About General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR)

Introduction

Mysportswear needs to gather and use certain information about individuals. These can include customers, suppliers, business contacts, employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards – and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists

The data protection policy ensures Mysportswear:

• Complies with data protection law and follow good practice
• Protects the rights of staff, customers and partners
• Is open about how it stores and processes individuals data
• Protects itself from the risks of data breach

Data Protection Law

People, risks and responsibilities

Policy Scope

This policy applies to:

• The head office of Mysportswear
• All branches affiliated branches of Mysportswear
• All staff and volunteers of Mysportswear
• All contractors, supplies and other people working on behalf of Mysportswear

It applies to all data that the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even if that information technically falls outside of the Data Protection Act 1998, This can include:

• Names of individuals
• Postal addresses
• Email addresses
• Telephone numbers
• Plus other information relating to individuals

Data Protection Risks

This policy helps to protect Mysportswear form some very real data security risks, including:

• Breaches of confidentiality – for instance, information being given out inappropriately
• Failing to offer choice – for instance, all individuals show be free to choose how the company uses data relating to them.
• Reputational Damage – for instance, the company could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with Mysportswear has some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each team that handles personal data must ensure that it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

• The Director is ultimately responsible for ensuring that Mysportswear meets its legal obligations.
• The IT Manager is responsible for:
  • Ensuring all systems , services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards.
  • Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly.
  • Evaluating any third party services the company is considering using to store or process data, For instance, cloud computing services.
• The Marketing Manager is responsible for:
  • Approving any data protection statements attached to communications such as emails and letters
  • Addressing any data protection queries from journalists or media outlets like newspapers.
  • Where necessary, working with other staff to ensure marketing initiatives abide by data protection principles.

General Staff Guidelines

• The only person able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work
• Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, employees can request it from their line managers.
• Mysportswear will provide training to all employees that need it to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
• Employees should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and follow the guidelines below.
• In particular, strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared
• Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
• Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required it should be deleted and disposed of.
• Employees should request help from their line manager or the data protection offices if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection

Data Storage

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT Manager or Data Controller.

When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

• When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked draw or filing cabinet
• Employees should make sure paper and printouts are not left where unauthorised people could see them, like on a printer
• Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required

When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts.

• Firewalls, antivirus and malware protection are in place and regularly updated
• Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees
• If data is stored on removable media (Like a CD, DVD or USB), these should be kept locked away securely when not being used
• Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers, and should be uploaded to a secured cloud computing service
• Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space
• Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line with the company’s standard backup procedure.
• Data should never be save directly to laptops, desktops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones

Data Usage

Personal data is of no value to Mysportswear unless the business can make use of it, however, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

• When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended
• Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email under insecure protocols, as this form of communication is not secure.
• Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT Manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
• Personal data should never be transferred outside of the Europeans Economic Area(EEA)
• Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data

Data Accuracy

The law requires Mysportswear to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort Mysportswear should put in ensuring its accuracy.

Its is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

• Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets
• Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, by confirming a customers details when they call
• Mysportswear will make it easy for data subjects to update the information Mysportswear holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
• Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on the stored telephone number, it should be removed from the database.
• It is the marketing managers responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

Subject Access Requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by Mysportswear are entitled to:

• Ask what information the company holds about them and why
• Ask how to gain access to it
• Be informed how to keep it up to date
• Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations

If an individual contacts the company requesting the information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller at sales@mysportswear.co.uk

The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals to not have to use this.

Individuals will be charged £10 per subject access request. The data controller will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days.

The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone make a subject access request before handing over any information.

Disclosing data for other reasons

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances, Mysportswear will disclose requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the company’s legal advisers where necessary.

Providing Information

Mysportswear aims to ensure the individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

• How the data is being used
• How to exercise their rights

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement, setting out how data relating to individuals is used by the company.

This is available on request. A version of this statement is also available on the companies website.