Privacy Policy

Privacy Statement:

We at Down Syndrome Cork respect your right to privacy. The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to outline how we deal with any personal data you provide to us while visiting our website or interacting with our staff and services. This Statement applies only to Down Syndrome Cork and does not apply to any other branch of Down Syndrome Ireland.
Down Syndrome Cork always endeavours to be transparent, secure and responsible in how we process and control your personal data. 

Who we are:

Down Syndrome Cork is a branch of the national charity, Down Syndrome Ireland. At Down Syndrome Cork, we are dedicated to improving the quality of life of all our members and their families helping them to lead happy, healthy, and productive lives. We are a volunteer, parent led organisation that aims to support people with Down Syndrome and their families. 
Our services include education, therapies, employment preparation, social clubs, dance, fitness and sports.

What we do:

Down Syndrome Cork processes certain information (‘personal data’) relating to you, such as your name, date of birth, email address, phone number, address.  We do not process clinical data on the website, but its confidentiality is also covered by this privacy statement.   Down Syndrome Cork is responsible for the protection of all personal data processed by it and is legally considered the “data controller” of this data.   Data protection law requires us to provide you with the information contained in this statement to outline what we do, or may do, with your personal data. 

How to contact us:

Down Syndrome Cork is based at Unit 1A Ballincollig Enterprise Park, Innishmore, Ballincollig, Co. Cork P31 E822. We can be contacted
• By post at the above address with your correspondence marked for the attention of the manager.
• By email at manager@downsyndromecork.ie
• By webform at https://downsyndromecork.ie/contact

What personal data we handle:

Personal Data provided by you to Down Syndrome Cork:

We handle the personal data that you provide to us when you submit a request, register an interest in one of our services, book an event, complete a purchase of goods, make a donation, lodge a complaint, become a volunteer or provide information as a member/member’s family or simply visit our website.  This also includes when you complete a web form, send us an email, exchange information on a phone call with us or allow our website to store cookies (for further detail on our cookie policy, please see our Cookie Policy. Personal data may be stored for future communication where the user provides permission to do so.  This statement also covers the protection of information generated during therapy sessions.
Information will be shared with our head office, Down Syndrome Ireland as they manage and own our CRM and service provision databases. We will also share data with third party service providers where you have requested us to do so for an event, activity or service. Information will not be supplied to any third party for marketing or communication purposes.  ​

Personal Data not provided by you:

Down Syndrome Cork also handles personal data not collected from you. This may be data collected as part of therapy sessions or other data necessary to complete our obligations. 
Down Syndrome Cork is particularly conscious that much of the personal data that it holds falls under the legal definition of special category data (including but not limited to: data concerning health, data concerning children or data concerning a vulnerable individual). 

Personal Data processed for other functional purposes:

We also process personal data for other functional purposes. This personal data could include contact details and job application details received from applicants applying  for roles within Down Syndrome Cork; personal data processed when operating our closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems at our Ballincollig and Field of Dreams premises; and the personal data of our followers or social media users that leave comments or reactions to our posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

What we do with your data:

For the purposes of providing the services committed to by Down Syndrome Cork, Down Syndrome Cork performs the following processing operations in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Down Syndrome Cork:

1. Provides online services – Down Syndrome Cork processes personal data such as strictly necessary cookies for any user of our website www.downsyndromecork.ie and any of its subdomains.  We do so, in order for you, to use the web forms we provide for the purpose of handling enquiries, and in order for  you to consult with, and download, our online resources. To learn more about our Cookie Policy, which forms part of this data protection statement, please see our Cookie Policy. Our lawful basis for processing this data is that the provision of such services online is necessary to provide the service requested.​
2. Deal with hard copy files – although the Down Syndrome Cork endeavours to keep the majority of our records digitalised, sometimes it is necessary to process information using hard copy. For instance, our therapists must deal with hard copy documents containing personal data in order to execute their clinical duties.  These clinical files are kept in secure on-site locations. Our legal basis for such processing is that it is necessary to do so, to perform the clinical tasks requested.
3. Interact with you (in general) – Down Syndrome Cork uses your contact details to communicate with you.  Our lawful basis for processing your contact details is the fact that using your contact details to communicate with you is necessary to perform the tasks we carry out on behalf of our members.
4. Respond to your enquiries – Down Syndrome Cork analyses information provided by you, including personal data, when you submit a request for information or contact our office by email or phone.  
5. Analyse data from the website – we may process personal data such as essential cookies in order for any user of our website www.downsyndromecork.ie and any of its subdomains to use the services we provide when requested. The lawful basis for this is your consent.  For more information see our Cookie Policy.​
6. Record CCTV footage – at our Ballincollig and Field of Dreams premises we record footage through the operation of a CCTV system for the purpose of security and safety of such premises. Our legal basis for doing so is that the implementation of such recording systems is necessary to protect the health and safety of our staff and vulnerable members and is set out in our Data Privacy Impact Assessments.
7. Process job applications – we process information provided to us by job applicants in order to fill the vacancy on offer.  
8. Allow participation in events – as event organisers, we may collect personal data for inclusion in event management contact lists. The lawful basis for doing this is based on consent.
9. Manage social media accounts – Clicks on links we provide on our website to social media accounts may be counted in aggregate based on the URL and not on any personally identifiable information. We also process personal data when managing our Twitter and LinkedIn social media accounts as individuals interact with our pages on those platforms. We view comments/reactions on our accounts, and these are retained by the social media platform in question. Our lawful basis for processing is that such processing it is in Down Syndrome Cork’s legitimate interest to develop its network.

