Customer Information for Residents privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 14 November 2022.

Kent County Council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

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 United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information. This information is used in order for us to provide you with business alerts about scams, cybercrime and issues that could impact your business, as well as information about training opportunities, changes in legislation, events, funding opportunities, advice and support. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In order for us to provide you with alert and warning messages, along with our regular newsletter, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • contact email addresses

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to provide Public Protection alerts and send regular newsletters.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(e) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data ie ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest’. Secondary to this, your consent is given when you request to be included in the distribution of these messages, so the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data is also Article 6(1)(a) that ‘the data subject has given consent to the processing of their personal data.’

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information until you unsubscribe to our alerts. There is a link in the bottom of all our email messages that allows you to unsubscribe at any time.

Who we share your personal information with

We use MailChimp as the service which delivers the newsletters and alerts to you, and as such, we provide your contact email to them.

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

Your Right to Withdraw your Consent

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you can withdraw your consent to our use of your data at any time.

You can do this by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link that is featured in every email we send.

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.