Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy sets out how Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group (MSV) will collect, store, use, share, and protect (collectively known as ‘process’) your information. If you are a customer of MSV your tenancy agreement will contain further information about how we process your information.

By giving MSV your information, or by using our website or other digital platforms, such as our on-line app, you are agreeing to this privacy policy. If you do not accept this Privacy Policy, please do not give us any information or use our website/ platforms/ My MSV Account.

This privacy policy explains when and why we collect personal information about you, how we keep it secure, how we use it and who we share it with. This privacy policy applies to information about housing applicants, residents, tenants, leaseholders, service users, job applicants, colleagues and any other customers of MSV.

This privacy policy applies to personal data held by the Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group (including SnugBug Homes and MSV Invest) whether that information is collected via our website or through any other means.

Who we are

Mosscare St Vincent’s (hereafter referred to as MSV) is a Registered Social landlord operating in the North West of England, UK. We own and manage more around 9,000 homes across the North West of England. Our vision is to create environments for people to flourish.

Any personal information provided to or gathered by MSV is controlled by the Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group, Trafford House, Chester Road, Manchester, M32 0RS.

MSV is responsible for collecting, processing, storing and safe-keeping personal and other information as part of our business activities. We manage personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (registration number ZA269136).

How We Control Your Personal Information

We have a Data Protection Officer to make sure MSV respects your rights and follows the law. If you have any concerns or questions about how we look after your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer at: DataProtection@msvhousing.co.uk or by calling 0161 226 4211.

What is personal information?

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when put together with other information can then identify a person. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

We may apply markers to your information (for example, in relation to your vulnerability or health status) to allow us to tailor and deliver services to you.

We will regularly review the personal information we hold about you and make changes to any service or information / handling processes when the law or the Information Commissioner requests such changes.

What are special categories of data?

Some information is ‘special’ and needs more protection due to its sensitivity. It’s often information you would not want widely known and is very personal to you. This is likely to include anything that can reveal your:

sexuality and sexual health
religious or philosophical beliefs
ethnicity
physical or mental health
trade union membership
political opinion
genetic/biometric data
criminal history

How we collect and use your personal information

Legal Basis for Processing:

The law allows us to use your personal information for a number of legal reasons which would include, but not limited by:

you, or your legal representative, have given consent - where required by law, and where individuals have been provided with a clear choice and the ability to withdraw consent at any time
you have entered into a contract with us and processing is necessary to deliver services or meet contractual obligations, including obligations involving other partners
there is a legal obligation - where processing is required to comply with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, or statutory obligations.
Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for legitimate business purposes
it is necessary to perform our statutory duties
it is necessary to protect someone in an emergency
it is necessary for employment purposes
you have made your information publicly available
it is necessary for legal cases
it is to the benefit of society as a whole
it is necessary to protect public health

Our legitimate interests include operating our business, fulfilling contractual obligations, ensuring system and data security, preventing fraud, supporting audit and compliance activities, and protecting partner organisation data. These interests are balanced against the rights and freedoms of individuals, with appropriate safeguards in place.

When we process your personal information for our legitimate interests, we will complete an assessment and consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights under data protection and any other relevant law. Our legitimate business interests do not automatically override your interests – we will not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

The Source of Personal Data

MSV will collect and use your information to enable us to respond to your enquiries, provide you with services and manage your relationship with us and to identify areas where we can improve the services we provide.

We collect most of our information directly from you. This happens in a number of ways, but is not limited to, when you contact us via our website or mobile app, write to us, meet with our staff or phone us.

Should you become a client of ours and receive services from us, we will use the information provided during your application in order to provide you with our services. We will also collect the following information to support you in managing your tenancy or license and to provide you with our support and action planning services:

the contact details of next of kin, relatives and other named contacts;
images of you to assist us to co-ordinate and personalise your support;
details in relation to your care and/or support requirements, including progress against your personalised outcomes;
details in relation to your well-being, physical, and mental health;
details of your contact and interactions with us in person, by telephone and in electronic and written communications;
information provided by third parties in relation to complaints or anti-social behaviour that is relevant to your support,
risk management or tenancy support;
financial records about payments relating to the housing and services you receive from us, any outstanding amounts and associated recovery action; and
information about any repairs and maintenance requirements you have during your tenancy with us

We also collect information from other third parties where it is relevant to do so. This includes, but is not limited to:

