Privacy statement

At Samaritans we are committed to protecting your privacy. This statement is made in the light of the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 in order to alert valued contacts to Samaritans data processing practices which will govern the processing of your data. If you have any queries about this statement please contact the Data Protection Office at the Facilities, Compliance and Administration Department, Samaritans, The Upper Mill, Kingston Road, Ewell, Surrey, KT17 2AF.

How do we collect information?
We will obtain personal information from you when you enquire about our activities, register with us, send or receive an e-postcard, make a donation to us or otherwise provide us with personal information. We may also receive information about you from third parties, for example from a friend who wants to tell you about the website.

What information do we collect?
The types of information collected might include names, date of birth, e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, fax number and credit/debit card details.

How do we use this information?
We will use your personal information to provide you with the services, products or information you have requested, for administration purposes and to further our charitable aims, including for fundraising activities. We may need to share your information with our service providers, associated organisations and agents for these purposes.

We may share your information with other organisations who are supportive of our aims and objectives. We only use your personal information for direct marketing purposes if we are allowed to do this by law or if we have your consent. You can change your mind at any time by contacting webmaster@samaritans.org

Do we use 'Cookies' ?
'Cookies' are small pieces of information stored on the hard drive of a user's computer which contain information about the user.

Samaritans use session cookies to ensure that you can interact with our web sites successfully. These will record data entered by you so that it is available from one screen to the next, but it is not recorded or held by us after you leave our web sites. These session cookies exist only as long as the browser remains open. Once the browser is closed, the cookie is deactivated.

If you want to prevent our cookies being stored on your computer in future, you may do so by referring to your internet browser's instructions. You can do this by clicking on the "Help" menu. Please note however that if you disable our cookies you may not be able to access certain areas of our site. Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at

How do we protect personal information?
We use a secure server when you make a donation via our website. We also take appropriate measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

Will we disclose the information we collect to outside parties?
As indicated above, we may pass your information to our service providers, agents and associated organisations, and, if you have consented, to other organisations who may share our objectives.

We may also need to disclose your information if required to do so by law.

Your consent
By providing us with your personal data, including sensitive personal data such as on your health, you consent to the collection and use of any information you provide in accordance with the above purposes and this privacy statement.
You also consent to our transferring your information to countries or jurisdictions which do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK, if necessary for the above purposes. If we do make such a transfer, we will, if appropriate, put a contract in place to ensure your information is protected.

Right of access
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you (for which we may charge a small fee) and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected.

Changes
If your personal details change, please help us to keep your information up to date by notifying us at the above address.

We reserve the right to amend this privacy statement. If we do so, we will post notice of the change on our website and you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.