General privacy notice
Page contents
How we handle your information
Our privacy notice explains how we use and protect your information.
This privacy notice applies to any of the services we provide to you (such as health and social care, waste and recycling, planning and building control, council tax, education, housing and transport, streets and parking).
Read the full version of this privacy notice.
Some of our services provide additional privacy information.
Who we are
When we say ‘we’, we mean the whole of South Gloucestershire Council, including our register office, electoral registration and our Youth Offending Team. All of which are the data controllers for the services we provide.
The data controller is responsible for deciding how your information is used and ensuring it is private and secure.
The information we collect
We collect information about you from different places including:
- directly from you
- from a third party acting on your behalf e.g. your GP or the NHS
- a representative employed by you e.g. solicitor or planning agent
- from publicly available sources
- when we generate it ourselves
- from other organisations
We will only collect your information in line with relevant regulations and law and this may relate to any of our services you apply for, currently receive or have received in the past.
You are responsible for making sure you give us accurate and up to date information. If you provide information for another person, you will need to tell them how to find this privacy notice and make sure they agree to us using their information for the purposes set out in it.
How we will use your information
We will use your information to provide any services you have requested and for example:
- to confirm your identity and address
- to carry out your requests and instructions
- to understand how you may need to use our services and
- to offer you other services we believe may benefit you, unless you remove your consent for us to do so
- to improve our services
We will only use your information where we are allowed to by law, for example:
- carrying out an agreement we have with you
- fulfilling a legal obligation
- because it is necessary in an emergency for us to protect an interest essential for your life or that of another person
- because it is in the interests of the public
- where we have an official authority vested in us
- where you agree to it
We may also use automated systems to help us offer you other services we believe to be beneficial to you.
Who we can share your information with
We may share your information with other South Gloucestershire Council departments, subcontractors, agents, or service providers who work with us to deliver your required services.
We may also share your information with others outside of the council e.g. regulators and other public organisations for the detection and prevention of crime.
We may also use your personal information if it is in your vital interests, where your life is or could be in danger. This will not happen very often, if at all, but it will help to identify and assist individuals whose vital interests are threatened, and or who need additional support during emergencies or major incidents, for example emergency evacuation or lock-down.
How long we will keep your information
We will keep your information for as long as you have a relationship with us. After the relationship ends, we will keep it where we may need it for our legitimate purposes e.g. to help us respond to queries or complaints, or for other reasons e.g. where legislation tells how long we must keep data.
Transferring your information overseas
Your information is not currently transferred and stored in countries outside the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). However if we need to in the future we will ensure the non-EU countries have an appropriate level of protection for your data and before doing so we will inform you.
Your rights
You have a number of rights relating to your information for example to see what we hold, to ask us to share it with another party, ask us to update incorrect or incomplete details, to object to or restrict processing of it, or to make a complaint
If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@southglos.gov.uk or write to us at:
Data Protection Officer
PO Box 1953
Badminton Road Office
Badminton Road
Bristol
BS37 0DE
and we will be pleased to help you.
Public health
We have a duty to improve the health and wellbeing of South Gloucestershire residents which includes:
- measuring the health, mortality or care needs of the population
- planning, evaluating or monitoring health
- protecting or improving public health
To help with this, we use data and information from a range of sources, including data collected at the registration of a birth or death, and data collected by hospitals to enable us to understand more about the health and care needs in the area.
The legal basis for the sharing of this data is according to Section 42(4) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (2007) as amended by section 287 of the Health and Social Care Act (2012) (Information relating to births and deaths) and Regulation 3 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (Communicable disease and other risks to public health).
The following lawful conditions will apply: in the public interest or vested authority (GDPR Article 6.1.(e)) and the provision of health and social care (GDPR 9.2.(h)).
Often this is anonymised data, that is data where key information has been removed to prevent the individual being identified. However, sometimes it needs to be identifiable data to enable us to understand more about the nature and causes of disease and ill-health in the area.
We will not share sensitive or confidential information without your consent (GDPR Article 6.1(a) and Article 9.2(a)), except in a small number of situations where disclosure is required by law, or where we have good reason to believe that failing to do so would put you or someone else at risk.
Anonymised information
Anonymised information is personal information that has had all the personal identifiers removed or replaced, so that a person cannot be identified.
Once a service has been delivered, rather than completely destroying the information in accordance with our record retention schedules, we may anonymise the information about that service. This prevents individuals from being identified, but allows the rest of the information about the service to be used to help us plan and improve the service in the future.
The act of anonymising personal information must comply with the Data Protection Act, for example, the process is performed securely, access limited to the officers anonymising the data and checks are made to ensure cannot to re-identified in the future. Once personal information is anonymised and individuals cannot be identified the information is not subject to the Data Protection Act.
The anonymisation of personal information safeguards individuals’ right to privacy and is a practical example of our application of the ‘privacy by design’ principles that data protection law promotes.
Online services
Web statistics
We collect web statistics automatically about your visit to our site based on your IP address (Google Analytics). This information is used to help us track what people are doing on the site so that we can improve it. We do not use this information to identify you as an individual and you will remain anonymous, unless you identify yourself by completing a form or an online transaction. You can find out how to opt out of Google Analytics here.
Cookies
We sometimes store small files called ‘cookies’ on your computer or other device to help improve your experience on the website. Our cookies cannot be used to identify you personally. Find out about the use of cookies
Advertising
The Council Advertising Network is responsible for delivering advertising on the South Gloucestershire Council website. Please take a moment to read their privacy policy which includes cookie information and details on how to opt out.
You can also change your advertising cookie preferences for this site using the privacy tool in the bottom corner of any of our website pages.
Email marketing
We use Mailchimp as our marketing automation platform. If you receive an email from us via Mailchimp, the information you provide when subscribing will be stored by Mailchimp in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms. You can change your mind at any time and unsubscribe.
Event booking
We use Eventbrite as our event booking platform. If you register for an event or training session online via our Eventbrite page, the information you provide when booking will be stored by Eventbrite in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms.
Further advice
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their contact page or call them on 0303 123 1113.