Counter fraud privacy notice

This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect and 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 (GDPR) 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. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course our Counter Fraud activity we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • your name
  • address,
  • email
  • telephone number

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for:

  • the prevention and detection of crime/ fraud
  • service planning, delivery and improvement

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for 6 years where personal data relates to the allegation, investigation or sanction of a crime. We may be required to keep personal data for longer where we have a statutory duty to do so, for example to aid debt recovery or to comply with criminal justice retention periods.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority compliance with a legal obligation.

Who we share your personal information with

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law such as:

  • the police
  • judicial agencies e.g. Courts
  • district/ borough councils
  • other local authorities
  • department of Work and Pensions
  • employers
  • HMRC
  • government agencies

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 (subject access request)
  • ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
  • object to direct marketing
  • make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office
  • withdraw consent at any time (if applicable)

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.

If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.

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.