Data Protection Complaints Process

How to raise a concern about how we handle your personal data, and what you can expect from us.

How to make a data protection complaint

If you have a concern about how the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) collects, uses, stores or shares your personal data, you can make a complaint to us free of charge.

Email: [email protected]

Please include “FAO Data Protection Officer” in the subject line so your complaint reaches the right person.

To help us investigate quickly, please tell us what happened, the personal data involved, and what you would like us to do. You do not need to use any special form or wording.

What counts as a data protection complaint

Data protection complaints are handled as a distinct category, separate from general complaints. They include, for example:

Subject access requests (SARs) — delays, refusals, or incomplete responses to a request for your data.
Inaccurate records — personal data we hold about you that is wrong or out of date.
Marketing concerns — unwanted emails or messages, or difficulty opting out.
Data incidents — personal data lost, exposed, or sent to the wrong person.
Other concerns — any worry about how your data is collected, used, shared or kept.

What you can expect from us

Acknowledgement within 30 days — we will confirm we have received your complaint within 30 days of receipt.
A prompt investigation — we will look into your complaint without undue delay.
Regular updates — we will keep you informed of progress while we investigate.
A clear outcome — we will tell you the result of your complaint and explain our decision.

If you are not satisfied

If you are unhappy with our response, you can first ask the MCB Board to review your complaint. If you remain dissatisfied after the Board’s review, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.

How we manage complaints (internal)

Complaints are overseen by the Operations Officer. The [email protected] inbox is monitored and data protection complaints are routed to [email protected]. For every complaint we record the date received, the acknowledgement date, updates provided, and the final outcome, so the full timeline can be evidenced. Staff are briefed to recognise data protection complaints (SARs, inaccurate records, marketing concerns and minor data incidents) and to escalate them under this process.