Privacy Policy
Introduction
The North Thames GMS respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.
This privacy notice describes why and how we collect and use personal data and provides information about your rights. It applies to personal data provided to us, both by individuals themselves or by third parties.
Last updated January 2023.
Who we are
The North Thames GMS is one of seven regional services in England responsible for providing genomic and genetic testing as part of the new Genomic Medicine Service in the NHS. We will provide all core rare and inherited disease and cancer genomic testing services for the population of north, west and east London, and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
Our website address is: norththamesgenomics.nhs.uk.
What personal data we collect
We may collect certain information or data about you in various ways. The main circumstances we do so are below;
- When you submit enquiries or feedback through one of our website forms, leave a comment or sign up for email newsletters, or book a place at a North Thames GMS event we may collect your name, email address, telephone number and other information.
- When you use our website we will collect:
- Your IP address, and details of web browser and which version of it you used
- Information on how you use our website, using cookies, that will help us improve the website
- Details of transactions you carry out through our website including training and events
- When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address.
- When you participate in any of our projects or programmes we may collect your name, contact and other details.
- When you attend a course or conference we may collect images of you in films or photographs or, in respect of contributions you may make, audio recording. We make delegates aware of this in advance, through an additional notice which outlines opt-out procedures.
- When you contact us directly, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
How we use your personal information
We may use your personal information:
- To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us, or to process your booking in relation to an event or course we are organising
- To make you aware of related opportunities (but only with your consent where required)
- To notify you of any changes to our information
- To assist with any contractual obligations between us
- To administer a project or programme you participate in
- To administer any courses or awards that you participate in
- To provide a record of, or to promote and market a course, conference or award using images and film taken on the day.
- Conduct surveys and process your response to any survey you participate in for research, evaluation and statistical purpose
- To communicate with you regarding our aims and activities
Special categories data
We do not collect any special categories data through your use of our website. There may be additional services on our website which may collect special categories data, and where this is the case a separate privacy notice will be provided detailing what information is collected and why. Please ensure that you review these notices at the time.
The basis for processing your personal information
Data protection legislation requires that we meet certain conditions before we are allowed to use your data in the manner described in this notice, including having a “legal basis” for the processing. These bases are explained below.
- Consent: When you have given us your consent to process your personal data.
- Legitimate interests: The processing of your personal data may be necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or by fundamental rights and freedoms which require protection of personal data.
Some of the ways we process your data are explained below:
- Information and Services: We need to process your personal data when we provide you with information and services that you have requested from us. We do so because it is necessary for our legitimate interests and/or because it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
- Marketing: When we send marketing communications to you at a business email address, we do so because it is necessary for our legitimate interests. Our legitimate interests include disseminating highlights of what has been happening within the North Thames GMS, as well highlighting job vacancies and relevant courses, in order to fulfil our purpose. You can request that we stop sending you marketing communications at any time. In respect of personal email addresses, we only send you marketing with your explicit consent and you can opt out at any time.
- Publicly available sources: We may gather limited personal data from publicly available sources, so we can contact individuals who we think will be interested in our events or publications. We do so in connection with our legitimate interests.
- Filming and photography at events: We (or a third party) sometimes carry out filming or photography at events as part of our publicity/marketing output. We do so because it is necessary for our legitimate interests in promoting the work we do. We make delegates aware of this in advance, through an additional notice which outlines opt-out procedures.
- Other bases for processing: We may need to process your personal data for compliance with our legal obligations, including where it is necessary for the prevention and detection of crime, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Cookies
Cookies are small files sent by web servers to your web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome) and stored on your computer’s hard drive.
The information is then sent back to the server each time the browser loads a website page from the same server. This enables a web server to identify and track individual web browsers.
There are two main kinds of cookies: session cookies and persistent cookies. Session cookies are deleted from your computer when you close your browser, whereas persistent cookies remain stored on your computer until deleted, or until they reach their expiry date.
North Thames Genomics uses certain essential cookies which are needed to enable the provision of our website’s core service, which is to provide information about the hospital’s service.
