Privacy policy

Our contact details: Howden Town Council, 17 Bridgegate, Howden, DN14 7AE.

01430 430111

clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk

We process and hold information in order to provide public services. This notice explains how we use and share your information. Information may be collected on a paper or online form, by telephone, email or by a member of our staff, or one of our partners.

We record personal information if you:

subscribe to or apply for services that require personal information,
report a fault and give your contact details for us to respond,
contact us and leave your details for us to respond.

Why we collect information

We collect and hold information about you, in order to:

deliver public services
confirm your identity to provide some services
contact you by post, email or telephone
understand your needs to provide the services that you request
understand what we can do for you and inform you of other relevant services and benefits
obtain your opinion about our services
update your customer record
help us to build up a picture of how we are performing at delivering services
prevent and detect fraud and corruption in the use of public funds
allow us to undertake statutory functions efficiently and effectively
make sure we meet our statutory obligations.

Our right to process information

We are permitted to process information under GDPR Article 6 (1) (a) (b) and (e) when:

Processing is with consent of the data subject, or
Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, or
Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

How we use your information

We will only use any personal information you send us for the purposes for which you provide it. We will only hold your information for as long as necessary. All employees who have access to your personal data and are associated with the handling of that data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of your data. All your communications to us are protected against unauthorised access by third parties.

The Council tries to keep the information we have about you accurate and up to date. If, however, you find errors or inaccuracies in your data, we will erase, complete or amend that information upon request. Our contact details are below.

We will process your information for the following purposes:

for the service you requested, and to monitor and improve the council’s performance in responding to your request.
to allow us to be able to communicate and provide services and benefits appropriate to your needs.
to ensure that we meet our legal obligations.
where necessary for the law enforcement functions.
to prevent and detect fraud or crime.
To process relevant financial transactions including grants and payments for goods and services supplied to the Council
where necessary to protect individuals from harm or injury.
to allow the statistical analysis of data so we can plan the provision of services.

Information sharing

We may need to pass your information to other people and organisations that provide the service. These providers are obliged to keep your details securely, and use them only to fulfil your request. If we wish to pass your sensitive or confidential information onto a third party, we will only do so once we have obtained your consent, unless we are legally required to do so. We may disclose information to other partners where it is necessary, either to comply with a legal obligation, or where permitted under the Data Protection Act.
Where we need to disclose sensitive or confidential information to other partners, we will do so only with your prior explicit consent or where we are legally required to. We may disclose information when necessary to prevent risk of harm to an individual.

Information security

Howden Town Council cares to ensure the security of personal data. We make sure that your information is protected from unauthorised access, loss, manipulation, falsification, destruction or unauthorised disclosure. This is done through appropriate technical measures and appropriate policies. We will only keep your data for the purpose it was collected for and only for as long as is necessary. After which it will be deleted.

Children

We will not process any data relating to a child (under 13) without the express parental/ guardian consent of the child concerned.

Your rights

Access to information

You have the right to request access to the information we have about you. You can do this by contacting our Data Information Officer: clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk

Information correction

If you believe that the information we have about you is incorrect, you may contact us so that we can update it and keep your data accurate. Please contact: clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk

Information deletion

If you wish Howden Town Council to delete the information about you, please contact: clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk

Right to object

If you believe that your data is not being processed for the purpose it has been collected for, you may object: Please contact clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk

Rights related to automated decision making and profiling

Howden Town Council does not use automated decision making or profiling of individual personal data.

To sum up

In accordance with the law, we only collect a limited amount of information about you that is necessary for correspondence, information and service provision. We do not use profiling, we do not sell your data, we do not pass your data to third parties without your consent. We do not use your data for purposes other than those specified. We make sure your data is stored securely. We delete all information deemed to be no longer necessary. We constantly review our Privacy Policies to keep it up to date in protecting your data.

Complaints

If you have a complaint regarding the way your personal data has been processed you may make a complaint to Howden Town Council Data Information Officer: clerk@howden-tc.gov.uk and the Information Commissioners Office casework@ico.org.uk Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, Sk9 5AF. Tel: 0303 123 1113

Policy Adopted Full Council November 21st 2023

To be reviewed annually