Severe Weather Impact System (SWIMS) privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 20 February 2026.

We respect 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

We collect, use and are 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. The Severe Weather Impacts Monitoring System (SWIMS), created by our Adaptation Team, collects and analyses data on severe weather impacts to support county-wide adaptation planning.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of delivering SWIMS, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

• Your work email address.
• The organisation and team you work for.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

• identify and attribute user inputs to the correct organisation/team
• communicate with SWIMS users about submissions, updates, or service notices
• produce reporting/analysis in support of adaptation planning and coordination.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(a) – the individual has given clear consent for you to process their personal data for a specific purpose.

The provision of your email address is required from you to enable us to validate responses inputted and maintain communication.

How long your personal data will be kept

We keep your company email address whilst you are an active user of SWIMS. We will then dispose this information within 30 days of request or once we are made aware of a change in personnel. The organisation name will be retained indefinitely as part of SWIMS data collection.

Who we share your personal information with

We routinely share data with the SWIMS administration team and relevant teams where needed to operate and improve the service.

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

We will share personal information with our legal and professional advisers in the event of a dispute, complaint or claim. We rely on Article 9(2)(f) where the processing of special category data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.

Your rights

Under UK 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:

• 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. 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, contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk .

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. To withdraw your consent, email SWIMS01@kent.gov.uk .

Contact

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, through email or post at:

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.

Read our corporate privacy statement.