It is your right to be informed about how we collect and store your data. Which means we have to give you even more information than we do now about the way in which we use, share and store your personal information.
How we use your information
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when The Happy Newspaper collects personal information.
It applies to information we collect about:
- visitors to our websites;
- complainants and other individuals in relation to a data protection or freedom of information complaint or enquiry;
- people who use our services, eg who subscribe to our newsletter buy from our online shop or members of our subscription service.
- people who notify under the Data Protection Act;
- job applicants and our current and former employees.
Visitors to our websites
When someone visits www.thehappynewspaper.com we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be upfront about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.
Use of cookies
A number of our pages use cookies to remember:
- your display preferences, such as contrast colour settings or font size
- if you have already replied to a survey pop-up that asks you if the content was helpful or not (so you won’t be asked again)
- if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site
Also, some videos embedded in our pages use a cookie to anonymously gather statistics on how you got there and what videos you visited.
Enabling these cookies is not strictly necessary for the website to work but it will provide you with a better browsing experience. You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that some features of this site may not work as intended.
The cookie-related information is not used to identify you personally and the pattern data is fully under our control. These cookies are not used for any purpose other than those described here.
How to control cookies
You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see aboutcookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.
E-newsletter
We use a third-party provider, MailChimp, to deliver our newsletters. We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies including clear gifs to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletter. Their Privacy Policy can be found here.
WordPress
We use a third-party service, WordPress.org, to publish our blog and webshop. We use a standard WordPress service to collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example, the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it. WordPress requires visitors that want to post a comment to enter a name and email address. For more information about how WordPress processes data, please see their privacy notice.
If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored within those relevant accounts. It will not be shared with any other organisations.
Woocommerce
We use a third party service Woocommerce to run our ecommerce shop on our website. Woocommerce is run by Bubblestorm Management (Pty) Ltd. On some pages, you can order products, make requests, and register to receive materials. The types of personal information collected at these pages are:
- Name
- Address
- E-mail address
- Phone number
- IP Address
- Credit/Debit Card Information
The information you provide about yourself when placing an order is used only to complete that order. This information is not shared with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order.
For more information about how Woocommerce processes data, please see Woocommerce’s privacy notice or contact support@woocommerce.com.
Payments
We use third party payment services Paypal, Stripe and Apple pay to process payments. We do not hold your payment details these are stored by the 3rd party provider. For more information about how they process data please see Paypal, Stripe or Apple privacy notices.
People who email us
We will monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.
People who make a complaint to us
When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.
We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We do compile and publish statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone.
We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.
We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for two years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘need to know’ principle.
Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.
When we take enforcement action against someone, we may publish the identity of the defendant in our Annual Report or elsewhere. Usually, we do not identify any complainants unless the details have already been made public.
Job applicants, current and former employees
The Happy Newspaper is the data controller for the information you provide during the process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information please contact us at thehappynewspaper@gmail.com.
What will we do with the information you provide to us? All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.
We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
What information do we ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.
The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t.
Application stage
We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.
You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.
Shortlisting
Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details or with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it.
Assessments
We might ask you to participate in assessment days; complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires; and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes. This information is held by the ProperPost.co.uk
If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we may ask if you would like your details to be retained in our talent pool for a period of six months. If you say yes, we would proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise.
Conditional offer
If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.
You will therefore be required to provide:
- Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions. We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work.
If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:
- Bank details – to process salary payments
- Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
- Membership of a Civil Service Pension scheme – so we can send you a questionnaire to determine whether you are eligible to re-join your previous scheme.
- Post start date
Our Code of Conduct requires all staff to declare if they have any potential conflicts of interest, or if they are active within a political party. If you complete a declaration, the information will be held on your personnel file.
How long is the information retained for?
If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.
If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 6 months from the closure of the campaign.
Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example, interview notes, is retained by us for 6 months following the closure of the campaign.
Equal opportunities information is retained for 6 months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.
How we make decisions about recruitment?
Final recruitment decisions are made by hiring managers and members of our recruitment team. All of the information gathered during the application process is taken into account.
You are able to ask about decisions made about your application by speaking to your contact within our recruitment team or by emailing hellot@properpost.co.uk.
Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you.
You can read more about these rights here
Complaints or queries
The Happy Newspaper tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate.
This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of The Happy Newspaper’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below.
If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, you can contact the ICO as the statutory body which oversees data protection law – here.
Access to personal information
The Happy Newspaper tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. If we do hold information about you we will:
- give you a description of it;
- tell you why we are holding it;
- tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
- let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.
To make a request to The Happy Newspaper for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing to the address provided below.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting us.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 1 May 2018.
How to contact us
If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can email us or write to:
The Happy Newspaper, PO Box 653, Chorley, PR6 6PG, UK