We collect, process and hold your personal information in order to provide our services effectively. We recognise that your personal information is important and we take our responsibilities for ensuring that we collect and manage it appropriately very seriously.
The Data Controller for the information outlined in this privacy notice is Herefordshire Council.
This Privacy Notice explains how we use and share your information.
Our assurances
- we respect our responsibility to hold your personal information on your behalf
- we will only collect and hold personal information for specified purposes
- we will only retain your personal information for as long as we need to
- we will be open and transparent with you from the point of collection about how we will use
- your personal data and who we will share it with
- we are committed to ensuring effective safeguards and systems are in place to keep your personal information safe and secure
- we will make it as easy as possible for you to access and correct your personal information
- we ensure all employees handling your personal information have appropriate training and guidance, and have processes in place to monitor, identify and deal with misuse
- we process all personal data in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act.
How we collect your personal information
We may collect personal information from you, in the following ways:
- paper, electronic or online forms
- telephone
- website
- face-to-face, with one of our employees, or one of our partners quam.
How we use your information
We will use your personal information for a limited number of purposes, and at all times in accordance with the principles set out in the Data Protection Act, including:
- for the purpose you provided the information for or where you have consented to the processing of your information
- to deliver the services you request
- to allow us to communicate effectively with you
- to confirm your identity where needed to provide our services
- to improve our understanding of your needs, to enable us to inform you of and provide you with other relevant services and benefits
- to monitor and improve our performance and delivery of services
- to process financial transactions relating to our services
- to ensure that we meet our legal obligations efficiently and effectively, including those relating to Equality and Diversity and Health and Safety
- to prevent and detect fraud and corruption in the use of public funds
- where otherwise permitted under the Data Protection Act
We may not be able to provide you with a product or service unless we have enough information, or your permission to use that information. Your personal data, after it has been anonymised, may be used to for statistical analysis to allow us to effectively target and plan the allocation of resources and provision of services.
Information sharing
We may disclose your information to others, but only if permitted by the Data Protection Act or we are obliged to do so under any other legislation. This includes for the purpose of the prevention and/or detection of crime, or where it is necessary to allow a third party working for or acting on behalf of the council, to provide a service. If we need to disclose your data to a third party in order to provide a service to you, we will always make this clear to you from the date of collection and ask for your consent.
We strive to ensure that the personal data in our care is protected and secure. Where your information is disclosed to a third party, we will seek to ensure that they have sufficient systems and procedures in place to protect your personal data and will only use it for the specified purposes it was provided for.
Where we need to disclose your sensitive or confidential information to a third party, we will only do so once we have obtained your explicit consent unless we are legally required to do so, or where we have good reason to believe that failing to share the information would put you or someone else at risk of harm.
We will not pass your personal information to external organisations for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior express consent.
We will only transfer your personal information overseas, where we are obliged to do so by law or in individual cases where there is a specific requirement and then only with your consent.
Who processes your personal information
The Enterprise Zone team will be given access to and process your personal information for the purposes of their official duties, but only the personal information needed for that specific purpose, for which they are authorised . They must not disclose your personal data to anyone else without your consent, unless they are legally obliged or empowered to do so.
Your rights
You have a number of rights under data protection law, including the right to request your information and to request that the information be amended or erased if incorrect.
To request your records, you will need to put your request in writing and provide proof of identification to the Information Governance Team, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE or via email, informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk
You also have a right to make a complaint about our handling of your personal data to the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/
Emails
If you email us we may store these on our computer systems or may store the details from them, however we do not routinely retain all emails.
Telephone calls
We will always inform you if we are making an audio recording or monitoring any telephone call you make to us or receive from us. Any audio recordings made will only be used for the purposes stated in this privacy notice and in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act, this will include for the purpose of employee training. You can request copies of audio recordings of telephone calls you have made by submitting in a subject access request.
Using our website
Our website automatically logs some information about your visit such as your browser type and the length of your visit. We use this information to understand how visitors interact with the site so we can make informed decisions about design improvements. Our website does not collect any personal information about you.