Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy


Ensuring you are supported is really important to us and this includes ensuring that we use your personal information in the most appropriate way.

This policy will help you understand what information we collect, how we use it, and what choices you have. If you have questions please contact us by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk


What information do we collect?

When you register to join Dementia Support Forum you are asked to provide an email address, to indicate if you are under or over 18, and to choose a username and password. We keep this information as part of your user profile.

We also collect IP addresses automatically when you use the site. Your IP addresses are only seen by you and by Dementia Support Forum staff and volunteer moderators.

We also place and collect information from cookies to help us monitor and improve the performance of Dementia Support Forum. You can find out more by reading our Cookies Policy.

When you use Dementia Support Forum, you voluntarily share messages and create discussions which could include personal data. We advise members to take care with the nature of information shared and reserve the right to remove any data that we feel is inappropriate or puts the user at risk.

If you contact us through Dementia Support Forum’s ‘contact us’ form or via email, we may keep a record of that correspondence and may ask you for information if you report a problem or raise a concern with us.


How do we use personal information?

We may use your personal data in the following ways:

  • To ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device.
  • For the purposes of operating the community, which can include notifying you of new messages, confirming your registration and contacting you regarding moderation, support or safeguarding issues.
  • To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, for example matters relating to the terms and conditions of Dementia Support Forum.
  • To notify you about changes to our website and the services we provide.
  • To send you a monthly update email with news about Dementia Support Forum. This update is only sent if you have chosen to receive it.
  • To support the work of academic research projects, providing Alzheimer’s Society has explicitly granted permission for this and the data has been anonymised before analysis has taken place.
  • To support academic research studies, or for other reports or publications, providing Alzheimer’s Society has explicitly granted permission for your comments to be used. As far as is possible, members of the Dementia Support Forum staff team will contact you to request your permission.

Your data is kept in line with the expectation that members can use the service continuously. We do not share any personal information about you, except where you have given permission.


How do we protect personal information?

We will only hold your information for as long as necessary. Information is only shared with other organisations with the permission of Alzheimer’s Society. We ask them to delete the information once it has been used.

All employees and volunteers who have access to your personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of this information. We deliver training to our staff and volunteers to ensure this happens.


Your rights

You can adjust what types of communication you prefer to receive in your account settings.

You are able to contact us to ask whether we are keeping personal data about you, or to ask us to amend information held about you which you believe to be incorrect or incomplete. You can contact us by using the contact link at the bottom of every page on this site or emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk

Members are able to request account closure and data removal by contacting the Online Community Manager by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk

If you wish to request that your data is excluded from analysis by researchers, please contact the Online Community Manager by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk

As mentioned above, we will contact you where possible to request permission for your comment to be used in academic research studies, reports or publications. If you wish to be excluded from these requests, please contact the Online Community Manager by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk


Safety online

Dementia Support Forum is a publicly visible online community, which means that most of the information posted here can be viewed by anyone on the internet. Content from the public forums may be used in other Alzheimer's Society channels - for example twitter and parts of the Society's website.

To help maintain the privacy and safety of Dementia Support Forum members, we strongly advise that you choose a username that is not your real name (please see our Help section on choosing a username).

We advise you not to include any information that might identify you when you post on Dementia Support Forum. The more detail that you post about your circumstances, the greater the chance that you or people you are writing about may be recognisable to others.

If you have questions or concerns about your privacy, you can contact us by emailing DementiaSupportForum@alzheimers.org.uk


Cookies

It’s important that Dementia Support Forum works well for our users and we understand how the community is used and how to improve it. For more information, please see our Cookies Policy.

Privacy Policy: Last updated May 2018