Down Syndrome Cork will provide you with specific information such as that outlined in this data protection notice in relation to any further activities (further processing) that we may need to undertake with your data. We will do so before we commence such activities, and only insofar as the purposes of those activities are compatible with the purposes of processing outlined in this document.  

In certain instances, however, we may not be able to furnish you with the information in advance of our activities when your right to receive that information is restricted in accordance with law. For example, if your data is collected on CCTV and we are legally obliged to provide the data to the Gardaí to assist with the investigation of a crime. 

What we do NOT do with your personal data:

Automated decision making – Down Syndrome Cork and the third parties which process personal data on our behalf (“processors” – see below) do not undertake any profiling or automated decision making within the meaning of those activities under data protection laws.
Direct marketing – Down Syndrome Cork and the third parties which process personal data on its behalf (“data processors” – see below) do not undertake any activity with your data for the purposes of direct marketing, within the meaning of data protection laws.  Down Syndrome Cork communicates with its members about upcoming events that may be beneficial to the member or supportive of the general aims of the charity.  
Registration of telephone conversations – Down Syndrome Cork does not audio record or retain audio recordings of phone conversations. 
Processing personal data when promoting public awareness – Down Syndrome Cork works to raise public awareness of the needs of our members within society.  We never use personal data without prior consent for this purpose.  

We are the administrators of several social media accounts (X (formerly Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram).  Although Down Syndrome Cork’s staff view messages or posts received on these social media accounts, the personal data contained in the messages/posts and any identifying information is not further processed.

How long do we keep your data?

Members data are retained for as long as they remain members of Down Syndrome Cork plus 7 years to ensure that any subsequent potential legal issues can be dealt with. Down Syndrome Cork will ensure that the subject’s rights under article 17 (‘right to be forgotten’) are also met. 

When do we transfer your data to third countries?

Down Syndrome Cork does not transfer your data to third countries. 

Who we share your data with?
Personal data processed by Down Syndrome Cork is held confidentially and is not shared with any third parties, with exceptions outlined below.
• Adapt IT has been retained as IT service providers for DS Cork.  Adapt IT has arranged for Data to be backed up with ECKO cloud service providers.  Ecko will store the data within the EU and meets GDPR requirements.  This is necessary for Down Syndrome Cork to meet its service obligations.
• Down Syndrome Cork uses ChampCloud CRM https://champcloud.com as a CRM provider.  ChampCloud stores the data within the EU and meets GDPR requirements.
• Down Syndrome Cork uses the accounting software package Xero.  This is a cloud-based system, and all data is held in a GDPR compliant manner within the EU.
• Cliniko is used as a therapy appointment tracking solution.  This is also cloud-based and all data is held in a GDPR compliant manner within the EU.

Your data rights:

Under GDPR you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. 
1. The right to be informed about the processing of your personal data;
2. The right to access your personal data;
3. The right to rectification of your personal data;
4. The right to erasure of your personal data;
5. The right to data portability;
6. The right to object to processing of your personal data and the right to withdraw consent;
7. The right to restrict processing of your personal data.

How to exercise your rights and /or make a complaint:

If you wish to contact us regarding any of your data rights listed above, please do so via the details cited in “How to Contact us” above. 
You have the right to lodge a complaint about how we handle your personal data to the competent supervisory authority, which is the Data Protection Commission.  See www.dataprotection.ie for more information.

Changes to this statement

This statement is kept under review and is subject to change. We recommend that you regularly visit Down Syndrome Cork’s website to ensure that you are consulting the latest version of the statement. You can find a reference to the date of the last update on the bottom of this statement.

Last updated: Sept 2023