Privacy Policy

The Sentencing Academy (Registered Charity No. 1183958; Company No. CE017889) is committed to safeguarding your privacy. When we collect and use personal information, we comply with data protection laws. They include the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003.

This policy applies whenever we process personal information and is designed to enable you to understand how we will treat any personal information that we collect from you.

The policy identifies:

• the types of personal information that we collect;
• when, how and why we do so;
• the legal bases that we rely on for collecting and processing your information;
• how we keep it safe and secure, and how long we keep it for;
• who we share your information with, and under what circumstances;
• your rights over the information that we hold;
• who to contact if you wish to exercise these rights;
• how to complain if you are concerned about our handling of your personal information or think that something has gone wrong.

We review our privacy policy at regular intervals and update it when necessary. Therefore, you should re-read it from time-to-time to ensure that you are familiar with its current details. You can find the date of its most recent update at the top of the page.

What is personal information?

Personal information is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. Someone is identifiable when they can be identified directly or indirectly by one or more factors that are specific to them.

What personal information do we collect?

The types of personal information that we collect and process are:

• your name, address and/or other contact details, such as your email address and telephone number; 
• your job title, role and organisation; 
• demographic information such as your postcode; 
• information obtained through website cookies (see below); 
• information such as your date of birth, national insurance number, proof of your right to work in the UK, and other personal information that is relevant to a recruitment process, including names and contact details of referees. 

Such information may be collected when:

• you contact us by email, letter, telephone or social media;
• you complete the contact form on one of our websites:
  • www.sentencingacademy.org.uk
  • www.sentencinghub.sentencingacademy.org.uk;
• you book or register for attendance at one of our events, either directly or through Eventbrite or another online event platform; 
• you subscribe to our newsletter, which is administered for us by Mailchimp; 
• you make an application to us as part of a recruitment and selection process or respond to a request for a reference for an applicant. 

Most of the personal information that we process is provided to us directly, with your consent, for one of the following purposes:

• commenting or providing feedback on a report or piece of research; 
• subscription to our newsletter; 
• registering to attend one of our events; 
• responding to a survey on our website or social media; 
• collaborating in, or commissioning, an opportunity for research; 
• dealing with queries, including from the media; 
• responding to complaints; 
• recruitment to a post with the Sentencing Academy, including as a member of staff, trustee, consultant, intern or volunteer.

Cookies

Cookies are small files of information that are sent from our website to your browser and stored in the cookie directory of your hard drive. Their purpose is to help you to use our website more effectively and to provide us with useful information on how our site is used so that we can improve what we offer.  

Our website uses cookies to record aggregated usage statistics through Google Analytics. The types of information that Google Analytics collects include: new and returning visitor numbers; dates and times of visits; where the traffic came from (e.g. via a search engine, linked websites, emailed links, etc..); international and domestic locations of visitors; and which pages were accessed. It enables us to do such things as: 

• estimate our visitor size and the pattern of visits to different parts of our sites; 
• speed up your searches; 
• recognise you when you return to our websites. 

The statistical data that Google Analytics collects is not used to identify anyone. You can find detailed guidance on how Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services here: www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. 

When you first visit our website, we ask you for your consent to place cookies on your computer. If you refuse your consent, or decide to withdraw it later, that may mean that you are not able to use our site as effectively. 

You can find further information about cookies, and how to manage and remove them by consulting the Information Commissioner’s Office website here or the Advertising Bureau’s website here. 

Job applications 

Personal information that you provide to us as part of a recruitment and selection process will only be used for the purpose of processing your application or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements where necessary. We will not share it with anyone and, while we keep it, we will ensure that it is stored securely and subject to restricted access on a “need-to-know” basis. 

If your application is successful, the information that you provide will be retained as part of your personnel file for the duration of your employment or other association with the Sentencing Academy plus six years (employees, trustees, consultants and interns) or plus three years (volunteers). References will be retained for five years following termination of employment. 

If your application is unsuccessful, the information that you provide will be retained for up to 1 year from the closure of the recruitment campaign.  

Irrespective of whether your application is successful or not, information that is generated by us, such as interview notes, will be retained for up to 1 year following closure of the recruitment campaign, and equal opportunities data will be retained for six months following its closure. 

What is our legal basis for collecting and processing your personal information?

Under UK data protection law, we need to demonstrate that we have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using personal data. The basis that we rely upon will depend on the circumstances, but will be one of the following:

• Consent: you have given us permission to collect and process your data after we have provided you with all of the relevant information to make the decision to do so, and that permission has not been withdrawn (see further below);
• Contract: it is necessary for us to collect or process your data so that we can enter into, or execute, a contract with you;
• Legal obligation: it is necessary for us to collect or process your data so that we can comply with the law;
• Legitimate interest: collecting and using your information benefits you, our organisation, or someone else, without causing an undue risk of harm to anyone.