Local councils and central government departments such as the Department of Work and Pensions – for information about your benefits
Local authorities, health and social care professionals, previous care providers – for information about your health, care and support needs, and those of your household (including your children)
Previous landlords and credit agencies such as Experian – for your rental history, credit checks and information about your financial status/history
Local authorities – for information about services provided
Police and other public authority fraud departments, local authorities – for information on criminal activity, but only where it is relevant to your tenancy or application
Other residents – we may receive information in relation to complaints
Current, past or prospective employers when you apply for a role or are considered for an opportunity
Referees (where relevant and permitted)
Publicly available sources (for example professional networking sites, business websites, and public records)
Family, associates and representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing
Educators and examining bodies
Financial organisations
Auditors
Survey and research organisations
Other housing associations or trusts
Trade unions and associations
Health authorities
Enquirers and complainants
Security organisations
Professional advisers and consultants
Homes England
The Financial Conduct Authority
The Care Quality Commission
Ofsted
Probation services
Charities and voluntary organisations
Courts and tribunals
Professional bodies
Employment and recruitment agencies
Third party service providers used to support recruitment, screening, and compliance processes.
Credit reference agencies (CRA’s)
Debt collection agencies
Landlords
Press and the media
TV licensing
Other companies in the same group

We will often complete a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before we share personal information to make sure we protect your privacy and comply with the law.

We will only ask you for the data we need!

Where we can, we’ll only collect and use personal information if we need it to deliver a service or meet a requirement.

We will never sell your personal information to anyone else.

If we have consent to use your personal information, you have the right to remove it at any time. If you want to remove your consent, please contact DataProtection@msvhousing.co.uk

Sharing information with other parties including contractors and suppliers

There are some cases when we will share your information to support legitimate business purposes. We do this to make sure that we can meet your needs, and also to meet our health and safety obligations towards those delivering services on our behalf. This may include sharing information with our contractors and suppliers to allow them to carry out duties on our behalf or to meet contractual obligations we may have.

For example, we may share information to make appointments with you to carry out repairs and/or deliver services.

Sometimes we have a legal duty to provide personal information to other organisations including:

if the court orders that we provide the information;
in order to find and stop crime and fraud;
if there are serious risks to the public or our staff; or
to protect a child or a vulnerable adult.

There may also be rare occasions when the risk to others is so great that we need to share information straight away.

If this is the case, we’ll make sure that we record what information we share and our reasons for doing so. We’ll let you know what we’ve done and why if we think it is safe to do so.

We may also share data with our regulators, or law enforcement bodies where required, and professional advisers. Where data is shared outside the UK, appropriate safeguards will apply.

We will often complete a privacy impact assessment (PIA) before we share personal information to make sure we protect your privacy and comply with the law.

International data transfers outside the UK/EU and the safeguards in place

We may transfer personal data to recipients or service providers located outside the UK and/or European Economic Area (EEA).

Where such transfers take place, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. These safeguards may include the use of approved standard contractual clauses, international data transfer agreements, or transfers to countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection

Sharing information for credit reference purposes

Credit Reference and Affordability Checks

To help us assess applications, prevent fraud, and meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we may obtain information about you from credit reference agencies (CRAs).

We obtain this information via Creditsafe, which uses its data partner TransUnion to supply consumer credit and identity data.

Creditsafe Business Solutions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
FCA Firm Reference Number: 742313
TransUnion International UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
FCA Firm Reference Number: 805757

The information we receive may include data relating to your identity, credit commitments, payment history, and public record information. This data is used solely for legitimate business purposes, including creditworthiness assessment, identity verification, and fraud prevention, in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Further information about how Creditsafe and TransUnion process your personal data can be found in their respective privacy notices:

Creditsafe Privacy / Transparency Notice:
Transparency Notice | Customers & Suppliers
TransUnion CRAIN (Credit Reference Agency Information Notice):
www.transunion.co.uk/legal/privacy-centre/pc-credit-reference
TransUnion Bureau Privacy Notice:
www.transunion.co.uk/legal/privacy-centre/pc-bureau

How do we protect your information?

MSV will make sure that the personal information we hold on you is held securely including electronically and paper. Examples of our security include:

Encryption which is the process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access. MSV use encryption to protect personal information transmitted online.

Pseudonymisation, MSV will hide parts of your personal information from view. That way somebody outside of the Association could work on your information without being able to identify the individuals who’s personal data they are dealing with.

Controlling access to systems and networks to prevent unauthorised access to your information.

Training and awareness for our staff allows us to make sure staff know how to handle information and what to do to when something goes wrong.

Regular testing of our technology and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates.

Access to Personal Information

We can provide details on what personal information we hold once you make a subject access request.

The General Data Protection Regulation gives you the right to obtain:

Confirmation that your data is being processed
Access to your personal data
Other supplementary information

Under normal circumstances, we will not charge you a there is no fee to provide this information to you.

We will endeavour to provide you with the information as soon as possible, and no later than within one month of receipt of your request. If your request is complex, we may require a two month extension to complete your request. If this is the case, we will inform you within one month of the receipt of your request to explain why the extension is necessary. We may also ask you to provide evidence to verify your identity.

If you want to make a Subject Access Request, please read through this leaflet and fill out the form, please contact DataProtection@msvhousing.co.uk so that we can support you through the process.

