North East Lincolnshire Council's Data Protection Statement

We may need to collect your personal data to provide the services you want. We also collect personal data for purposes like Council Tax administration or Electoral Registration, because the law says that we must.

Sometimes we collect personal data for one council service and need to use to provide you with another service. We may also use it for the prevention and detection of fraud.

We will keep your personal data safe and secure. We will not share it with other organisations without your consent, unless we are required or permitted by law to do so.

The Data Protection principles: -

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) is based on legally enforceable principles that organisations, such as the council, must apply when they process your personal data. The DPA states that all personal information must:

• Be processed fairly and lawfully.
• Only be obtained and processed for specified and lawful purposes.
• Be adequate and 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 right.
• 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 (or information) is any data which, on its own or referenced against other data held by the council, can be used to identify a living individual.

This includes all the obvious details the council might hold about you like name, address, council tax reference number, rent payment records, etc. It might also include expressions of opinion about you and the council's intentions towards you.

The DPA recognises that some types of personal data are more sensitive than others. There are extra rules for processing data about your ethnic origin, religious beliefs, trades union membership, party politic opinions, sexuality, health, involvement in criminal proceedings, etc.

What is processing personal data?

Processing personal data includes collecting, storing, access, changing, disclosing, copying and destroying any 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 to give you another service. We will always try to tell you if we share your personal data between different council services.

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 consent, unless they are legally obliged/empowered to do so.

If you make a complaint about council services or sign a petition that is presented to a council meeting your personal data may be shared with your local ward councillors, committee members 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 within 21 days to let you know what we have done about your request.

Can I seek access to my personal data?

The DPA gives you a general right of access to personal data that relates to you. Access requests must be made in writing with enough information to locate the data requested and proof that you are the data subject. See below to obtain the subject access request form.

Data Subject Access Request Form(pdf file 79 KB)

You will need  Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files - you can get the free download from our Downloads section

At present the council does not charge a fee for subject access requests except in relation to CCTV and certain education records. In the case of CCTV, you may have to pay £10.00 fee.

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.
• Any explanation of any technical terms or abbreviations.
• Any information about the original source of the data.

We can withhold some data if, for example, 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 legal 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.

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 are a parent asking to see your child's education or social services records.
• You have written proof of your authority to act on behalf of someone else.

Even if you meet these requirements we may need to ask you for further information before we reply or refuse access because of 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 DPA.

How can I be sure my data is accurate?

The best way to be sure is to let us know about any changes in circumstances that might affect the services we provide to you.

Under the DPA 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 21 days to let you know what we have done about your request.

If we agree that your personal data is incorrect we will take appropriate action. If we do not agree we will add a note to your file that you disagree with our version of the data.

Further information

If you have any questions about your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 please contact the Council's Law & Democratic Services Directorate by telephoning (01472) 324000 or e-mail: rob.walsh@nelincs.gov.uk

Further detailed information about your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 is available on the Information Commissioner's website at:

http://www.informationcommissioner.co.uk/ or by telephone on 01625 545745

Further advice is available on the Department of Constitutional Affairs web-site at:

http://www.dca.gov.uk  or by telephone on 020 7210 8614.