Public Rights of Way privacy notice

This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you. We are required to give you this information under data protection law.

Who we are

Kent County Council (KCC) collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of managing and maintaining the public rights of way in Kent, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • name
  • contact details (postal address, telephone numbers, email address)

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to gather information about faults and issues on the Kent public rights of way network, and we may contact you in relation to reports you make to us.

If your objection relates to an Order made under section 53 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and is not withdrawn, the objection and your personal information contained within it will be submitted to the Secretary of State, as required by the legislation, in preparation for determination of that Order.  If your objection relates to an Order made under section 118/119 of the Highways Act 1980 or section 257 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and is not withdrawn, the objection and your personal information contained within it may be submitted to the Secretary of State as required by the legislation, in preparation for determination of that Order.

We may use your personal information to contact you to obtain further information or provide updates in relation to the Order you have contacted us about.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for up to one year from the date of your report, after which time it will be securely destroyed.

This information will be held indefinitely as per the above legislation if it relates to an objection submitted under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, the Highways Act 1980 or the Town & Country Planning Act 1990.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data is that ‘processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation’. The KCC Public Rights of Way team have a range of statutory functions and responsibilities in relation to the public rights of way network in Kent.

Who we share your personal information with

Personal data is not routinely shared and will be used only by KCC Public Rights of Way team for business associated with the public rights of way network.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which allow you to:

  • know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
  • ask to see what information we hold about you
  • ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
  • object to direct marketing
  • make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

  • ask us to delete information we hold about you
  • have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
  • object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
  • object to how we are using your information
  • stop us using your information in certain ways

We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note, your request may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you.

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under GDPR.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so

Who to contact

Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.

You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk, or write to: Data Protection Officer, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ.

GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted on 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.