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Toxicology Services privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 25 November 2022.

Kent County Council (KCC) 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 Scientific Services, as part of 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.

Kent Scientific Services (KSS) provides scientific and calibration services and are one of four public analyst laboratories in England. KSS has two public analysts on site and provide services to local authorities and private industry.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of testing your sample taken under the Road Traffic Act, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Telephone number.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • register your sample
  • provide you with the results of your test.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(b) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data ie ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a contract’, with the parties to the contract being KSS and you as the data subject.

How long your personal data will be kept

Your personal details and the results of calibration tests will be stored securely for six years from the date of the report, after which time, they will be securely destroyed.

Who we share your personal information with

We do not routinely share your personal data.  The results of the purchased tests will be shared with you only.

As part of our external audit and verification process, your sample may be reviewed for audit purposes, but this will be held and viewed in an anonymous format.

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

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have a number of rights which you can access 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 Commissioners Office.

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

  • object to how we are using your information
  • 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
  • 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 the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.

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.

The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who may be contacted via telephone 0303 123 1113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.