Data protection complaints

We treat your personal information with care and respect your privacy. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, we want to put things right.

This page explains how you can raise a data protection complaint and what you can expect from us.

What is a data protection complaint?

If you consider that we have infringed data protection legislation because of the way we have handled your personal information (or the personal information of someone you are acting on behalf of), you can complain to us.

In order to complain, you don’t have to use legal terms or quote sections of the legislation.

How to raise a data protection complaint

To raise a data protection complaint, you can contact our Data Protection Team:

by phone: 020 7837 0006 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)
by email: dataprotection@dogstrust.org.uk
by post: Dogs Trust House, 2 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7LT.

You can raise a complaint in any format, and you do not need to follow a specific process. You can raise a complaint with any member of staff, and they will pass it on to the Data Protection Team as quickly as possible.

Once the Data Protection Team receive your complaint, we will acknowledge it promptly and begin reviewing the details.

What happens next?

Where possible, we’ll resolve your complaint quickly. This may include:

offering an apology
providing clarification or explanation
correcting inaccurate data
taking steps to minimise any impact.

For more complex issues, we’ll carry out a proportionate investigation and send you a response within 30 days of receiving your complaint.

Our response will include:

how we understood the complaint
what we did during our investigation, including the evidence we reviewed, plus anything else that helped us make a decision
our final decision and the outcome of your complaint.

If you’re not happy with the outcome, you will have the opportunity to provide more information and ask us to review your complaint. We will also let you know what other steps you can take if you are still unhappy with our response.

Contacting the ICO

You also have the right to raise data protection concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact the ICO on 0303 123 1113 or visit www.ico.org.uk.

The ICO will usually expect that you have raised your concern with us first before they investigate.

What about other complaints?

If your concern relates to other matters, you can contact our Feedback and Complaints Team.

What about other data protection rights?

For more information about how we process your personal data, including guidance on exercising your other data protection rights, please visit our privacy policy.