In addition to these essential cookies, the cookies that follow are not essential to provide the core service but do help us to improve our website experience. By using our website you are consenting to these cookies being placed on your browser, however you can disable them using your browser settings. Details of how to do this are listed below.
North Thames Genomics uses Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on your computer. Although these cookies are not essential to the core function of the website, they are useful in enabling the hospital to measure the performance of our website, enabling us to improve our online experience for patients, families and medical staff.
Google Analytics does not collect any personal information such as your name, address or contact details. All the information collected is anonymous. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store and use this information. Google’s privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html
When you arrive on our website Google Analytics will place the following four cookies on your computer:
The _utma cookie helps us to identify whether you are a new or returning visitor, or how long it has been since you last visited our site. This helps us to identify what content is most useful for each type of visitor, and to assess whether our website is successful at providing useful content that means people want to come back. It is what is called a persistent cookie, which means it doesn’t expire and stays on your computer unless you choose to delete it.
Purpose: determining visitor session
The _utmb and _utmc cookies work together to calculate the time you spend on our site. The _utmb cookie takes a timestamp of the exact time you enter our site, and the utmc cookie takes a timestamp of the exact time you leave. Both the _utmb and _utmc cookies are ‘session’ cookies, which mean they expire at the end of your session.
The information they provide helps us to understand whether pages are useful and engaging. For example, if 100 people visit a page and the average time on the page is just five seconds, we know that page is not very useful and people do not find the page interesting. If the page has an average visit time of three minutes we can see the content is working and can use this information to help us improve content on underperforming pages.
Purpose: tracking traffic sources and navigation
When you reach our site via a search engine result, a direct link, or an ad that links to your page, Google Analytics stores the type of referral information in the _utmz cookie. It provides us with the search term you typed into your search engine; which site you were on before you arrived; if the link was in an email, which email you received; if you clicked on an advert; or whether you typed our web address directly into your browser. The expiration date for the cookie is set as six months into the future. This cookie gets updated with each subsequent page you visit, and is therefore the cookie used to determine which pages you have visited on our site.
We use this information in a number of ways. For example, to understand what users are searching for on Google before arriving on our site, enabling us to better prioritise the work of our online editorial team.
North Thames Genomics uses the Facebook ‘Like’ and ‘Recommend’ buttons on our website. As a result Facebook places the following cookies on your browser when you visit our website:
W
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
c_user
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
csm
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
datr
This is a persistent cookie and expires 23 months from the day it is set.
locale
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
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This is a persistent cookie and expires 23 months from the day it is set.
s
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
xs
This is a session cookie and expires upon exit.
If you would like to prevent cookies from being set by this site, or any other, the following links will assist in that aim:
Firefox
How to change your cookie settings in Firefox
Internet Explorer
How to change your cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Google Chrome
How to change your cookie settings in Google Chrome
Safari (iOS)
How to change your cookie settings in Safari (iOS)
Android
How to change your cookie settings in Android
Embedded content from other websites
Our website has links to other websites. Please be aware that this policy covers only our website. You are advised to refer to other websites’ privacy policies or statements if you are concerned about how they use your data.
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Analytics
When you visit our website, we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard information on what pages you visit, how long you stay on each page and your IP address. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies used by Google Analytics collects information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.
Who we share your data with
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes outlined above:
- Law enforcement or other government and regulatory agencies: we may be required by law to disclose certain information to the police or another relevant authority in circumstances e.g. where we think you or someone else is at serious risk of harm.
We have never sold or shared email lists to other organisations for marketing or other purposes; nor do we share any of your personal information with them or allow third-party tracking of your visitor behaviours (see also below).
How long we retain your data
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
Under certain circumstances, you may have the following rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data:
- Right to request access to your personal data
- Right to request correction of your personal data
- Right to request erasure of your personal data
- Right to object to processing of your personal data
- Right to request restriction of the processing your personal data
- Right to request the transfer of your personal data, and
- Right to withdraw consent.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details set out below. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
How to contact us or raise a concern or complaint
If you have any concerns about this Privacy Notice, or how your personal data is being collected and processed, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact us using the details set out below:
North Thames GMS
Email: norththamesglh@nhs.net