Privacy

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices along with what data we collect, why we collect it and what we do with it.

The information we collect

TDS Letting Agents and landlord members

When registering a tenancy deposit for protection, TDS will collect the name, telephone number, address and email address of both the agent and landlord.

At the end of the tenancy, TDS will collect the necessary information to allow us to either repay the deposit or resolve any dispute.  Parties are invited to respond to any request for information.  Parties are also given the opportunity to submit evidence in the event of a dispute which can be accessed and viewed by the parties to the dispute and also by employees of TDS.

TDS will require you to submit bank details in order for payment of any tenancy deposit amounts due to you.

Tenants

When a deposit is registered by a TDS member, we will ask the member to provide the name of the tenant or tenants along with an email address and/or mobile number.

In the event of a tenancy deposit dispute at the end of the tenancy, TDS will collect information provided to us through our online disputes portal.  Parties are invited to respond to a dispute and will provide their personal details along with details relating to the tenancy.  Parties are also given the opportunity to submit evidence which can be accessed by the parties to the dispute and also employees of TDS.

TDS will require you to submit bank details in order for payment of any tenancy deposit amounts due to you.

Job applicants

TDS will collect information provided by a prospective employee who may make an application to TDS including any CV or similar documents.  TDS will not share any of the information provided to third parties for marketing purposes or for any other reasons.  Your information will be stored securely and we will contact you using details you have provided to us.  TDS may request further information including proof of identity or proof of qualifications as your application progresses. 

How we collect personal information

TDS collects data in the following ways:

• From any online form you fill out such as an application for membership to TDS or a tenancy deposit repayment request,  registering or responding to a dispute or collection of evidence forms
• Through phone calls to our Customer Service Centre which are recorded and retained for a period of up to 6 months from the call date.
• Through our live chat service
• Through messages received on our social media accounts
• Through evidence provided by parties to a tenancy deposit dispute such as contact details within a tenancy agreement.
• Through the use of our various communications tools.
• Through any surveys or questionnaires which our customers choose to actively participate in.
• Any other situations where data is legally and voluntarily sent to TDS.

Electronic Communication

TDS uses electronic communication media when sending correspondence to customers and parties to a dispute.  TDS tracks the delivery of the communications (e.g. emails) sent to the parties to ascertain whether delivery is completed successfully.

In the event that electronic communications are opened by the recipient, TDS is able to see how many times the email has been opened and on what date(s). TDS can also determine the location where these events occurred.

Why we collect personal information

TDS collects personal information to fulfil its legislative role in providing for the protection of tenancy deposits, and also in performing its role in providing a dispute resolution service.

As tenancy deposit protection is mandatory, TDS must collect information such as names and contact details in order to be able to contact parties regarding the deposit protection and to comply with the legislation. 

TDS collects and stores data in order to contact our customers.

TDS will request personal information from tenants in the event that an insurance claim is required due to their deposit being misappropriated by the deposit holder.

TDS may use information to conduct surveys in relation to improving our services.

How we use your personal information

TDS primarily holds data to provide relevant information to Government and professional bodies to comply with statute or the rules of that organisation. TDS will also use data for the following purposes:

• To submit any details requested by any authorised body investigating a crime
• To submit any details requested by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or other government agency or local authority under the relevant legislation
• To contact any tenant where the details of the tenanted property and the persons names as the tenant(s) have been registered with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme
• For use in contact with any interested third party who has provided the whole or part of the deposit as guarantor or in another capacity
• To provide relevant details to the insurer of TDS to comply with their conditions
• To confirm, upon request, that a deposit has been protected with TDS
• To contact named personnel at agent members
• For use in contact with any relevant legal adviser
• To contact you regarding information about your account or tenancy deposit protection
• To provide relevant information on deposit protection and upcoming events
• To provide you with the opportunity to offer your feedback through surveys

TDS will always ask for consent before using any information for a purpose other than those set out in this privacy policy.

