When you use the Witness Service

We collect personal information about you so we can support you. We might your information directly from you, through:

• an online form on our website

• talking with you about the case - over the phone or face to face

• feedback forms

• complaints or feedback you send to us

We also collect information from other organisations, including:

• Crown Prosecution Service

• HM Courts and Tribunals Service

• Regional Police Forces

• Agencies and individuals making a referral on behalf of a witness.  This might include a family member, or an organisation who is also providing unrelated support or advice to an individual.

Telephone calls made to the Witness Service will be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.

What information we collect

We only record information that helps us support you when you give evidence, or when you're at court. This includes your name, contact details and how you think we can support you. We also record details about your support needs, such as information about your health.

We record information you give in our witness experience survey and any follow-up research to help us measure and improve our support for witnesses.

What we use your information for

• witness support

• for training and quality purposes

• to investigate complaints

• to get feedback from you about our services

• to help us improve our services

We may also record any unacceptable behaviour from witnesses if we deem this to cause disruption to our service or threaten the wellbeing of our staff, volunteers or any other person.

In some circumstances we may also use your information to carry out legal obligations, including for:

• safeguarding

• regulatory compliance

Who we share your information with

We share some of your information with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), court staff, or defence solicitors to help support you in your role as a victim or witness. For example, we might share your name with HMCTS so you can access the court building.

We might also share your information with the Ministry of Justice. We and the Ministry of Justice are both responsible for keeping your personal information safe and making sure we comply with data protection law. This means we're a 'joint data controller' for your personal information.

In other situations, we'll ask for your permission to share your information. For example, we'll ask your permission if we need to share your religion with ushers in court so you can say the right oath.

If you want us to refer you to another support organisation, we might share your information with them so they can help you. We'll always get your permission before doing this.

De-identified information with organisations directly concerned with the health, education, safety, crime prevention and social well being of people.

If something you've told us makes us think you or someone you know might be at serious risk of harm, we could tell the police or social services - for example if we think you might hurt yourself or someone else. We'll usually talk to you before we do this, unless it could cause more harm.