Councillor Privacy Notice

Information about the type of personal information a Councillor collects, how it is collected, how it is used and how it is stored.

Please be aware that Councillors act as data controllers in their own right, and may apply their own privacy notice. They will provide this before processing your personal data.

Councillors represent residents as part of their work in the community. They contact officers of the Council and other organisations on your behalf to investigate your concerns and respond to your enquiries. They are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Data Controller in their own right.

What types of information do we collect from you?

Name
Address
Phone number
Email address
Details of the inquiry

In some cases, such as assisting you with specific issues or specific organisations, they might need more information such as:

National insurance number
Reference number(s)
Date of birth
Signature
Information about your health needs
Details of family members

In some cases, they might handle special category data such as medical information.

How a Councillor collects personal information?

A Councillor might collect information from you in a number of ways, for example:

when they meet you in the community or at surgeries
when you telephone or email
when you send letters

What is a Councillor’s power to obtain and use personal data?

To collect and use your personal information, it is necessary for a Councillor to have a lawful basis.

The ones that cover their work with your personal information are the following:

Consent - you provide your information and ask them to act on your behalf.
Protect your vital interests - such as a life or death situation or to protect you from harm, or the vital interests of another person.
A task in the public interest or where, because of their role as a Councillor,
they are authorised to use your personal information.
Legitimate interests – they need to process your data for their legitimate interests, or the legitimate interests of a third party.

For special category data, such as your medical information, they rely on the following conditions:

Explicit consent – this will usually be in writing.
Protecting vital interests – when you are unable to give consent and you or someone else is at risk of harm.
Establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity

What is your personal information used for?

To investigate and respond to your request for advice, guidance or
information.
To investigate and respond to an inquiry or a complaint you have contacted
us about.

Will your personal information be shared?

In some cases, to enable the Councillor to deal with your issues, they may have to share your information with other organisations such as the DWP, the NHS, or other bodies, such as schools and charities. Where appropriate they may also share your information with other Ward Councillor colleagues in order to proactively work to resolve the issues you have raised.

Where possible, the Councillor should let you know when they have shared information.

There may, however, be instances where it might not be possible to tell you that the information was shared because of public interest issues such as an investigation or a police matter.

When undertaking party political activities your information will only be shared where you have consented to the process.

How do Councillors keep your personal information secure?

All Councillors are required to keep your information safe and keep it secure. In addition, to the security provided by council devices and/or systems, they should have adequate measures in place to safeguard access to any information you
have provided.

How long will Councillors keep your personal information?

As part of a Councillor’s work keeping track of your case, they will have to hold onto your information. Usually, this will be for 6 years, but it will vary depending on the type of issue involved since that creates different types of records.

Some of your personal information such as that associated with minor correspondence such as scheduling meetings, is held for less time.
Any information the Councillor holds at the end of our term in office is either passed to the appropriate Council representative or should be securely destroyed.

Is your personal information processed overseas?

Usually, Councillors will not send your personal information outside the EEA. If they have to for any reason (such as using cloud computing servers with overseas data centres), they will ensure that it is done within the appropriate procedures and safeguards as set down by the Information Commissioner’s Office (the body that regulates data protection).

Marketing (if applicable)

At no time will Councillors use your information or pass it to another organisation for marketing or sales purposes without your prior express consent.

What are your Information Rights?

Your Information Rights are set out in the law. Subject to some legal exceptions, you have the right to:

have any inaccuracies corrected
have your personal data erased
place a restriction on any processing of your data
object to processing
request your data to be ported (data portability).

To exercise any of these rights please contact the Councillor in the first instance.

You also have the right to request a copy of the personal information the Councillor holds about you. To do this email (Councillor's email address as published on the Council’s website).

To learn more about your rights please see the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Complaints

In the event of a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data you should contact the Councillor(s) involved immediately.

If you do not feel they have properly dealt with your complaint, you can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:

Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: Information Commissioner's Office email
Website: Information Commissioner's Office website