Nest home energy support scheme: privacy notice

This privacy policy sets out how the Welsh Government Warm Homes Nest scheme uses and protects any information that you give the Nest scheme.

The Nest scheme is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when our services, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

The Nest scheme may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 1 April 2024.

When you complete our callback form we collect:

• your full name
• contact information including contact number, postal and email addresses
• information on whether you receive benefits or you have a health condition we should know about to assess eligibility
• information about your property such as occupancy, type of heating, cost of heating

If the contact form is completed by someone else on behalf of a customer, we will also (and only) collect:

• their full name
• contact number 
• email address
• organisation for which they work
• relationship with the customer

If you go on to talk to one of our advisers, we may collect additional information to provide you with appropriate advice and assistance, including:

• demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
• other information relevant to your application
• information collected to monitor the scheme, receive your feedback on the scheme and in response to any surveys

The Nest scheme is delivered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Welsh Government in performance of its public tasks.

We require the information we collect about you to understand your needs and provide you with warm homes advice and a better service, and in particular:

We ask for your contact details so that we can:

• respond to requests, enquiries and complaints received from you
• to contact you about services requested by you
• get your feedback about the services your received, and monitor the success of the scheme and its impact on the environment
• keep our internal records up to date
• improve our products and services
• audit our scheme

We ask for your personal information and property information so that we can:

• provide services requested by you
• assess your eligibility for the funding you have applied for
• assess likely eligibility for other assistance you may be able to receive
• analyse householder trends
• monitor the energy efficiency of Welsh housing stock, and to assist in targeting services and new schemes

If you are assisting a customer completing the form, we collect your information so that we know who you are and know how to contact you if necessary.

We may use the information gathered through your use of our website to customise our website according to your interests.

If you do not provide all the necessary information, we may not be able to continue with the service you have asked us to provide. We explain when this is the case at the point where we collect personal information from you if it is not clear why we need it.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

The Nest scheme is delivered by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of Welsh Government who use British Gas installers and Pennington Choices to provide quality assurance. Further details in the Your rights section.

Where we have identified you are eligible for other assistance such as local authority support, we may share limited personal information including name, contact details, eligibility route with your local authority.

Sometimes we use other companies and organisations (third parties) to process personal information for us. For example, we use third parties to:

• maintain our IT systems
• carry out research

Where we share personal data with third parties, we will implement appropriate data sharing agreements. Where we make use of third parties to process personal information, we will ensure that they have adequate security measures in place and that they comply with this privacy notice.

We share information, for analysis and reporting purposes, with government departments and bodies. We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. 

The information you provide using the website callback request form will be used to provide the callback service. Your data will be held securely and, if you change your mind about being called back, will be deleted within 7 days of the callback taking place unless we hold it to comply with our legal obligations or in connection with legal claims. If we do call you back and provide our advice and further services, your information will be held for the duration of the Nest scheme, in line with Welsh Government requirements.

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system. Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

The information you provide through the website callback request form and any subsequent advice call is collected by Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Welsh Government Warm Homes Nest scheme. 

Energy Saving Trust does not make cold calls (it does not sell insulation or solar panels etc). If you are receiving cold calls from an organisation, the Information Commissioner’s Office has some useful advice and, if you haven’t already, it may be worth considering registering with the Telephone Preference Service.

Further details on Energy Saving Trust about how they handle personal data.

You have the right under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, within certain legal parameters, to ask us:

• for details about how we use your personal information
• to see what personal information we hold about you
• to correct your personal information
• to erase your personal information in certain circumstances
• not to use your personal information in a particular way
• to port your personal information in a commonly used electronic format
• to restrict how we use your personal information
• to not be subject to automated decisions about you and to request human intervention

If we have asked you and you have given us permission to use your personal information in any particular way, you have the right to withdraw that permission at any time.

If you would like to request details of personal information which we hold about you or a copy of the information held on you  please write in the first instance to Nest scheme, Energy Saving Trust, 33 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9HB. If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

If you have made a complaint to us about how we handle your personal information that we have not been able to resolve, you have the right to complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office on the Information Commissioner’s Office’s website.