Your money is protected up to £85,000

Do you always know how your data is being used and protected by the companies you’re giving it to? Many of us don’t. As technology develops and data sharing becomes more common, data protection is becoming more and more important. That’s why new legislation known as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is being enforced on the 25th May. This will replace the existing Data Protection Act. Find out below what exactly this means for you as a customer.
As technology develops and our private data is being used and shared in countless new ways, people are understandably becoming increasingly worried about security.
There are two key reasons why GDPR is being introduced – to bring all EU member states under one common regulation, and to update regulations to reflect our new digital age.
Different countries in the EU follow different rules and regulations when it comes to data sharing and privacy, which can get quite confusing when data is being shared between people and companies in different countries. GDPR will be enforced across all 28 EU member states, meaning everyone is following the same rules!
In the UK, companies are still following the 1998 Data Protection Act to ensure the safety of people’s data. But technology and data sharing has developed a lot since 1998. This means that the current regulation may not be entirely suitable for the needs of consumers and the types of technology we’re seeing today. GDPR will replace the Data Protection Act to better protect our data from breaches and hacks.
When people talk about technology and digital developments, there’s always a focus on data. But what data do they mean? GDPR aims to protect any personal data a company holds about you – including your name, address, email address, images, social networking accounts, IP address or medical history.
It will also cover more sensitive data such as your sexual orientation, your genetics, your political views or any trade union memberships.
Essentially, GDPR will affect everyone in all 28 EU member states, from businesses big and small, to customers and consumers.
When it comes to implementing GDPR, the biggest changes will be seen by businesses rather than consumers – since they’re the ones who will have to adjust the way they handle data to align with the new legislation.
There are hefty penalties for those who don’t comply, including a fine of up to €20 million or 4% of the company’s total profit. Any data breach also needs to be reported to the relevant authorities within 72 hours, and if there’s a risk involved to the data subject (i.e the people the data concerns) they’ll have to inform their customers too.
While businesses will have to make changes to their data policies in preparation for the new regulations, consumers don’t have to do anything in particular to prepare.
That said, individual consumers will probably still notice some changes. You’ll probably find that when you buy products online or sign up to newsletters, there will be more obvious checkboxes relating to how the company can use your data – for example to send you emails, or share data with a third party.
However, GDPR also gives you a number of ‘rights’ when it comes to your data, including:
The right to be informed – you have a right to know how your data will be used by a company.
The right to access your personal data – you can ask any company to share with you the data they have about you!
The right to rectification – this just means you can update your data if it’s inaccurate or if something is missing.
The right to erasure – this means that you have the right to request that a company deletes any personal data they have about you. There are some exceptions, for example, some information can be held by employers and ex-employers for legal reasons.
The right to restrict processing – if you think there’s something wrong with the data being held about you, or you aren’t sure a company is complying to rules, you can restrict any further use of your data until the problem is resolved.
The right to data portability – this means that if you ask, companies will have to share your data with you in a way that can be read digitally – such as a pdf. This makes it easier to share information with other companies, such as your bank details when applying for a loan.
The right to object – you can object to the ways your data is being used. This should make it easier to avoid unwanted marketing communications and spam from third parties.
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – this protects you in cases where decision are being made about you based entirely on automated processes rather than a human input.
Whether or not you exercise your new rights is up to you – the main thing to remember is that they’re there if you need them.
We are committed to protecting our members’ privacy. The credit union requires any information marked as mandatory for membership to either meet legal obligations or to enable us to perform our contract with you. Where you are not able to provide us with this information, we may not be able to open an account for you. Where we request further information about you not required for these reasons, we will ask you for your consent.
How we use your personal information
Wyvern credit union may process, transfer and/or share personal information in the following ways:
For legal reasons
For performance of our contract with you
For our legitimate interests
With your consent
Sharing your personal information
We will disclose information outside the credit union:
Where we send your information
While countries in the European Economic Area all ensure rigorous data protection laws, there are parts of the world that may not be quite so rigorous and do not provide the same quality of legal protection and rights when it comes to your personal information.
The credit union does not directly send information to any country outside of the European Economic Area, however, any party receiving personal data may also process, transfer and share it for the purposes set out above and in limited circumstances this may involve sending your information to countries where data protection laws do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK.
For example, when complying with international tax regulations we may be required to report personal information to the HM Revenue and Customs which may transfer that information to tax authorities in countries where you or a connected person may be tax resident.
Retaining your information
The credit union will need to hold your information for various lengths of time depending on what we use your data for. In many cases we will hold this information for a period of time after you have left the credit union.
To read our policy for retaining members data please contact us at: admin@wyvernsandl.co.uk
Credit rating agencies
In order to process credit applications you make we will supply your personal information to credit reference agencies (CRAs) and they will give us information about you, such as about your financial history. We do this to assess creditworthiness and product suitability, check your identity, manage your account, trace and recover debts and prevent criminal activity.
We will also continue to exchange information about you with CRAs on an ongoing basis, including about your settled accounts and any debts not fully repaid on time. CRAs will share your information with other organisations. Your data will also be linked to the data of your spouse, any joint applicants or other financial associates. This may affect your ability to get credit.
The identities of the CRAs, and the ways in which they use and share personal information, are explained in more detail on:
Your Rights
Your rights under data protection regulations are:
Right to Access
You have the right to access your personal data and details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients of the personal data. Providing the rights and freedoms of others are not affected, we will supply to you a copy of your personal data.
The right to rectification
You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you corrected and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.
The right to erasure
In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay.
Those circumstances include:
However, you may not erase this data where we need it to meet a legal obligation or where it necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
The right to restrict processing
In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are:
We will only otherwise process it:
The right to object to processing
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the data is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party.
If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.
The right to data portability
To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:
You have the right to receive your personal data from us in a commonly used and machine-readable format or instruct us to send this data to another organisation. This right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
Right to withdraw consent
To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
The right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office
If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office which is responsible for data protection in the UK. You can contact them by:
Contact us about your rights
For more information about how your rights apply to your membership of the credit union or to make a request under your rights you can contact us admin@wyvernsandl.co.uk or call 01305 268444. We will aim to respond to your request or query within one month or provide an explanation of the reason for our delay.
Contact details of credit union
Compliance Director
Wyvern Credit Union
40 High East Street
Dorchester
Dorset
DT1 1HN
01305 268444
admin@wyvernsandl.co.uk
Changes to this privacy policy
We can update this Privacy Policy at any time and ideally you should check it regularly here www.wyvernsandl.co.uk/GDPR for updates. We won’t alert you for every small change, but if there are any important changes to the Policy or how we use your information we will let you know and where appropriate ask for your consent.
The three main credit reference agencies Callcredit, Equifax and Experian, (also called "credit reference agencies" or "CRAs") each use and share personal data (also called ‘bureau data’) they receive about you and/or your business that is part of or derived from or used in credit activity.
Details for the three CRAs can be found at the following websites:
Call Credit: www.callcredit.co.uk/crain
Equifax: www.equifax.co.uk/crain
Experian: www.experian.co.uk/crain