Privacy and Cookie Policies

Privacy Policy:

Your privacy is important to us, and so this Privacy Policy states how we collect, process and protect any information that you give to us. We process your data in accordance with our agreement with you and under legitimate interests, which are described in detail below.

Who we are:

Compass Braille is a registered charity (292625). Our registered office is Compass Braille, Torch House, Torch Way, Market Harborough, LE16 9HL.

What information do we collect?

We collect information from you for a variety of reasons, including:

• To respond to your enquiry
• To provide support or a service
• When you fill in a form on our website
• When you register your interest as a volunteer or supporter
• When you apply for employment with us, we may collect personal information, such as your name, address, email and other details that enable us to identify you. We may also collect sensitive personal information relating to you and your circumstances if you receive a support service from us or ask us for very detailed advice. This might be information about your medical condition(s), for example. We need your consent to hold and use this information.
• People sometimes contact us, providing personal information about a third party. We collect that information on the understanding that you have that third party’s permission to do so.

Back to top

How do we use your information?

We use the information to respond to you, to inform future contact you have with Compass Braille and to help us understand more about who is in touch with us and why. Sometimes we may use additional information to enhance the data we have, so that we have a better understanding of our supporters.

We can use your personal information in this way because it is in our legitimate interests to provide you with the right information at the right time, to look at ways of extending our relationship with you.

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, including the right to stop using it for news-sharing purposes, or to unsubscribe from our email list at any time.

We may combine your information with other information (for example, from public records or on social media) and create a profile of your interests and preferences. We do this to help us determine whether and in what ways you might be interested in helping us or getting involved in our activities. If you’d prefer us not to use your information in this way, please contact us.

Information will only be shared amongst Compass Braille staff on a need-to-know basis.

We do analyse and report on data about the number and nature of contacts with the organisation. These reports do not contain information which enables you or other individuals to be identified.

We may, from time to time, use the experiences of our members and volunteers to explain the scope and impact of the support we provide. In these circumstances, we will either anonymise any personal/identifying information, or, we will obtain full consent from you to use your information.

In broad terms, our “legitimate interests” mean the running of Compass Braille as a charitable entity and pursuing our aims and ideals, for example, to provide a range of support and services, and promote the sector as a charity enabling people with sight loss to discover Christian faith and lead fulfilling Christian lives. In such cases, we consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights under data protection laws.

Back to top

Who do we share information with?

• We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
• We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We may pass your information to our third-party service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf (for example, to process donations and send you mailings). However, when we use third-party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service, and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes, unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of preventing fraud or other crime.

On occasions, we will provide personal data to external organisations who are working with us on a specific project or the delivery of specific services. We may also need to provide the information to a regulator such as HMRC. This is done under strict agreements regarding the security and confidentiality of all personal data.

Donors

We will not contact people unless they have expressed an interest in our work, for example, by making a donation. We will act quickly on any requests to end contact, or get in touch less frequently or in a different way. We will never sell your data.

Online payments

Compass Braille only takes online payments via PayPal and Stewardship. All payment details go through the secure servers of our third-party payment providers, PayPal and Stewardship. For more information about this and the personal details we receive (excluding bank details), please read the next section about online forms.

Back to top

Online forms

We only ask for the information we need. Forms submitted online are automatically turned into an email and sent directly to a member of staff. Alternatively, you can print out and send us the form.

How do we keep your information secure?

Compass Braille is committed to keeping your personal information safe and secure. We have appropriate and proportionate security policies and organisational and technical measures in place to help protect your personal information.

If you contact us electronically, by email or from our website, we cannot guarantee your information remains private whilst it is in transit across the internet.

How do I update or correct information, and how do I stop Compass Braille from using my information?

If you would like to update or correct details held by Compass Braille, or stop us from using your information, please contact us.

If we make contact, you will always be given the option to decline or opt out of any future communication with Compass Braille.

How long will you hold a record of my information?

We keep your data for as long as it is necessary to provide the services that you have asked for, and to meet our legal obligations to HMRC, etc. As a general rule, we will keep your data for seven years from the end of your relationship with us. However, if before that date (i) your personal information is no longer required in connection with such purpose(s), (ii) we are no longer lawfully entitled to process it, or (iii) you validly exercise your right of erasure, we will remove it from our records at the relevant time.

Back to top

How do I find out what information you hold about me?

Please use the contact form to send us an email or write to us at Compass Braille, Torch House, Torch Way, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9HL. If the request is valid, we will tell you what we can about the information we hold and supply a copy (or an agreed portion of it).

If I am under 16, can I provide personal information to Compass Braille?

If you are aged 16 or under, we would need your parent/guardian’s permission before you provide any personal information to Compass Braille.

---

Cookie Policy

Visits to the website

Analytical information allows us to evaluate and improve the accessibility and content of our website. We want our website to be as user friendly as possible. To help us understand how well the website is working (and how we can improve it!), we use third-party analytics.

Google Analytics uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website – for instance, YouTube videos may not appear or run correctly.

Back to top

Third Party Vendors:

On websites, third-party vendors are external companies or services integrated into a site to provide specific features, products, or functionality. They are independent from the main website owner and are operating under their own set of data handling rules. Examples of third-party vendors include (but are not limited to):

• Social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter
• Payment Processors, such as Stripe, PayPal, WorldPay
• Analytics, such as Google
• Security, such as reCAPTCHA
• Emails, such as MailChimp
• Content management and hosting, such as WordPress

Useful contacts

We may change this policy from time to time, so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

For any questions relating to this policy and our privacy practices, please send us an email using contact form or write to us at Compass Braille, Torch House, Torch Way, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9HL. Alternatively, you can call us on 01858 438260.

For further information, see the Information Commissioner’s guidance at www.ico.org.uk

Created: May 2026
Next review due: May 2027

Back to top