.
- Ask that we restrict the use of your personal information if you believe that the use of your personal information is wrong, or that we don’t have a valid reason for using your personal information.
- To change your mind and withdraw your consent where you have provided your consent for use of your personal information.
- Ask us to stop using your personal information, if we are using it on the basis of legitimate interests.
We may not need to stop, but we will need to show a good reason to continue to use your personal information.
- Ask us to transfer or port your personal information to a third party in certain circumstances.
This will only apply when we process your personal information on the basis of consent, or where necessary for the performance of a contract.
Additionally, if we use automated decision making which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you, we must tell you. If you want to learn more about the rights discussed above or your other rights, the ICO has useful guidance on these rights and when they apply: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/
If you have any concerns about the way we are handling your personal information, or if you’ve asked a question or raised a complaint that we haven’t dealt with, you can contact the ICO directly: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
15. Updates to this notice
We may update this notice. If we update this notice in a way that significantly changes how we use your personal information, we will bring these changes to your attention where reasonably possible. Otherwise, you can access the latest version of this notice on our website.
Version: 2.0
Dated: September 2020