Retention, Accuracy and Objecting to the use of Personal Information

We will normally retain your personal information for the period as necessary to maintain your tenancy or to provide you with the services/ products required unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law or necessary to defend legal claims. Data used for credit reference or affordability checks is retained only for as long as required and then securely deleted.

In accordance with General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to have your personal data corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete. You also have the right to erasure of your personal data. Where data is provided on the basis of your consent you have a right to withdraw this at any time.

You also have the right to object to:

Processing based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest
Direct marketing
Processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research.

You have several rights which allow you to choose and control how we use your data. These rights are explained below. If you would like to exercise these rights, please see the Contact us section of our website for details of how to get in touch:

Right of Access: You have the right to ask us what personal information we hold about you, and to request a copy, free of charge. Please note if we consider that the request is manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive, we can charge a reasonable fee. This fee will be based on the administrative cost of providing the information.

Right to Rectification: If you think that the personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have a right to request that it be rectified.

Right to Erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal data where it is no longer necessary for us to use it, where you have withdrawn consent (if we process based on consent), or where there is no lawful reason for us to continue processing it.

Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we limit how we use your personal data in certain circumstances.

Right to Data Portability: You can ask us to provide you, or a third party (if possible), with some of the personal data we hold about you in a structured, commonly used, electronic form, so that it can be transferred to another organisation where technically feasible.

Right to Object: You can object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests or where data is used for direct marketing.

Transparency: You have the right to be informed about how we are using your data. If you think we are doing something with your information that we have not told you about in this Privacy Notice, you can object to this.

Withdrawal of consent: if we are processing your data based on your consent, you can withdraw this consent at any time. Where this is the case we may no longer be able to provide the relevant service to you.

The Provision of Personal Data

The provision of certain personal data is primarily contractual and, in some circumstances, required to meet legal and regulatory obligations.

Personal data is required to:

enter into and perform contracts with customers, suppliers, or business partners.

process orders, manage accounts, and deliver goods and services.

verify identity and prevent fraud; and

comply with applicable legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations.

What are the consequences of not providing MSV with your data?

If you choose not to provide the personal data, we request:

we may be unable to enter into a contract with you.

we may be unable to fulfil orders, supply goods, or provide services.

we may be unable to conduct necessary verification, compliance, or fraud prevention checks; and

as a result, our services may be delayed, restricted, or declined.

Where personal data is requested for optional purposes, such as marketing communications, providing this data is not mandatory, you may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting your ability to receive goods or services from us.

Non-Automated Decision Making and Profiling

We may use automated systems and tools to support certain business processes, such as risk assessment, fraud prevention, affordability checks, identity verification, or record management.

These tools may analyse personal data using predefined criteria or rules to generate indicators, scores, or recommendations. However, we do not make decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals based solely on automated processing. Any such decisions are subject to meaningful human review.

The use of these tools may influence the speed or level of review applied to an application or request, but individuals will not be subject to automatic rejection or adverse decisions without human involvement.

The Right to Complain

If you are not satisfied with the way that we have dealt with your personal data, please let us know and we will try and resolve your concerns. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can make a formal complaint through our website.

If you are still not happy with our response, you have the right to appeal directly to the regulator:

Information Commissioners’ Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF.

Telephone: 0303 123 1113.
Website: https://ico.org.uk

Visitors to our websites

We use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details which shows us ‘visitor behaviour’ on our Site. 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 up front 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 by Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group

You can read more about how we use cookies on our Cookies page.

Other people’s cookies

We use videos from YouTube and Vimeo and feeds from other websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These websites place cookies on your device when watching or viewing these pages.

Turning off cookies

You can turn cookies off to prevent them being downloaded on to your computer or other device by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

Further information on cookies can be found at AboutCookies.org. You can also opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics. 

Links to other websites

This privacy policy does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites, for example Local Authority Choice Based Lettings systems. We encourage you to read the Privacy Policies on the other websites you visit.

Supervisory Authority

In the event that you believe that there has been a personal data breach, complaint or for independent guidance in regards to Data Protection, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office .

Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House 
Water Lane 
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number.

Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk or email casework@ico.org.uk. 

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated in December 2023.

How to contact us

If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can contact us here or email enquiry@msvhousing.co.uk or write to us at:-

Mosscare St Vincent’s Housing Group
7th Floor
Trafford House
Chester Road
Old Trafford
Manchester
M32 0RS

Other people’s cookies

We use videos from YouTube and Vimeo and feeds from other websites such as Facebook and Twitter. These websites place cookies on your device when watching or viewing these pages.

Turning off cookies

Further information on cookies can be found at AboutCookies.org. You can also opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics.

Links to other websites

Supervisory Authority

In the event that you believe that there has been a personal data breach, complaint or for independent guidance in regards to Data Protection, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office .

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number.

Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk or email casework@ico.org.uk.