Our legitimate interests include but are not necessarily limited to:

• Keeping a record of people who are interested in our organisation in order to develop and grow our audience base;
• Protecting our business and physical and digital assets;
• Informing and developing our fundraising and media strategies; and
• Enabling us to communicate with you directly.

Your rights over the information that we hold may differ depending on the legal basis that applies. Further information about this is provided below and you can find out more by consulting the Information Commissioner’s Office website here.

How do we use your information?

We only collect information for specific purposes that help us to understand your needs and/or to deliver a better service to you. These purposes are:

• To respond to a request from you to access our services or to attend one of our events;
• To process feedback on a survey or report in order to inform and improve our work;
• To share promotional information about events, new publications and reports that we believe will be of interest to you;
• To facilitate internal record keeping;
• To develop and improve our websites and/or service delivery in the light of your interests and requirements;
• To consider your suitability and eligibility to fill a vacancy in the context of a recruitment process.

Where do we store your information?

Information that you provide to us is stored on our password protected secure server. Managerial and other controls have been put in place to ensure (a) that access is restricted on a “need to know” basis and (b) that we only hold your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected or provided. These controls are consistent with data protection principles and aligned to our cyber security.

The storage of information that is collected by, or shared with, one of our third-party service providers is subject to their own privacy policies: see further below.

How long will we keep your personal data?

If the legal basis for holding your data is consent, and you withdraw your consent, we will delete and permanently destroy your data. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Should you wish to do so, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing info@sentencingacademy.org.uk.

In all other instances, we will retain your information in accordance with our data retention schedule. It ensures that we comply with our legal obligations while keeping your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was obtained. Please note that, where the lawful basis for holding your personal information is a contractual or other legal obligation, there may be an associated requirement to retain your data for a specific length of time. Where that is the case, we will tell you when the data is collected from you.

For further information about how long we store your personal information or the criteria that we use to determine this, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing info@sentencingacademy.org.uk.

Will we share your personal information?

Your personal information will not be sold or leased to a third party without your consent. It will also not be shared without your consent, subject to two exceptions. One is where we are required by law to share it. The other is where it is necessary to share it with one of the following third-party service providers to enable us to supply a service that you have asked for or enhance its quality:

• Eventbrite;
• Facebook;
• Google Analytics;
• Instagram;
• LinkedIn;
• Mailchimp;
• WP Grid Limited (responsible for hosting and maintaining our website);
• X (formerly Twitter).

When we share your information with these service providers, its collection and processing is also subject to their own privacy notice conditions. We do not have control over those conditions. Therefore, we advise you to read the applicable third-party privacy notices where relevant. This applies in particular to the sections that concern the potential transfer of data to jurisdictions that are outside the scope of the GDPR (i.e. outside the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland) in cases where the provider is a global company.

External links on our websites

Our websites contain embedded links to websites that belong to third parties. If you follow a link to one of these websites, the collection and processing of your information will be subject to their own privacy notice conditions. As we do not have control over those conditions, we advise you to read these third-party privacy policies where relevant.

Your rights under data protection law

Data protection regulations provide you with clear rights over your personal information. Some of these rights do not apply to all lawful bases for holding the information.

The rights are:

• Right of access: You can ask us for copies of your personal information. You can also request other information, such as details of where we get personal information from and who we share it with. There are some exemptions, which mean that you may not receive all of the information that you ask for.
• Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or delete personal information that you think is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Right to erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal information. (Does not apply when the information is held on the basis of a legal obligation.)
• Right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your personal information.
• Right to object to processing: You can object to the processing of your personal information. (Does not apply when the information is held on the basis of consent, contract or a legal obligation.)
• Right to data portability: You can ask us to transfer the personal information that you provided to us to another organisation, or to you. (Does not apply when the information is held on the basis of a legal obligation or legitimate interest.)

To make a request to exercise your rights regarding the collection or processing of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing info@sentencingacademy.org.uk. If you make such a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and within one month at the latest. Usually, there is no fee for processing a request.

You can find further, more detailed information about your rights by visiting the Information Commissioner’s Office website page on individual rights here.

Your right to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information or wish to make a complaint, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing info@sentencingacademy.org.uk. Alternatively, you can contact us by writing to our postal address or by telephone:

Unit 112

254 Pentonville Road

London N1 9JY

Tel: 020 3823 2743.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The contact details are:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Date of last review and update

This notice was last reviewed and updated on 10 November 2025.