The Council's Data Protection Statement
We need to hold personal information about you in
order to provide services to you. We hold personal data about you
for things like Council Tax and Electoral Registration, because the
law requires us to.
You can be assured that the Council will treat your personal
information that we hold and process with all due care.
We will keep your personal data safe and secure. We will not share
it with other organisations without your knowledge, unless we are
required by law to do so. Our
Data Protection
Policy explains how we will do this.
Richmondshire District Council is a data controller. As such we are
required to provide the Information Commissioner with a general
description of the processing of personal data done by the council.
The Information Commissioner maintains a public register of data
controllers. The Council will ensure that the Information
Commissioner is informed of all its notifiable uses of personal
information and will conduct periodic reviews and update those
entries. Our registration number is Z6827623 and you can view a
copy of our register entry at http://www.dpr.gov.uk/ or by
appointment at our Community Offices.
It is the aim of the Council that all appropriate staff and Members
are properly trained, fully informed of their obligations under the
Data Protection Act 1998 and aware of their personal
liabilities.
This remainder of this document looks at the Council's approach to
Data Protection and will guide you through the legislation in more
detail.
The Data Protection Principles
What is personal data?
What
does processing data mean?
Who processes my personal
data?
When we ask for personal information
Can
I see my personal data?
Can I see
personal data about other people?
How can I be sure my data is accurate?
Further
Information
The Data Protection Principles
As a data controller we are required to comply with the eight Data
Protection Principles.
The Data Protection Principles are legally enforceable rules of
good practice that organisations and individuals must apply when
they process your personal data. The Act says that all personal
data must:
- be processed fairly and lawfully
- only be obtained and processed for specified and lawful
purposes
- be adequate, relevant for the purpose and not excessive
- be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date
- not be kept longer than necessary
- be processed in accordance with the data subject's rights
- be kept secure
- not be transferred to other countries without adequate
protection for the rights and freedoms of the data subject.
What is personal data?
Personal data is any data which, on its own or referenced against
other data held by other organisations, can be used to identify a
living individual.
This includes all the obvious details the council might hold about
you like your name, address, Council Tax reference number, etc. It
might also include expressions of opinion about you and the
council's intentions towards you.
The Act recognises that some personal data is more sensitive than
other – this 'sensitive personal data' is subject to special rules
and refers to information about your ethnic origin, religious
beliefs, trade union membership, party political opinions,
sexuality, health, involvement in court proceedings etc.
If you would like further information or clarification about
personal data, please mailto:requestinformation@richmondshire.gov.uk
What
does processing personal data mean?
By 'processing' your personal data we mean, collecting, storing,
accessing, changing and even destroying any personal information
about you.
The amount of personal data we have about you and how we process it
depends on which council services you use.
Sometimes we collect personal data for one council service and need
to use it to give you another service. We will always try to tell
you if we share your personal data between different council
services.
We often take photographs of people attending public events to use
in publications like 'The Curlew' or on our website. Occasionally
we take photographs of people using our services, for promotional
leaflets or other publicity purposes. If you can be identified from
this type of photograph we will explain why we want it and ask for
your consent beforehand.
We may use the information you give us when you use council
services for research or statistical purposes and to help us plan
for the future, but we will not include any personal data in our
reports and plans.
Who processes my personal data?
Council members and employees can access and process your personal
data for their official council duties - but only the data needed
for a specific purpose. They must not disclose your personal data
to anyone else without your knowledge, unless they are legally
obliged to do so.
If you make a complaint about council services or sign a petition
that is presented to the Council your personal data may be shared
with your local Ward Councillors and council employees working in
the service concerned.
You can write and ask us to stop processing your personal data at
any time. You must explain what processing you want us to stop and
why. We must reply to you within 14 days and let you know what we
have done about your request.
When we ask you for personal information, we
will
- make sure you know why we need it
- protect it and make sure nobody has access to it who
shouldn't
- ensure you know if you have a choice about giving us
information
- let you know if we need to share it with other organisations to
give you better public services – and tell you if you can say
no
- make sure we don't keep it longer than necessary
Can I see my personal data?
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you a general right of access to
personal data that relates to you. This is known as the 'right of
subject access'. Access requests must be made in writing; with
enough information to locate the data requested, and proof that you
are the data subject.
You can request access to your personal data using our subject
access request form, which is available by clicking the link below.
This form is designed to help you give us the information we need
to find your personal data but you do not have to use it. You can
send a letter, fax or e-mail to the council's Information Officer
if you prefer.
You may have to pay a fee of up to £10 but we will confirm that
when we receive your data subject access request.
Data controllers like the council must respond within 40 days
confirming:
- a description of the personal data
- why the data is held
- who else the data might have been given to
- a copy of the data
- an explanation of any technical terms or abbreviations
- any information about the original source of the data
We can withhold some data if it refers to other people who have
not consented to disclosure, if disclosure might cause serious harm
to you or anyone else or might prejudice crime prevention or court
proceedings. Even if we cannot provide you with copies of the data,
we will confirm what type of data we hold and why we hold it.
Subject Access Request
Form - PDF
Can I see personal data about other people?
You only have the right to access your own personal data. You do
not have the right to access personal data about other members of
your family, your friends or neighbours unless you have written
proof of your authority to act on behalf of someone else.
Even if you have written consent of the third party, we may need to
ask you for more information before we reply or refuse our duty to
keep personal data confidential
Obtaining personal data from council sources for an unauthorised
purpose or unauthorised disclosure to a third party are offences
under the Act.
How can I be sure data held about me is
accurate?
The best way to be sure is to let us know about any changes in your
circumstances that might affect the services we provide to
you.
Under the Data Protection Act the Council must try to keep your
personal data accurate and up to date. If you think that your
personal data is incorrect you can write telling us why and asking
us to correct the data. We must reply within 14 days to let you
know what we have done about your request.
Further
Information
If you have any questions about your rights under the Data
Protection Act 1998 or want to make a subject access request please
contact the Business Support Manager.
Further information on your rights under the Data Protection Act
1998 are provided on our information leaflet 'The Data Protection
Act 1998, Personal Information (your right to know)'. The leaflet
is available at all of the Council's Community Offices, or can be
dowloaded:
Contact:
Business Support Manager,
Information & Communications Unit, Frenchgate House,
Frenchgate,
Richmond,
North Yorkshire
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