Privacy and Cookies policy
This policy operates across all services that we provide.
Privacy and cookies policy
ISWAN, the organisation which runs SeafarerHelp, respects the privacy of visitors to our website and wants to protect any personal information that you give to us.
This statement is made in order to comply with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, and to tell you how ISWAN will use any personal information that you give to us.
How we collect information
We get personal information about you when you contact us to ask for assistance or information or if you give us personal information in any other way.
What information we collect
The types of personal information we might ask for may include your name, ship’s IMO number, address, gender, email address, telephone number and union membership.
How we use your information
Any information we collect about you, for example through conversations via instant messaging ie Live Chat or Whatsapp etc, will be stored securely and treated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679.
We will use the information that you give to us to find the best way to assist you.
Confidentiality
Our service is confidential; your situation will not be discussed or shared with anyone, outside of the Helpline team, without getting your agreement first. However if a client advises that they or someone else is at serious risk of harm, we reserve the right to break confidentiality in order to try and involve others who might be able to prevent anyone being hurt.
Our use of cookies
Cookies are small text markers stored on your computer that enable us to understand how people use our website. No personally identifiable information is stored on the cookies. In common with many similar websites, we use them to help remember preferences and for anonymous statistical measurements – for example so we know how many “hits” a page has had.
We use cookies to:
- remember certain information about users so they don’t have to repeatedly give the same information
- recognise if users are already logged in to certain areas of the website
- measure how people use our website so we can continually improve how information is provided.
You can control and delete cookies
Even though ISWAN does not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you, you might still want to restrict or block cookies. You can do this through your internet browser (Internet explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox etc). However if you restrict cookies for the SeafarerHelp website then there is a risk the website will not work fully.
What cookies do we use?
These are the main reasons we use cookies on the SeafarerHelp website:
Google Analytics
This is a service we use from Google that collects information about how people use our website. We use this to make sure we are providing the best service we can to our web visitors.
Using cookies Google Analytics stores information about
- what pages you visit
- how long you stay on the page
- how you came to the site
- what things you click on
Although we collect this information we do not collect any personal information – so we don’t know what your name is or where you live. And the information we collect cannot be used to identify you. Also this information is for ISWAN’s use only and we don’t allow Google to share it.
WordPress Content Management System
WordPress is the system we use to build the website and update the pages. In a similar way to Google analytics this also collects information about how many times a page has been visited and how many times a file is downloaded (things like the PDFs of our research reports and briefings).
Cookies that are set by other websites
Occasionally we embed things like video, audio and pictures from other websites such as such as YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr or Soundcloud. This means it looks like one of our webpages but the video is being fed through from another site (ie YouTube). This means that every time you visit one of our pages with this sort of embedded content, those other sites may use their own cookies to record that you watched or viewed the content. ISWAN has no control over these cookies so you should check the relevant website for more information.
How do we protect personal information?
We will make sure that any personal information that you give to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date. We will only use your personal information for the purposes in which you have agreed for us to use it.
Under 18 year olds
If you are 18 or under, please get your parent/guardian’s permission before you give us any personal information about yourself.
Your consent
By giving us any personal information you are agreeing to our use of that information as it says in this Privacy Statement. As mentioned, we will not pass this information on to third parties without your consent, except if there is a threat of self-harming, the life of others and/or the safety of a vessel.
Right of access
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information that we have about you. Also, if any information that we have about you is wrong, you can ask us to correct it for you.
Changes and deletions
If your personal details change, please help us to keep those details up to date by telling us about any changes. If you want to see what information we have about you, need to tell us about any changes to the information that you have given to us or wish to delete the information, please contact:
The Data Protection Officer, The International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), Suffolk House, George Street, Croydon, CR0 1PE
Email: iswan@iswan.org.uk
Any personal data held by the SeafarerHelp helpline is deleted after a maximum of two years and three months.
We may change this Privacy Statement at any time. If you use this website after changes are made you will be agreeing to those changes.