TDS processes personal information on our servers throughout the United Kingdom and the EU in accordance with current and incoming legislation.  TDS may therefore process personal information on a server located outside of the country where you live.

Sharing information

We do not share personal information with individuals or companies outside of TDS except inthe following circumstances:

Consent

Where you choose to engage in our independent adjudication service which consists of submitting personal information and evidence to an online portal, this evidence will be viewable by employees dealing with the case at TDS along with the agent, landlord(s) and tenant(s) who are party to the tenancy agreement, including any persons acting on their behalf.

Legal reasons

We retain the right to share your information with organisations or individuals if we reasonably believe in good faith that disclosure of information is necessary to:

• Fulfil an applicable law, regulation or legal process
• Fulfil an enforceable Government request
• Protect vital interests of a data subject (e.g. life or death situations, vulnerable situations) and performance of a task in the public interest
• Address fraudulent activity including in the prevention or detection of it
• Address a security issue
• Address a technical issue

TDS reserves the right to share non-personal information publicly and with our partners for educational purposes, publication of annual reviews or publication of statistics.

Our Data Processors

Information is disclosed to third parties who TDS hold a contract with for data processing circumstances such as our website providers.

Accessing and changing your information

If you wish to update your personal information as held by TDS, you are able to do this by accessing your account.  In the event that you are unable to update personal information, please contact TDS and we will assist you.

In the event of a data breach which is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, TDS will notify an individual within 72 hours of such an event being discovered.

Your rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), you have a number of rights regarding the data we hold for you.  TDS wants to ensure our customers are aware of their rights and how we ensure they are met:

Right to rectification - Your right without undue delay to rectification of inaccurate personal data.  Our customers are able to update their personal details online under their account or alternatively, can contact TDS for help updating details.

Right to erasure - Your right to the deletion of your personal data.  TDS will consider a request for data erasure on a case by case basis depending on whether TDS must retain the data for legislative purposes.

Right to restrict data processing - Your right to obtain from us restriction of data processing.  TDS will consider the GDPR circumstances that may be relevant around any request.  Where processing restrictions are granted, such personal data will only be processed with consent or in relation to legal claims.

Right to data portability - Your right to receive personal data in a structured, commonly used format.  You are able to find your personal data under your account. Alternatively, TDS will provide all data held for you in a readable format.

Right to object - Your right to object at any time to processing of personal data.  TDS will only proceed with processing if we have compelling legitimate grounds for processing after an objection to processing. 

Right to not be subject to automated-decision making - TDS will not subject any individual to automated-decision making.

Subject access requests and complaints

All individuals are entitled under the Data Protection Act to request a copy of the information an organisation holds on them.  An individual who makes a written request and pays any fee applicable is entitled to:

• Information on what data TDS hold for you
• Clarification on whether any personal data is being processed
• Reasons why any personal data is being processed
• A copy of the data held

TDS will deal with any subject access requests within 30 days in accordance with GDPR.

To make a subject access request please send your full name to the following email: GDPR@tenancydepositscheme.com

To make a complaint or for further information regarding personal information held by TDS on yourself, please email:  GDPR@tenancydepositscheme.com

You have the right to make an enquiry or complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with our use of your data. Further details can be found on the ICO website.

Retention of information

All information will be stored securely and is disposed in a secure manner when no longer required. 

Information relating to a deposit protection or dispute will be held for seven years in accordance with our Government contract.

Phone calls which are recorded in our customer contact centre are stored for up to 90 days.

TDS will hold data for as long as reasonably required in order to:

• Comply with applicable law or respond to a valid process;
• Protect the rights of our customers.

When deleting your personal data, it will be removed from our live, test and development databases immediately.  We will not actively remove this data from our log-files or back-up databases as these are not freely available to be used in the normal course of business.  The data will be expunged from these databases through the normal cycle of over-writing back-ups. 

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