RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield & Bradford District Branch

Last updated: 6 August 2026

We care about your privacy. This policy explains how RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield & Bradford District Branch collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information, and explains the rights you have in relation to it.

1. Who we are

RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield & Bradford District Branch is a registered charity in the UK. For data protection purposes, we are the controller of personal information covered by this policy.

Registered Charity Number: 1208564
Registered Address: RSPCA Animal Home, Wade Street, Halifax, HX1 1SN
Data Protection Lead: Andy Proudfoot
Email: AndyProudfoot@rspcahalifaxhuddersfieldbradford.org.uk

2. What information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with us. This may include:

Supporters and donors

Name and contact details
Donation amount, method, and donation history
Gift Aid declarations and related tax information
Communication preferences and records of contact with us
Information you provide when taking part in fundraising activities or events
Limited information derived from publicly available sources and postcode-based demographic or affluence data, where used for fundraising analysis

Animal adoption, fostering, and surrender

Name, address, email address, and telephone number
Application and assessment information
Home-check records
Animal-related preferences, experience, and history
Other information reasonably required to assess suitability or protect animal welfare

Employees, applicants, volunteers, and trustees

We may process contact details, recruitment and employment information, emergency contact information, training records, and, where appropriate and lawful, information relating to health, safeguarding, criminal records or DBS checks. More detailed information may be provided in separate workforce or volunteer privacy notices.

Website visitors

IP address and technical browser/device information
Cookie choices
Pages visited and website usage information
Information submitted through online forms

3. How we use your information and our lawful bases

We only use personal information where we have a lawful basis under UK data protection law. The lawful basis depends on the purpose for which the information is used.

Purpose	Typical lawful basis	Further explanation
Processing donations and Gift Aid	Contract, legitimate interests, and legal obligation	For example, administering a donation, maintaining financial records, and making Gift Aid claims.
Fundraising and supporter management	Legitimate interests and, where required, consent	To manage relationships with supporters and fundraise effectively. Electronic marketing is also subject to PECR.
Newsletters and marketing communications	Consent or another lawful route permitted by PECR	You can unsubscribe or object at any time.
Adoptions, fostering, and animal surrender	Contract and legitimate interests	To process applications, assess suitability, manage placements, and protect animal welfare.
Managing employees, applicants, volunteers, and trustees	Contract, legal obligation, and legitimate interests	Additional conditions apply where special category or criminal offence information is processed.
Safeguarding, complaints, and legal or regulatory matters	Legal obligation, legitimate interests, and other applicable lawful bases	To protect people and animals, investigate concerns, and meet legal or regulatory duties.
Website operation and improvement	Legitimate interests and consent	Essential technologies may be used where necessary. Non-essential analytics or similar technologies are used only where permitted.

4. Fundraising analysis and profiling

To help us fundraise responsibly and ensure our fundraising communications are appropriate, we may analyse information we already hold about our supporters and combine it with limited information from publicly available sources and postcode-based demographic or affluence data. This may include profiling to help us understand someone’s likely interest in supporting our work and their potential capacity to give.

We use this information to help us plan and target our fundraising more effectively. We carry out this processing on the basis of our legitimate interests in raising funds effectively and sustainably to support our charitable purposes.

We do not use this profiling to make solely automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.

Your right to object: You have the right to object to your personal information being used for direct marketing, including related profiling, at any time. If you object, we will stop using your information for that purpose. We may retain limited suppression information so that your preference continues to be respected. To object, contact our Data Protection Lead using the details above.

5. Where we obtain information from

We may obtain personal information:

directly from you, including through donation, adoption, fostering, volunteering, recruitment, event, or website forms
from organisations acting on our behalf or facilitating a transaction or service
from publicly available sources, where this is lawful and relevant to our fundraising analysis
from postcode-based demographic or affluence datasets used for supporter analysis
from regulators, professional advisers, public authorities, or other organisations where this is necessary and lawful

Where we obtain information from a source other than you, we will provide the privacy information required by law within the applicable timescale, unless an exemption applies.

6. Sharing your information

We do not sell personal information. We may share information where necessary and lawful with trusted organisations such as:

HM Revenue & Customs, including for Gift Aid
banks, payment providers, and fundraising platforms
IT, cloud, website, email, and data-processing service providers
veterinary professionals and other animal-welfare partners
professional advisers, auditors, insurers, and consultants
regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts, or public authorities where required or appropriate

Where another organisation processes personal information on our behalf, we require appropriate contractual and security protections.

7. International transfers

Some of the suppliers and technology services we use may process information outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take steps to ensure an appropriate level of protection is in place, such as relying on an adequacy decision or appropriate contractual safeguards, where required by law.

8. How we keep information safe

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal information. These include:

password-protected and access-controlled systems
limiting access according to role and need
secure cloud and IT services
data protection and confidentiality training
appropriate arrangements with suppliers and processors
reviewing and responding to data-security risks and incidents

9. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably required for the purpose for which it was collected, including any legal, regulatory, accounting, animal-welfare, or safeguarding requirements. Our retention periods are reviewed periodically.

Donor and financial records: typically 6 years where required for financial or legal purposes
Adoption records: typically up to 10 years where required for animal-welfare tracking
Volunteer records: typically up to 6 years after the role ends where appropriate
Website and analytics information: according to our configured settings and applicable cookie choices

10. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

ask for access to the personal information we hold about you
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
ask us to erase your personal information
ask us to restrict how we use your personal information
object to certain processing based on legitimate interests
object at any time to direct marketing, including related profiling
receive certain information in a portable format where the right to data portability applies
withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on consent

These rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions. To exercise a right, contact our Data Protection Lead. We will respond within the applicable statutory timescale.

11. Cookies and website analytics

Our website may use essential cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the site to operate. We may also use non-essential analytics or similar technologies to understand how visitors use the site and help us improve it.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies or similar technologies will not be set unless you have chosen to allow them. You can change your cookie choices through the website’s cookie controls and through your browser settings.

Analytics information may include online identifiers and technical usage information. We do not describe analytics data as anonymous unless it has been irreversibly anonymised.

12. Automated decision-making

We do not currently make solely automated decisions about individuals that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects. If this changes, we will update our privacy information and provide any additional information required by law.

13. Data protection complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Lead so that we can investigate. We provide a clear route for raising data protection complaints, will acknowledge a complaint within 30 days, investigate it appropriately, and communicate the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator. Further information is available at www.ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes to our activities, systems, or legal requirements. The current version will be published on our website. Where a change is significant, we may take additional steps to bring it to your attention.

Legal and regulatory framework

This policy has been prepared with reference to the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR), the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, current Information Commissioner’s Office guidance, and the Code of Fundraising Practice effective from 1 November 2025.

Privacy & Cookies