Privacy Policy

1.0       Background

1.1       Part of moving towards compliance with General Protection Data Protection Regulations is that the Council should adopt a Privacy Policy and publish this on its website.  It is compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018.

2.0       Privacy Policy

2.2       This policy is provided to you by Great Aycliffe Town Council.

2.3       The data controller for your data is Great Aycliffe Town Council. We have  joint data controller arrangements.  Where this is the case, it will be notified on  individual privacy notices.

2.4       The Council will process some or all of the following personal data where   necessary to perform its tasks –

·         Names, titles, aliases, photographs, dates of birth.

·         Contact details such as addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers.

·         Where there is a financial relationship with the Council such as receipt of a grant or payment for services we will keep and process financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, claim numbers, BACS details and payment transaction identifiers.

·         Medical/health information, where necessary.

·         Where you apply for employment with the Council we will process details of your employment history, qualifications and references.

2.5       To comply with data protection law the personal data we hold must be:

·         Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.

·         Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way not compatible with those purposes.

·         Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.

·         Accurate and kept up to date.

·         Kept only for as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.

·         Kept and destroyed securely including ensuring that appropriate technical and security measures are in place to protect your personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure.

2.6       We will use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes:

·         To deliver public services including to understand your needs to provide the services that you request and to understand what we can do for you and inform you of other relevant services.

·         To confirm your identity to provide some services.

·         To contact you by post, email or telephone.

·         To enable us to meet our legal and statutory obligations and powers including any delegated functions.

·         To prevent and detect fraud and corruption in the use of public funds and where necessary for law enforcement.

·         To promote the interests of the Council.

·         To maintain our own accounts and records.

·         To seek your views and comments.

·         To notify you of events and invite you to attend.

·         To notify you of changes to our facilities, services, events, staff, councillors and civic office holders.

·         To send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you, including information about campaigns, appeals and new projects or initiatives.

·         To process relevant financial transactions including grants and payments for goods and services supplied to the Council.

·         To allow for the statistical analysis of data so we can plan the provision of services.

·         To ensure the Council meets its obligations in respect of safeguarding vulnerable adults or children.

2.7       CCTV

Our processing may include the use of CCTV systems for the prevention and prosecution of crime.

Some of our premises have CCTV installed for public and staff safety, crime prevention and detection.  CCTV is also installed on the outside of some of our buildings for monitoring building security, crime prevention and detection.

2.8       Body Cameras and Dash Cams

Body Cameras incorporating audio and visual recordings are used by Park Patrol and occasionally Works Staff when necessary for operational purposes.

You have the right to see images/audio recordings of yourself in accordance with data protection legislation and be provided with a copy of the images.  You must be able to provide a date, location and approximate time for any request.

We will only disclose images and audio to other authorised bodies to assist with on-going investigations or prosecutions.  Images and audio will not be released to the media for entertainment purposes or placed on the internet for public viewing.

2.9       Legal basis for processing your personal data

The Council is a public authority and has certain powers and duties.  Most of your personal data is processed for compliance with a legal obligation which includes the discharge of the Council’s statutory functions and powers.  Sometimes when exercising these powers or duties it is necessary to process personal data of residents or people using the Council’s services. We will always take into account your interests and rights.  This Privacy Policy sets out your rights and the Council’s obligations to you in detail.

We may also process personal data if it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps to enter into a contract.

Where the use of your personal data requires your consent, we will seek this before processing your data.

2.10    Sharing your personal data

The Council will implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal data.

The Council will share your data with third parties only where necessary.  Where this is the case, it will be notified on individual privacy notices unless this is part of an on-going investigation or prosecution.

2.11    How long do we keep your personal data?

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so. It is current best practice to keep financial records for eight years to support HMRC audits or provide tax information. We have some legal obligations to retain some data in connection without statutory functions.  We also retain historical data relating to the history of the town.

The Council is permitted to retain data in order to defend or pursue claims. In general we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it.  This means that we will delete it when it is no longer needed.

Images captured by CCTV, Body Cams or Dash Cams will not be kept for longer than necessary.  However, if an incident, crime or criminal damage is being investigated images will be kept the images and audio until the investigation or case is closed.

2.12    Your rights and your personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

·           The right to access personal data we hold on you.

·           The right to correct and update the personal data we hold on you.

·           The right to have your personal data erased except where we have a legal obligation to retain it.

·           The right to object to processing of your personal data or to restrict it to certain purposes only.

·           The right to data portability.

·           The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time for any processing of data to which consent was obtained.

·           The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

2.13    Transfer of data abroad

The Council will not transfer your data abroad.

2.14    Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered in this policy, then we will provide you with a privacy notice explaining the new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions.  Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

2.15    Changes to this policy

We keep this policy under review and we will place any updates on the Council’s website. This policy was last updated in June 2018.

2.16    Data Controller

The Data Controller for the Council is Daniel Austin, Town Clerk, who can be contacted on 01325 300700, by email at Daniel.Austin@great-aycliffe.gov.uk or by post to Great Aycliffe Town Council, Council Offices, School Aycliffe Lane, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 6QF.

2.17    Information Commissioner’s Office

To learn more about your rights please see the ICO website Information Commissioner’s Office

If something goes wrong with your personal information, or you have questions about how we use it, please contact Daniel Austin, Town Clerk, as above.

If we have not been able to deal with your complaint, you can also contact the

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

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or (+44) 1625 545 745 if calling from outside the UK

Textphone Service 01625 545860

Fax: 01625 524 510