SideBySide

Privacy Policy and Personal Information Collection Statement

This Statement is applicable to all departments and service units of the SideBySide. Each of the terms "we", "us" or "our" shall mean, as the case may be, SideBySide or its relevant departments and service units.

1. Privacy Policy Statement

1.1 Our Pledge

SideBySide respects personal data privacy and this core value will be upheld by all staff of SideBySide. As a data user, we are fully committed to implementing and complying with the data protection principles and all relevant provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (the “Ordinance”).

We shall endeavour to ensure all collection, use, retention, disclosure, transfer, security and access of the personal data by SideBySide shall be executed in accordance with the obligations and requirements of the Ordinance.

1.2 Kinds of Personal Data Held

In SideBySide, the six broad categories of personal data held are:

• Employment-related records: Personal data and records of serving and former staff. SideBySide also collects personal data from job applicants but those of the unsuccessful applicants will be destroyed soon after completion of the recruitment exercise.
• Service user records: Personal data and records of existing and former service users.
• Donor and donation records: Personal information supplied by donors such as personal details, contact methods, bank/credit card information, etc.
• Volunteer, course instructor or supporter records, which include personal details provided by data subject participating in voluntary work, training activities, fundraising and other related activities organised by SideBySide.
• Works consultant, contractor or supplier records, which include personal details of the works consultant, contractor or supplier (including their staff who provide services to SideBySide).
• Other records, which include administrative and operational files, information collected during the course of enquiries, complaints and investigations, and personal data provided to SideBySide from individuals for participating in social work or other placement programmes, promotional and training activities organised by SideBySide.

1.3 Main Purpose of Retaining Personal Data 

In general terms, SideBySide retains personal data for the following purposes –

• Employment-related records of in-service and former employees are kept and used for human resource management purposes and operational needs, including matters such as appointment, salary and benefits, attendance, disciplinary matters, training and development, and issuance of certificates of services. Records on job applicants are collected for considering their suitability for appointment.
• Service user records are kept and used for the purposes of providing suitable and necessary assistance and/or referral in response to their application for service. The data will also be used for daily operations, staff supervision and training, monitoring and reviewing of service progress and development, communications and other related research / survey.
• Donor and donation records are kept and used for the purposes of processing donation administration, such as issue of receipts, acknowledgment, appeal for donation, donation records, and for service promotion, communications, event invitation and promotion, etc.
• Volunteer, course instructor or supporter records are kept and used for organising voluntary, training and fundraising activities, recruitment, and for recording attendance and service hours.
• Works consultant, contractor or supplier records (including their staff who provide services to SideBySide) are kept for the purposes of selecting, engaging, managing, monitoring and appraising their services and goods provided to SideBySide.
• Other records are kept for purposes which vary with the nature of records, such as handling enquiries, complaints and investigation, arranging social worker placement and their performance review, participating in activities / events provided by SideBySide, preparing statistics and carrying out research.

1.4 Practices

The Deputy Chief Executive is responsible for monitoring and supervising all service units and departments on the compliance with the Ordinance, as well as drawing up and reviewing internal data protection guidelines.

The following are maintained to ensure compliance with the Ordinance:

• A Data Protection Log Book
• Data Access Request Form (OPS003) for subject access requests of personal data held by SideBySide
• Data Correction Request Form for subject correction requests of personal data held by SideBySide

Data access and correction requests to SideBySide may be addressed to the Data Protection Officer or other assigned personnel.

1.5 Visitors to SideBySide Website

Cookies used (if any) in any part, other than online donation, in our website will not be deployed for collecting personal data. For your information, cookies are small computer files that can be stored in web surfers’ computers for the purposes of obtaining configuration information and analyzing web surfers’ viewing habits. They are commonly used to track your preferences in relation to the subject matter of the website. You may refuse to accept Cookies by modifying the relevant internet options or browsing preferences of your computer system, but to do so you may not be able to utilize or activate certain available functions in our websites.

SideBySide’s website may contain hyperlinks to other websites; we are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of such other websites.

2. Personal Information Collection Statement

2.1 Principles on Personal Information Collection

It is our principles that we will:

1. collect adequate, but not excessive, personal data by lawful and fair means only for the purpose(s) for which the personal data is originally collected, or for direct lawful purposes related to SideBySide’s services and activities;
2. take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the personal data collected or retained is accurate for the purpose for which it is to be used;
3. erase personal data which is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used; and
4. before collecting the data, inform the data subject about the purpose(s) for collecting the data and the classes of persons to whom the data may be transferred to.

2.2 Purposes of Collecting Personal Data

1. Engage volunteers or course instructors and process staff recruitment and employment-related procedures;
2. Process donation administration, such as issue of receipts, acknowledgments, appeal for donation, donation records;
3. Provide communications, fundraising and service materials related to the work of SideBySide such as newsletters and periodicals, etc.;
4. Organise fundraising, voluntary, training and promotional events / activities;
5. Provide services and referrals for service users;
6. Prepare statistics or carry out research;
7. Other purposes directly related to service, fundraising, training, and operation functions of SideBySide.

2.3 Consequence of Not Providing Data

The supply of data is voluntary except for those data specified in the data collection form as obligatory. Failure to provide such obligatory data may result in us being unable to process your request or perform the requested services.

2.4 Security and Use of Personal Data

1. All data collected will be securely stored and kept strictly confidential. We prohibit unauthorized or accidental access, process or any other purpose of using the data. We will not sell, rent, trade or otherwise transfer your data in any form to any third parties.
2. We will only use and retain the data for purposes specified in the data collection form, and only designated employees or authorized personnel who are assigned to carry out legitimate activities / functions will be permitted to use the data.
3. Personal data may be disclosed to any person or persons pursuant to any statutory or contractual obligations or as required by court of law, provided such person or persons are able to prove the required right/authority to access such information.
4. Individuals may request to stop the use of their personal data for the above purposes at any time at no charge.

2.5 Access and Correction of Personal Data

1. Under the Ordinance, individuals have the right to request access to and correction of their personal data, but not including data which have been erased after fulfillment of its purpose(s). A fee will be charged for processing data access request:

• HK$70 as administrative fee with 10 pages inclusive ( A4 size in black and white ); and
• HK$1 per additional page ( A4 size in black and white )

2. Individuals shall receive a copy of their personal data after the prescribed fees are paid.
3. All requests for data access or correction should be made in writing by lodging a completed Data Access Request Form (OPS003) or Data Correction Request Form.
4. Except for those exempted under the Ordinance, SideBySide shall, upon satisfying itself of the authenticity and validity of the access / correction request, response to all requests will normally be made no later than 40 days after receiving the request.

2.6 Amendment to this Statement

This Statement may be amended / updated from time to time, please check for the latest version on a regular basis by visiting our website at www.sidebyside.org.hk. If there is any inconsistency or conflict between the English and Chinese versions of this Statement, the Chinese version shall prevail.

2.7 Enquiries

For enquiries relating to our data protection issues, or data access / correction request, or stop / resume receiving promotional information, please contact the following:

Contact Person      :   Data Protection Officer,

                                    SideBySide

Address                  :    Room 702, Duke of Windsor Social Service Building

                                    15 Hennessy Road

                                    Wanchai, Hong Kong

Telephone              :    (852) 2527 4018

Fax                         :    (852) 2865 3565

Email                     : bcd@sidebyside.org.hk

Updated as at：01.04.2023 (replace ver. 08.04.2022)    Registered Company Name: The Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong (Incorporated with limited liability by guarantee)

Please download the Privacy Policy and Personal Data Collection Statement here.