Privacy Policy

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 

When we process your personal information for our legitimate interests, we will 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). 

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. 

We will collect information from you:- 

• When you complete an application form for one of MSV’s properties 
• Or other supplementary information forms if needed, for example our Positive Futures Service, Job Pool or Kindness fund form 
• When you sign a tenancy agreement or a licence with us 
• When you report a repair to our service centre 
• If you report an incident of anti-social behaviour or hate crime 
• If you log-in to My MSV Account or use other on-line services 
• When you respond to a survey 
• Complete an on-line form via the website such a general enquiry 
• When you interact with us on social media 
• When you email us 
• When you speak to a member of staff, either face to face or over the telephone 

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 
• 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 
• Probation services 
• Charities and voluntary organisations 
• Courts and tribunals 
• Professional bodies 
• Employment and recruitment agencies 
• Credit reference agencies 
• 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. 

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

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

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 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, so that you can return them to us at the address at the end of this policy. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Objection: You can object to the processing of your personal data. You should note that this right does not apply in all circumstances, for example, where we are processing information because it is necessary in the performance of contract we will not be able to stop processing this information. 

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. 

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. 

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 we have no lawful basis for keeping it. 

Restriction: You can ask us to restrict the personal data we use about you where you have asked for it to be erased or where you have objected to our use of it. 

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 easily transferred. 

Appeal: 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 – the Information Commissioners’ Office https://ico.org.uk, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone: 0303 123 1113. 

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