Website usability research 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
We, Kent County Council (KCC), take our privacy obligations seriously and we’ve created this privacy policy to explain how we treat your personal information collected on this website. Personal information is information we hold which is identifiable as being about you.
Our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information is regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.
The usability research will be carried out on our behalf by Invuse who will act as a Data Processor.
Personal information we collect and use
Registering your interest
To participate in the website usability research you will be asked to complete a short form to register your interest. This form will ask for some basic information about you and will be used to help us recruit a number of research subjects that best fit with the research objectives.
You will be asked to provide an email address so the researcher can get in touch about specific research activities.
We also ask for your age and gender as part of this process. This information is optional and we ask for it to help make sure we have good mix of participants. We also ask if you use any assistive technologies when access the internet so that we can make sure you are able to fully participate in the research session (which will be carried out online).
How we use your personal information
We collect and use this information in order to:
- facilitate your participation in our website research
- conduct the research and analyse data
Invuse, acting on our behalf, will contact you directly to arrange the research session and will provide further information about what personal data may need to be processed by them in order to carry out the research.
How long your personal data will be kept
The personal information you provide in the register your interest form will be kept for the duration of the research project and not more than 6 months from the date of submission.
Other personal information collected during the research activities will be held by Invuse or KCC for no longer than 12 months from the day of the activity. Clips and stills used in reports and presentations will be retained for longer, but these will always be anonymised.
Reasons we can collect and use your personal information
For research activity about our website we rely on UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e): ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest'.
Who we share your personal information with
We will share your personal data and feedback with Invuse who will be carrying out the research on our behalf. They will have access to all the data you provide in the register your interest form and the subsequent research activities.
We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.
Any personal information provided that could identify you will be removed before research materials are used in reports or presentations.
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 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.
If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.
Withdraw your consent
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
You can do this by contacting Kent County Council directly or Invuse if you have participated in a research activity.
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.
External links
Our website may contain links to other websites. Those links are provided for convenience and may not remain current or be maintained. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and we suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites before using them.
Security
While no online service is completely secure, we work very hard to protect information about you against unauthorised access, use, alteration, or destruction, and take all reasonable measures to do so.
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.
UK GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with Information Commissioner, who may be contacted via the Information Commissioner's website or call 03031 231113.