Squirrels and Data protection
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Protecting young people, parents/family and volunteers personal data is a key responsibility for everybody in Scouts. For the new Squirrels section we are trailing some new initiatives which changes the way we collect, process, share and store personal data.
Make sure you are ready with the steps below.
Updating your Group Exec
The first step is to update your Group Executive so they are aware of the different policies for your Squirrels section and the different data relationship with National HQ.
Online Scout Manager (OSM) will be used as our membership system for the youth and parent data for the Squirrels, if you are not currently using OSM as a Group it is important to share this information with your Group Executive.
Share with them the updated Data Protection Policy and Data Retention Policy.
Updating your policies
Next you'll need to update your Groups Data Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policies. The GDPR Tool kit provides full details on the steps you need to take as a charity to make sure you are GDPR compliant.
Here are the specific templates for the polices for you to use:
Transparency with parents
It's really important that we are transparent with parents about data protection, how we will process, store and manage their and their young person's personal data.
If you have a Group website add on your new Group Data Protection and Retention policies and links to the Scouts and OSM policies too.
Make sure you share the Data Protection information below with new parents as soon as possible.
Encourage the use of the parent portal in OSM for parents to provide personal information as much as possible.
Data protection for Squirrel families
Scouts processes the personal data of you (as a parent) and your child (including sensitive data) on our membership databases; this includes your data if you become a volunteer. This data’s shared between your local group and Scouts UK HQ.
- Information Scouts holds about you and your child may
include the following: - name and contact details
- details of any youth badges and awards
- details of Scouts events and activities you’ve taken part in
- details of next of kin or parents details (in the case of youth
members) - age/date of birth
- details of any health conditions
- details about your role(s) in Scouts
Further optional personal data may also be processed to assist Scouts in monitoring its impact, such as:
- race or ethnic background and native languages
- religion
- nationality
For further details and a full list of what personal data’s processed, why it’s processed and for how long, please visit the Scouts HQ Data Protection Policy and the data privacy policy of your local group.
Take a look at the updated policies for the Squirrels section.