This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, social media and attend CPR demonstrations or training sessions.
We explain how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
We may change this Policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.
Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices please contact us using the contact form in the first instance.
Who are we?
We are a medical charity formed in 1987, based in St Andrews, Scotland.
We specialise in providing life-saving equipment such as publicly accessible defibrillators and training in basic life support (CPR).
We are a stand alone charity affiliated to the British Heart Foundation and a partner of Save a Life for Scotland.
How do we collect information from you?
We obtain information about you when:
You contact us through our online form
You take part in an awareness or training event conducted by us
You sign up to a mailing list
You sign up via the Volunteer Application form
What type of information is collected from you?
This depends on the type of involvement you have with us. Below is a breakdown of the different types of contacts we can make, what information is collected and what we do with this information. We collect and retain the minimum amount of information to perform a specific task.
Online Contact Form
If you contact us about looking for help to learn CPR, we will share the information you give us (name, contact details including email address and phone number if provided, and details of your enquiry) with our partners in order to get you the training that you need.
Partnerships
As a partner of Save a Life for Scotland partnership and in conjunction with the Resuscitation Council UK In order to keep track of our combined goal of increasing those trained in CPR we want to include you in this number. Your data will help us understand where people are learning CPR and plan our activity around this information.
The personal information we collect will include your postcode, age and gender.
This information is not shared with any commercial organisations and used only for research purposes.
Individual Partners Events
If you take part in an event organised by one of our partners, your information will be collected, stored and used in the same manner as noted above.
Volunteer Application Form
If you have registered your interest with us to volunteer we retain your personal contact information so that we can contact you regarding any future opportunities that you may be interested in taking part in. If you would like your details removed from our database please contact the chair or secretary.
This information is retained solely to enable us to contact you regarding any events you may want to help out with or about possible other volunteering opportunities with our partners.. We will not send you out any marketing materials.
How is your information used?
We may use your information to:
contact you regarding upcoming courses you may be interested in
coordinate and deliver training opportunities suited to your area
seek your views or comments on the campaign
send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you
analyse CPR activity in Scotland for research purposes, to identify hot-spots and gaps and plan our activity accordingly.
We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, with a maximum of 10 years.
Who has access to your information?
We will not sell or rent your information to commercial third parties.
We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
We will share the information you provide (name, email address, phone number and nature of enquiry) on our online “Contact Form” or by direct email with our Save a Life for Scotland partners only if you are looking for support and advice on CPR training and demonstrations.
Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf: We do not use any third party service providers, agents subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties unless we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.
Your choices
You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. If you do not want to receive direct marketing communications from us about upcoming events and opportunities, then we can remove you from our mailing list. Please note that it is main method that we use to contact our supporters with information regarding upcoming events and general information.
We will not contact you for marketing purposes by phone, text message or post unless you have given your prior consent and specifically ask for that. You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us.
How you can access and update your information
The accuracy of your information is important to us. We’re working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that we hold about you. In the meantime, if you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us.
Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information
When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. When you are on a secure page, a lock icon will appear on the bottom of web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.
Use of ‘cookies’
Like many other websites, the Operation Heart Start website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual.
It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.
In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.
16 or Under
We are committed to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.
Transferring your information outside of Europe
As part of the services offered to you through the website and communications sent out, the information which you provide to us may be stored in countries outside the European Union (“EU”). By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EU. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy.
If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU in order to provide you with those services.
Review of this Policy
We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in
Draft copy as of 17/11/2025.
