Data Privacy Notice for research participants
As required by law, the purpose of this data privacy notice is to explain what personal information Coram Family and Childcare (CFC) collects from parents, carers and other individuals who express an interest in taking part in research activities with us.
Coram Family and Childcare (“we”, “us”, “our”) is the data controller for this research participation data and are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data.
This privacy notice explains how we collect, use, store and protect your information when you register your interest in participating in research activities, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, discussion groups, workshops, consultations and other engagement activities.
Please read this notice carefully as it contains important information about your rights and how we handle your personal information.
How and what information we collect
If you register your interest in taking part in research activities, we may collect:
- Your name
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Location (postcode or general area)
- Information about your family circumstances and personal characteristics that may be relevant to research recruitment (for example, age and number of children, childcare use, school-age children, caring responsibilities, relationship to children, relationship status, age, gender and ethnicity)
- Information you choose to provide in recruitment forms or questionnaires
If you subsequently participate in a research activity, we may also collect:
- Survey responses
- Feedback and opinions shared during interviews, focus groups, workshops or discussion groups
- Notes, recordings or transcripts of research sessions where you have provided consent
- Demographic information relevant to the research project
For each research activity you are offered, we will inform you beforehand of the information that will be collected. You can choose which activities you take part in and you do not have to take part.
If you do choose to take part, you do not have to answer any questions if you do not want to.
Purposes for which we use personal information and the lawful basis
Personal data will be processed under the basis of Consent (a) under UK General Data Protection Regulation Article 6.1.
By registering your interest in taking part in research, you consent to Coram Family and Childcare holding your contact details and using them to contact you about relevant research opportunities. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the details provided below.
Some of the data we will collect is special category data, a type of personal data that is considered sensitive and requires additional protection (for example data about racial or ethnic origin). We will process your data for the purposes of this research study under these lawful bases:
Special category personal data will be processed under the basis of explicit consent (a) under GDPR Article 9.2.
Why we collect and use your information
We collect and process your personal data for the following purposes:
- To manage your registration and interest in taking part in research activities.
- To assess whether a particular research opportunity is relevant to you.
- To contact you about current and future research opportunities.
- To administer research activities and provide participant information.
- To analyse research findings and develop reports, publications and recommendations.
- To improve services, policy and practice relating to children, families and childcare.
What we will do with your data
Your contact details will only be used by authorised members of the Coram Family and Childcare research team.
If you choose to take part in a research activity such as surveys, interviews, discussion groups, and/or workshops, the information you provide may be used to:
- Understand the experiences, views and needs of families and carers.
- Inform research reports and publications.
- Support policy, practice and service development.
- Contribute to presentations, briefings, academic outputs and other public communications about research findings.
For each research activity you are offered, we will send you additional information about how the information you give us will be used.
Where findings are published, responses will usually be anonymised and reported in a way that does not identify individual participants.
Direct quotations may be used in reports and publications. These will normally be anonymised unless you have specifically agreed otherwise.
If you have not consented for your details to be held for future research opportunities, your data will be deleted when findings are published in a report or publication.
Sharing your information
Your data will not be shared with anyone else outside the research team at Coram Family and Childcare, and we will not share your personal data outside of the UK.
Coram Family and Childcare often work with trusted partners to deliver research activity. The information you give us when registering your interest in research opportunities will not be shared with these partners without your consent. For each research activity you are offered, we will send you information about any partners we are working with and how data may be shared. No data will be shared without your consent.
There may be scenarios where we have a legal obligation to disclose or share your personal data for safeguarding reasons, as required by law. This is if we believed you or someone you mention is at risk of harm (for example they were going to be attacked). We will only ever disclose your personal data to these third parties to the extent we are required to do so by law. In the very rare occasion this might happen, we would always aim to talk to you about what information would be shared as well as how and when they are going to share this with others.
How long we keep your data
Contact information used to invite participants to future research opportunities will be retained for up to one year from the date of collection or most recent engagement.
During this period, we may contact you about other Coram Family and Childcare research activities that may be relevant to you. At the end of this one-year period, your contact details will be securely deleted unless you provide renewed consent for us to continue holding them.
Research data collected through surveys, interviews, focus groups and other research activities may be retained for longer where necessary for research, reporting, audit or legal purposes. Wherever possible, this information will be anonymised. When personal data is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or anonymised.
How we store and protect your information
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data that we process from unauthorised disclosure, use, alteration or destruction. All storage and handling procedures will follow Coram’s information security protocols. All data will be stored, shared, and analysed using secure systems, Coram Family and Childcare’s dedicated SharePoint site, to prevent unauthorised access. This site can only be accessed by staff at Coram Family and Childcare.
Your rights and options
Your rights relating to your personal data include:
- You have the right to access your personal data and can request copies of it and information about our processing of it
- If the personal data we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify or add to it
- Where we are using your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time
- Where we are using your personal information, you can object to us using it this way
Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how your information is used, please contact:
Coram Family and Childcare
Coram Campus
41 Brunswick Square
London WC1N 1AZ
Email: childcare@coram.org.uk
For data protection enquiries, you may also contact Coram’s Data Protection Officer, Chris Kelly, Director of People and Compliance at christine@coram.org.uk.
How to complain
If you are unhappy with how your personal information has been handled, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Changes to this privacy notice
We may update this notice (and any supplemental privacy notice), from time to time as shown in the footer. We will notify you of the changes where required by applicable law to do so.