Who we are
Quaker Social Action (QSA) is a registered charity (1069157) and company limited by guarantee (3524063). Our registered address is Quaker Social Action, Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
QSA is responsible for looking after your personal information and deciding how it’s used and is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
Contact us about your information
Our Data Protection Contact is Mike Jordan. You can reach him at [email protected] or on 020 8983 5030.
What this policy covers
How we handle personal information about our supporters, donors, people using our services, and people who contact us through our website.
Information we collect
- Contact details (name, address, email, phone)
- Donation and Gift Aid information
- Information you give us when applying for one of our services
- Sometimes sensitive information — see below
- Website and cookie information
We collect this when you give it to us — by donating, applying for a service, signing up for updates, filling in a form on our website, or contacting us.
Children
If you’re under 13, UK law requires us to have a parent or guardian’s permission before we can collect your personal information online — please ask them to help you sign up
Sensitive information
To provide some of our services, we may need to hold personal information about you that’s especially sensitive — for example your health, religion, financial situation, or details about a bereavement. UK data protection law calls this “special category data” and sets a higher bar for using it.
When you sign up for one of our services, we’ll explain what sensitive information we need and why, and ask for your explicit consent to hold it (Article 9(2)(a) UK GDPR). You can withdraw your consent at any time — just contact us.
We only ask for what we need to help you, and we don’t share this information outside QSA without your permission, unless we have to (see “Keeping people safe”).
Why we use your information and our lawful basis
Under UK data protection law we need a “lawful basis” for everything we do with your information. Here’s what we do and why:
- Deliver the services you’ve applied for — because you’ve asked us to (contract)
- Process donations and Gift Aid — to fulfil the donation you made (contract), and because we’re legally required to keep these records (legal obligation)
- Respond to your enquiries — legitimate interests
- Improve our website and understand how it’s used — legitimate interests (analytics cookies only run if you accept them)
Emails and text messages
As well as UK data protection law, PECR (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) sets separate rules for marketing by email and text. Here’s how we approach it:
- If you signed up for updates on our website — we send you emails because you asked us to (consent). You can unsubscribe any time, using the link in every message.
- If you’re a donor or supporter and gave us your details on or after 5 February 2026 — we may send you occasional updates under PECR’s “charitable purposes soft opt in”. This is a rule that lets charities keep active supporters informed about their work, as long as we tell you at the point you give us your details, only send messages that further our charitable purposes, and offer an easy opt out every time. We do all three.
- If you gave us your details before 5 February 2026 — we rely on the consent you gave us at the time. The soft opt in rules don’t apply to contacts collected before that date.
- If you’ve used one of our services — coming to us for help doesn’t put you on a marketing list. We won’t send you fundraising or campaign messages on that basis. If we’d like to send you anything beyond what you asked us for, we’ll ask you first.
Service providers we use
To run our services we use trusted third-party providers — for things like email, our website, and processing donations. They only handle your information on our instructions and can’t use it for their own purposes.
- Microsoft — email, documents, and our databases (Microsoft 365 and Azure)
- Campaign Monitor — email newsletters
- Webex Interact — text messages
- Payment providers — Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, JustGiving, Enthuse, CAF, SumUp
- WordPress — website hosting
- Google Analytics — website statistics (only if you accept analytics cookies)
- Typeform and Gravity Forms — online forms
- HMRC — for Gift Aid claims
Some of these providers may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place (such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement) as required by UK law.
We don’t sell or rent your information. We don’t share your information with other organisations for their own marketing.
Keeping people safe
In rare cases we may share information without your permission if we’re seriously concerned about someone’s safety, or if the law requires us to (for example, a court order or a request from the police).
How long we keep your information
Only as long as we need it.
- Donor records — we keep these while you’re an active supporter, as many donors stay with us for decades. If you ask us to stop contacting you, we’ll keep the minimum needed to honour that request
- Gift Aid records — 6 years after your last donation (HMRC requirement)
- All other records — up to 7 years after our last contact with you
- Website analytics — in line with Google Analytics’ retention settings
Your rights
Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR) you can:
- Ask what information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct anything that’s wrong
- Ask us to delete your information (in some circumstances)
- Ask us to limit how we use it
- Object to how we use it
- Ask for a copy of information you’ve given us, so you can move it elsewhere
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We’ll respond within one month.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies. When you first visit, you can accept or reject non-essential cookies. Essential cookies (needed to make the site work) are always used.
Making a complaint
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Changes to this policy
We review this policy regularly. Last updated: Sept 2026