Privacy

Your Data

Your right to privacy is very important to us and we recognise that, when we collect, use, or store your personal data, you should be able to trust us to act in a responsible manner. This Privacy Notice tells you what you can expect when we process your data, and what your rights are.

Why we collect data

We primarily provide services for local communities and the people who live in them. We also collect data about people world-wide who contact us requesting information about Staffordshire and Staffordshire County Council.

In order to provide these services we must collect and use data about the people we provide services to. Data is also collected and used where we have a statutory duty to do so.

How we collect data

Your data may be collected in various ways, including:

• Verbally
• Paper
• Telephone
• Email
• Online forms
• Website cookies
• CCTV
• Other forms of image and voice recording

Data may be collected directly from you or data about you may be gathered from other sources, and we may need to ask other agencies or organisations for relevant data about you to fulfil our legal responsibilities or to provide services.

Data we obtain will be captured and stored in our systems for the purpose(s) specified.

Managing personal data

We are responsible for managing the information we hold and we recognise 　that this information is important to you. We take our responsibilities seriously and use personal information fairly, correctly and safely in line with the legal requirements set out by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). 　Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to do the same and has a set of data protection clauses included in their contract.

Any organisations that process personal information on or behalf Staffordshire County Council, or with whom we share information also has the same legal obligation to comply with GDPR and will have a set of data protection clauses included in their contract or other form of agreement.

Because we collect and process personal information about individuals, we are registered as a ‘Data Controller’ under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Our registered address as Data Controller is:

Staffordshire County Council
County Buildings
Martin Street
Stafford
ST16 2DH

How we use your personal data

We will use your personal information for a limited number of purposes and always in line with our responsibilities, where there is a legal basis to do so, and in line with your rights under the GDPR. When we collect personal data from you, we will only use it to provide services you have requested or require. We will not collect any personal data from you that we do not need.

We will use the information you provide in order to:

• Deliver our services and understand your needs
• Maintain and update your customer records or contact details
• Contact you where necessary
• Obtain your opinion and feedback about the services we provide
• Ensure that we fulfil our legal obligations

If we wish to use or share your data for any purpose other than that for which is was originally collected, we will provide information on these purposes. We will strive to make sure that the third party has sufficiently robust systems and procedures in place to protect your personal information.

Sometimes we may not be able to provide a service if you do not provide data required to do so.

How we share your data

Where necessary information may be shared with other organisations and partners that provide services on our behalf. In such cases, the information provided is only the minimum necessary to enable them to provide services to you. These organisations are required to retain your information in a secure manner and only use it to undertake the services they provide to you.

The Council is also required by law to protect the public funds it administers and may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud. More information is available from the

National Fraud Initiative web site.

If the information we intend to share is of a sensitive, personal nature we will only share it with partner organisations if we have obtained your consent or unless we are legally required or enabled to share it. We have an  information sharing protocol with local partners under which our partners agree to similar commitments toward privacy, security and transparency.

Personal information about you may also be provided to other local authorities. For example, if you have moved from one local authority to another and the new authority requires confirmation of the services you were receiving.

At no time will your information be passed to organisations external to Staffordshire County Council or our partners for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior explicit consent.

How we look after your data

Under the General Data Protection Regulations we have a legal duty to protect any information that we hold about you. We take measures to safeguard your data and implement security standards and controls to prevent any unauthorised access to it. Information which you have provided the council will be stored securely. It will only be used for the purpose(s) stated when the information was collected.

The amount of time data is kept before being disposed of will vary depending on why it was collected, how it is used, and in line with any applicable UK laws. Our retention and disposal schedule give details about how long we keep data.

Use of personal information for marketing

We will only send you information about our services and/or products if you have agreed for us to do so. You can opt out of this at any time by letting us know using the contact details below.

Use of CCTV

We have installed CCTV systems in some of our locations for the purposes of public safety and the prevention and detection of crime.

We will only disclose CCTV images to third parties for the purposes as stated above of public safety and the prevention and detection of crime. CCTV images will not be released to the media for entertainment purposes or placed on the internet.

You have the right to see CCTV images of yourself and be provided with a copy.

Use of Cookies

To make our website easier to use, we sometimes place small text files on your device (for example your iPad or laptop) called cookies. We don’t use cookies on this website that collect information about what other websites you visit (often referred to as privacy intrusive cookies). Our cookies aren’t used to identify you personally. They’re just here to make the site work better for you. You can manage and/or delete these files as you wish

By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device. You can stop cookies being downloaded on to your computer or other device by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. If you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of our website.

For more information you should also refer to our policy on the use of website cookies.

What are your rights?

Under the GDPR you, as the Data Subject, you have the right to:

• Access the information we hold about you. This information is usually provided free of charge but we may charge depending on the administrative costs of providing the information. You have the right to request this in machine-readable form so that it can, if required, be transferred to a third party.
• Request that we rectify any information about you that is incorrect. Simple inaccuracies, such as address changes will be made. Depending on the purpose for processing, records (including statements and opinions) may not be changed. However, there may be the option for you to provide a supplementary statement which can be added to our records.
• Request that records we hold about you are erased.
• Restrict processing of the information we hold about you if you have an objection to that processing, whilst your objection is investigated.
• Request that any information that you have provided to us is given back to you in a format that you can give to another service provider if required.
• Object to processing of your personal information including automated decision making and profiling.
• Make a complaint to a supervisory authority if you are not satisfied with how the information held about you has been handled.

How to contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy, information we hold about you, or if you have a complaint about privacy or misuse of personal data.

Email:  Data Protection Officer

Post to:

Data Protection Officer
Information Governance Unit
Staffordshire County Council
2 Staffordshire Place
Stafford
ST16 2DH

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law you can complain to the  Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).