Data protection
The Data Protection Act (DPA) applies to anyone who handles or
has access to information about individuals. The DPA gives rights
to the people the information is about and helps ensure that the
information held on computers and in paper-based systems is managed
properly.
Kent County Council is a data controller and has two main
obligations under the Act:
To notify the Information Commissioner that information about
individuals is being collected, processed and held
To follow the eight principles set out in the Act - which are
that all personal information about individuals should be:
- Processed fairly and lawfully (this means
making people aware of why we are collecting their information,
what we intend using it for, and who else we may be sharing it
with)
- Processed for limited purposes and in an appropriate
way (this means only using the information we've collected
for the purpose we said)
- Relevant and sufficient for the purpose (this
means only asking for information we need as opposed to information
that may be useful in the future for something else)
- Accurate (this means a regular scheduled
review of the information we hold - maybe annually ensuring
personal data is kept up-to-date)
- Kept for as long as is necessary and no longer
(however, this may be a very long time if statute says records
should be keep for a particular number of years)
- Processed in line with individuals' rights
(this means we should deal with your information the same way we
would like our own personal information to be treated)
- Secure (this means we must ensure that your
information cannot be accessed by anyone that isn't
authorised)
- Only transferred to other countries that have suitable
data protection controls.
Personal data
Personal data is any information including facts and opinions
and any indication of intentions, which relates to a living
individual who could then be identified from that information. For
example, name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number,
bank account details.
Personal data can also be 'sensitive'. This is information about
your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious
beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health or
condition, sexual life, criminal offences, proceedings and
convictions.
We can only collect and hold this information for specific purposes
(for example equal opportunities monitoring).
Information disclosure
Personal information cannot usually be released to anyone else
without your consent or knowledge. There are, however, certain
circumstances when a third party (specifically a government agency
or law enforcement agency) can request information about you and we
would be obliged to give it. For example:
- When the disclosure is for the purposes of preventing or
detecting crime and to obtain your consent first would be likely to
prejudice those purposes
- Where the disclosure is required by law or by a court
order.
Likewise, if you ask for information about another person other
than yourself, your request will be rejected except in the
following situations:
- Parents can request information about their children if the
children concerned are under 12
- The person you are asking about has given their written consent
allowing us to disclose their information to you
- You are legally allowed to act on their behalf (Power of
Attorney).
To request access to information that the council may hold about
yourself, you need to complete a
subject access request form (PDF, 48k) and post it to us
together with £10 payment to the address on the left of the screen.
Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to Kent County
Council.
Remember that if you are applying on someone else's behalf, you
must also enclose either their signed, written consent, or proof
that you are legally entitled to act for them.
Please note that there are different fee structures for some
records; for example education and social services. We will advise
you if you need to pay us more money and likewise, we reserve the
right to waive any fees.
You will receive a response within 40 days of us receiving your
written request and the fee. If we do not have enough information
we will contact you and ask for more details. The 40 day period of
response will begin from the day we receive sufficient information
to enable a search and the fee.
(Please also bear in mind that there are five directorates
within Kent County Council, and these are made up of many units
consisting of about 30,000 employees in total. We also work in
partnership with many companies, agencies and other local
authorities, many of which process personal information on our
behalf, so it is important to be as specific as possible when
requesting your personal information to ensure that you receive all
the relevant documents that you require.)
The information that you can expect to receive from us is a copy
of anything we can locate in whatever format we hold it in; for
example, screen prints of databases, copies of documents held in
manual filing, CCTV footage.
We will explain any jargon or abbreviations and will provide a
summary sheet detailing what we have used the information for, and
what information we have withheld and why (if applicable).
There are some instances where we may not be able to release
some of the information we hold about you to you. The main reasons
for not disclosing information to you are:
- Personal Information (if the release of documents containing
your information would disclose the identity of someone
else).
- Examination marks and examiners comments.
- Information given in confidence (e.g. references).
- Crime and taxation - (if the release of information would
prejudice the prevention/detection of crime, the prosecution of
offenders, or the assessment/collection of any tax or
duty).
- National Security (if National Security would be compromised by
the release of the information).
Occasionally your records may contain elements that it would not
be appropriate for you to see (e.g: personal information about
other individuals). Rather than withhold the whole record or
document, we will redact it if we can to depersonalise or anonymise
it, in which case there may be some blacked-out sections within the
records.
If you find incorrect information held about you then please
write and tell us what is wrong and how it should be corrected.
We must not, knowingly, give the information to the wrong
person. As a Data Controller, we must do our best to ensure that
the information asked for is given only to the person to whom it
refers, or their authorised representative. We may therefore ask
for some form of identification before we hand any information
over. If we are posting information we will send it to the address
of the person requesting it, or their authorised representative, as
shown on the form. Your signature at the bottom of the form
declares that you are that person requesting your own information,
or authorising a representative to act on your behalf.
To access your child's school records, you should submit your
request in writing to the headteacher of the school or educational
establishment that your child attends/attended. Parents have their
own independent right of access to the official educational records
of their children under separate education regulations.
If you have any queries, please contact the Information
Resilience & Transparency Team:
By email: dataprotection@kent.gov.uk
By post: Information Resilience &
Transparency Team, Kent County Council, Room 2.71, Sessions House,
County Hall, Maidstone. ME14 1XQ.
By fax: 01622 696075