Privacy Policy

This page has information about theĀ privacy policyĀ of National Maternity Voices CIC and aĀ privacy policy for use by local Maternity Voices Partnerships.

What is National Maternity Voices?

National Maternity Voices (NMV) is the national group of Maternity Voices Partnerships in England.

A Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) is a team of women and their families, commissioners and providers (midwives and doctors) working together to review and contribute to the development of local maternity care.

  • Every woman on the maternity pathway has a chance to have her voice heard about the service she is receiving through an MVP
  • Every MVP is adequately resourced to engage in true co-production of maternity services
  • Local MVP chairs and service user members feel networked and supported in their role
  • MVPs are involved in work in their local communities but also represented at Local Maternity System (LMS) level

National Maternity Voices is committed to ensuring that any data held by NMV Ā will be held in compliance with UK Data Protection legislation and the EU General Data Protection Regulation.

This privacy policy

This document refers to National Maternity Voices (NMV).

This policy explains what information we might collect from or about you, how we look after your personal information and what we do with it.

The policy applies to our use of personal information about our members, supporters, service users, people who work for us and those who volunteer with us. We take the responsibility to look after your personal information very seriously.

NMV GDPR policy, 2022

Changes to this privacy policy

We might need to change this privacy notice from time to time. If we do, we will update this page to reflect changes in the law and/or our privacy practices. We encourage you to check this privacy policy for changes whenever you visit our website, or you might want to bookmark this page.

Privacy policy for local MVPs
Please note, the following information is currently (October 2022) under review.

Local MVPs collect information about their MVP members, supporters, stakeholders and volunteers, as well as service users. This sometimes includes:

  • a name
  • contact details
  • role and relationship with us
  • date of birth
  • gender
  • ethnicity
  • reasons for coming to us and personal stories

The provision of the data is voluntary.

Local MVPs might also collect some information about the babies of service users, for example age, gender, when and where they were born and name. We will only collect this from the parent(s) of the baby, or anyone acting for them.

How we collect personal information

Most of the personal information that Local MVPs hold is given to them directly by members, supporters, service users, and volunteers when interacting with local MVPs, websites or taking part in surveys or questionnaires. They may collect personal information from people when they:

  • Become a local MVP member or volunteer
  • Register for events
  • Complete any surveys or give feedback
  • Participate in research projects
How we use personal information

Local MVPs in England may use the personal information they collect to:

  • Provide people with the services or information that they ask for
  • Keep a record of their relationships with members, supporters, stakeholders, service users and volunteers
  • Keep records relating to any feedback or complaints
  • Provide people with information about their work, including events and campaigns. They will do this when they have agreed to this or when they have a legitimate interest to do it
  • Invite people to participate in surveys and research
  • Undertake research and equal opportunities monitoring

Local MVPs might not use your personal information for all of these purposes ā€“ it will depend on the relationship with you, and how you interact with their services, website, and activities.

Lawful basis for processing

Local MVPs need a lawful basis to collect and use your personal information.

The lawful basis for the purposes that Local MVPs process personal information is consent, or for the legitimate interests of local MVPs (and where they are confident the processing will not infringe on your rights and freedoms).

Usually local MVPs will only process sensitive personal data1 if they have the explicit consent of those concerned. In extreme situations, they might share your personal details with the emergency services if they believe it is in your ā€˜vital interestsā€™ to do so. For example, if someone is taken ill during a meeting or event. Local MVPs may also share your personal information if the law says they have to. If you have disclosed any information to do with issues of malpractice, safeguarding or a crime that has been or is about to be committed, they have a legal obligation to report this to the relevant bodies.

The law allows personal data to be legally collected and used if it is necessary for a legitimate business interest of the organisation ā€“ as long as its use is fair and balanced and does not unduly impact the rights of the individual concerned.

Sharing and processing personal information

Local MVPs will never sell personal information. They do not pass on data to other organisations unless required by law or with your specific permission.

How long do Local MVPs hold onto your personal information?

They will hold your personal information on systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity.

In some circumstances, Local MVPs might legally be required to retain your personal information, for audit purposes.

Why do Local MVPs need to collect and store personal data about you?

Information will be collected by your local Maternity Voices Partnership to gain a better understanding of current local maternity services so that improvements can be made in the future. Local MVPs will process your personal information in order to deliver this service safely and effectively, and where otherwise reasonably necessary for our purposes.

Your rights in relation to your personal data

You have the right to:

  • Ask to access the personal data Local MVPs hold on you
  • Ask to have the personal data Local MVPs hold on you to be removed from any distribution list or database and thereby withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data
  • Request that we correct or update the personal data that we hold on you
  • Request the restriction of your personal data
  • Object to the processing of your personal data

1 Personal information relating to someoneā€™s race or ethnicity, political opinions, trade union membership, health, religion, sex life, criminal proceedings or convictions ā†©