Who we are
Our website is: youcanadopt.co.uk or adoptionengland.co.uk.
This website is operated by Adoption England, representing as You Can Adopt (“we”, “us” or “our”).
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your information, you can contact us at:
Email: nationalwork@nationaladoption.leeds.gov.uk
We take the privacy of visitors to our website seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who we may share it with and the rights you have in relation to your personal information.
Information we collect
Depending on how you use the website, we may collect the following types of information:
- information you provide to us through contact forms or other forms on the website;
- your name and contact details, where you choose to provide them;
- information contained in messages or enquiries you send to us;
- technical information about your device and browser, such as IP address, browser type and operating system;
- information about how you use the website, including pages visited, approximate location, referring website and interactions with the site;
- information collected through cookies and similar technologies;
- campaign and referral information, such as the campaign or source that brought you to our website;
- information about interactions with campaign links, including clicks through to adoption agency websites; and
- information about the performance and reach of our campaigns, including aggregated or statistical information.
- We only collect information that we need for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
We only collect information that we need for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
How we use your information
We may use information collected through the website to:
- operate, maintain and improve the You Can Adopt website;
- respond to enquiries and requests submitted through contact forms;
- understand how people use the website;
- monitor website performance and security;
- understand where visitors have come from;
- measure the effectiveness of our advertising, communications and campaigns;
- understand how campaigns generate visits and click-throughs to adoption agency websites;
- measure general campaign activity, reach and engagement;
- produce statistics and reports about website and campaign performance;
- improve our campaigns, content and user experience;
- detect, prevent and investigate fraud, misuse or security incidents; and
- comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
Where possible, campaign reporting will use aggregated or otherwise de-identified information rather than information that directly identifies an individual.
Campaign and referral tracking
You Can Adopt runs campaigns designed to encourage people to learn more about adoption and, where appropriate, visit adoption agency websites.
To understand whether these campaigns are working, we may use campaign tracking technologies and referral information.
For example, links to adoption agencies or campaign landing pages may contain campaign or referral information that allows us to identify:
- which campaign generated a visit;
- which advertising channel or source generated a visit;
- which campaign link was clicked;
- which adoption agency website was selected;
- when a campaign interaction took place; and
- aggregated numbers of visits and click-throughs associated with particular campaigns.
This information helps us understand which campaigns and communications are effective and how people move from You Can Adopt to adoption agency websites.
Where campaign information is combined with information that can identify an individual, or can reasonably be linked to an identifiable individual or device, we will treat it as personal data and process it in accordance with applicable data protection law.
We do not use campaign tracking to make decisions about an individual’s eligibility to adopt or to assess whether an individual is suitable to adopt.
Lawful bases for using personal information
Where the UK GDPR applies, we rely on one or more lawful bases for processing personal information, depending on the circumstances.
These may include:
Legitimate interests: We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as operating and improving the website, understanding website usage, evaluating campaigns, measuring referrals and protecting the security of our website, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
Consent: Where consent is required, including for certain non-essential cookies and similar tracking technologies, we will ask for your consent before using them. You can withdraw consent at any time through the relevant cookie settings or by contacting us.
Legal obligation: We may process information where this is necessary for us to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Contract: Where applicable, we may process information where this is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract.
The lawful basis used will depend on the particular processing activity.
Cookies and similar technologies
Our website may use cookies and other technologies such as pixels, tags, scripts and link-tracking technologies.
Some cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. Other cookies or similar technologies may be used for purposes such as:
- analytics;
- understanding website usage;
- measuring campaign performance;
- tracking referrals and click-throughs;
- remembering preferences; and
- measuring the effectiveness of communications or advertising.
Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before placing or using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.
You can also control cookies through your browser settings, although disabling certain cookies may affect how the website functions.
Our use of cookies and similar technologies is subject to applicable privacy and electronic communications laws. The ICO’s guidance confirms that these rules can apply not only to conventional cookies but also to technologies including tracking pixels, link decoration and navigational tracking, web storage, scripts and tags.
Website analytics
We may use analytics services to understand how visitors use our website.
Analytics information may include:
- pages visited;
- time spent on pages;
- browser and device information;
- approximate geographic information;
- referring sources;
- interactions with the website; and
- campaign or referral information.
We use analytics, such as Google Analytics, to understand website performance and improve the website and our campaigns.
Where analytics technologies require consent, we will obtain consent before using them.
Contact forms
If you contact us using a form on our website, we may collect the information you provide, such as your name, email address and the contents of your message.
We may also collect technical information associated with the submission, such as:
- the date and time of submission;
- IP address;
- browser and device information; and
- other technical information generated when the form is submitted.
We use this information to respond to your enquiry, administer the website, protect against spam and misuse, and maintain appropriate records.
We will not use information submitted through a contact form for unrelated marketing purposes unless we have a lawful basis to do so.
Embedded content
Some pages on our website may contain embedded content from third-party services, such as videos, maps, social media content or other externally hosted material.
Embedded content from another website may behave in the same way as if you had visited that third-party website directly. Those services may therefore collect information about you, use cookies or similar technologies, and collect information about your interaction with the embedded content.
Examples may include:
- YouTube;
- Vimeo; and
- other third-party services that we may use from time to time.
We recommend reviewing the privacy information of those third-party providers for further details about how they process information.
Hosted video
We may use video content hosted by third-party providers, including YouTube or Vimeo.
Depending on how the video is embedded and your cookie preferences, the provider may receive information about your device or interaction with the video.
You can find more information about their privacy practices here:
Links to adoption agencies and other websites
You Can Adopt provides links to external adoption agencies and other organisations.
When you click a link that takes you away from the You Can Adopt website, you may be visiting a website operated by another organisation. That organisation will have its own privacy policy and terms of use.
We may record that a link was clicked for campaign measurement and reporting purposes, as described in the Campaign and referral tracking section above.
Once you leave the You Can Adopt website, we are not responsible for how the external website collects or uses your information.
We recommend reading the privacy policy of any external website you visit.
International transfers
Some of the third-party service providers we use may process information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place, in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Security
We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction.
However, no transmission or storage of information online can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you may have rights under UK data protection law, including 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 delete your personal information;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information;
- object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;
- ask for your information to be provided to you or another organisation in a portable format, where applicable; and
- withdraw consent where we rely on consent as our lawful basis.
These rights are subject to certain exceptions and limitations under data protection law.
If you would like to exercise a right, please contact us using the details at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.
Withdrawing consent
Where we rely on your consent to process personal information, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
For email communications, you can use the unsubscribe option included in the relevant email or contact us directly.
Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we have used your personal information, please contact us first using the details above so that we can try to resolve your concern.
You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
You can find information about contacting the ICO on its website:
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the website, the services we use, our data processing activities or applicable legal requirements.
When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
We recommend checking this page periodically to stay informed about how we use information.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal information, please contact:
Adoption England
Email: nationalwork@nationaladoption.leeds.gov.uk
Website: adoptionengland.co.uk