Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy Statement is for Adopt London Website representing the Four Regional Adoption Agencies – Adopt London South, Adopt London East, Adopt London North and Adopt London West.
The information we collect from you will be used solely for adoption purposes; to assess if adoption is right for you and your family; if now is the right time for you to adopt and if you are able to adopt the children who currently need adoptive families.
Who do we share your information with?
We may share information with relevant individuals, agencies or organisations to verify the information you have provided. These may include contact with the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS), the NHS or the Police and may include address and social care checks. We will only share this information when we have a legal obligation to do so.
Data may also be processed and shared with government agencies, statutory bodies, police and health in order to comply with legal obligations. This will include data shared with the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board (ASGLB). The ASGLB will share this data with Ofsted in order to monitor the progress of the agency.
Will you seek my consent before sharing?
We need to be sure that you will be able to care for a child through to adulthood. We will ask your consent for you to have a medical examination by your registered medical practitioner who will then send us a written report about your health and respond to any further related enquiries as necessary such as local Authority checks. If we feel that further enquiries from medical specialists may be needed, we may contact you to ask for your specific consent to obtain further health information. Your consent can be withdrawn at any time.
Pre Registration of Interest
We take our Data Protection Act (2018) obligations very seriously. The information you provide will be subject to rigorous security measures and procedures to make sure it can’t be seen, accessed or disclosed to anyone who shouldn’t see it. This information will form part of the agency’s case record and will be stored and disposed of in line with the relevant adoption retention schedules. Your information will be kept in line with Regional Adoption Agency’s retention schedule, for adoption information, available upon request. We use non identifying information to inform data, local and government statistics, general and local practice requirements. (More information on this can be found in each Regional Adoption Agency’s individual privacy statement and available upon request.)
Assessment Stage
We will ask you to sign relevant forms in order for us to proceed with your application. In signing these forms you are giving your explicit consent for the responsible Data Controller for your Regional Adoption Agency to process the information we collect from you now and whilst we have involvement with you for the purposes of adoption. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any point, however we will not be able to assess your suitability for becoming an adopter. Should you approach another Adoption Agency you should inform them that you have been in contact with us. If you choose not to disclose this information this may also effect your application with other agencies should this information come to light later.
There may be certain circumstances, such as child protection matters, where we are legally obliged to share without your consent, however this will be only where strictly necessary and in accordance with our legal obligations.
In general terms, the information you provide will not be transferred to a third country, unless it is appropriate to do so. We will comply fully with the Data Protection Act and future legislation and any requests exercising individual’s rights will be considered, processed and responded to within the relevant statutory timescales.
If you have any further queries in regards to how your Regional Adoption Agency will process your data, please see our the Regional Adoption Agency’s’ specific Privacy Notices or contact your Data Protection Officer:
Adopt London South Data Protection Officer – [email protected]
Adopt London West Data Protection Officer – [email protected]
Adopt London North Data Protection Officer – [email protected]
Adopt London East Data Protection Officer – [email protected]
If you would like to request access to the information we hold about you please make contact with [email protected]
We are currently reviewing the contents of our Privacy Policy with a view to updating the information in due course. Last updated January 2024.