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Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Register privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 13 September 2023.

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 are we?

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. KCC’s Natural Environment and Coast Team (working on behalf of Kent’s Local Planning Authorities) commissioned Kent Wildlife Trust to create the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register. The Register will be accessible via the Kent Nature Partnership website, which is managed by KCC’s Natural Environment and Coast Team. The register will provide a variety of sectors with the opportunity to register both prospective and surveyed (land) sites for the purposes of delivering Biodiversity Net Gain. Biodiversity Net Gain is a process which increases the overall biodiversity value of a development by creating and enhancing habitats for nature. Under the Environment Act 2021; Biodiversity Net Gain will be a mandatory requirement for all developments from November 2023, except where exemptions have been set by DEFRA. The register will enable an assessment of the potential supply of Biodiversity Net Gain Units within a set geographical area in Kent. KCC’s Natural Environment and Coast Team will be contacting planning authorities, landowners, developers and ecological consultants with a view to offering them the opportunity to create an account on the Register and to upload details of any sites available for habitat creation or enhancement and the opportunity to link up prospective pieces of land with developers.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of showing an interest in, testing, and being an account holder of the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Name.
  • Email address.
  • Organisation name.
  • Organisation sector (e.g. Local Authority, landowner, developer, ecological consultant, land agent).
  • Location details of where the parcel of land to be used to create or enhance a habitat is situated.
  • Land status, for example where a parcel of land has been ‘sold’.
  • Organisation sector image or logo.
  • Cookies when you visit the Kent Nature Partnership website to access the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register form.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • contact you to seek any interest you may have in joining the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register
  • enable you to agree with KCC's terms and conditions and set up (and authenticate) an account on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register
  • give you access to a test version of the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register and a feedback form in order to gather your views regarding making improvements to the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register
  • contact you regarding any issues or queries you may have regarding the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, your account, the test version of the online register, or the feedback form
  • contact you to validate any information you have entered into the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register regarding the parcel of land to be used to create the habitat
  • share your contact details (and parcel of land details) with other account holders in order for them to contact you direct regarding the possibility of developing a Biodiversity Net Gain habitat on your parcel of land
  • enable you to update your contact details and information on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register
  • send an email to any inactive account users after 5 years; advising you that if you do not access your account within the next 90 days that your account will be deactivated
  • contact you regarding any updates to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Register project, or regarding any other KCC habitat projects related to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Register project that maybe of interest to you.
  • to understand how visitors use the Kent Nature Partnership website, when you visit the Kent Nature Partnership website to access the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register form on their website. Read the Kent Nature Partnership privacy notice and the Kent Nature Partnership cookies policy.

We also display non-personal Biodiversity Net Gain Unit and habitat information within a set geographical area in Kent (for example, there are xxx nos of reserved units in the Ashford district).

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(a) of GDPR processing is ‘data subject has given consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specific purposes’ as being the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal information.

The provision of personal data is required from you to enable us to contact you to seek any interest you may have in joining the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, enable you to agree with KCC's terms and conditions and set up (and authenticate) an account on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, give you access to a test version of the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register and a feedback form in order to gather your views regarding making improvements to the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, contact you regarding any issues or queries you may have regarding the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, your account, the test version of the online register, or the feedback form, contact you to validate any information you have entered into the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register regarding the parcel of land to be used to create the habitat, share your contact details (and parcel of land details) with other account holders in order for them to contact you direct regarding the possibility of developing a Biodiversity Net Gain habitat on your parcel of land, enable you to update your contact details and information on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, send you an email after 5 years to find out if you wish to remain an account holder and to notify you we will close any inactive accounts after 90 days if no action is undertaken, contact you regarding any updates to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Unit project or regarding any other KCC habitat projects related to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Unit project that maybe of interest to you.

We also display non-personal Biodiversity Net Gain Units and habitat information within a set geographical area in Kent (i.e. there are xxx nos of reserved units in the Ashford district for example)

As we have a consent as a basis for processing your personal data, if you do not we may not be able to contact you to seek any interest you may have in joining the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, enable you to set up (and authenticate) an account on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, give you access to a test version of the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register and gather your feedback regarding making improvements to the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, contact you regarding any issues or queries you may have regarding the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, your account, the test version of the online register, or the feedback form, to contact you to validate any information you have entered into the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register regarding the parcel of land to be used to create the habitat, share your contact details (and parcel of land details) with other account holders in order for them to contact you direct regarding the possibility of developing a Biodiversity Net Gain habitat on your parcel of land, to enable you to update your contact details and information on the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register, send you an email after 5 years to find out if you wish to remain an account holder, contact you regarding any updates to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Register project or regarding any other KCC habitat projects related to the Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Register project that maybe of interest to you.

How long your personal data will be kept

You can deactivate your account yourself at any time, or we can deactivate your account at any time upon your request.

We will send an email to any inactive account users after 5 years; advising you that if you do not access your account within the next 90 days that your account will be deactivated.

Non-personal information regarding the Biodiversity Net Gain Units and habitat of your parcel of land (which has been ‘sold’) will be kept by indefinitely for the purposes of informing decisions around service provision and service improvement, and to inform future projects.

Who we share your personal information with

  • Kent Nature Partnership (a third party provider) are hosting the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register form on their website. Read the Kent Nature Partnership privacy notice and the Kent Nature Partnership cookies policy.
  • Kent Wildlife Trust (a third party provider) have created the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register form and provide back-end technical support to the online register. The register form will not collect any personal information via its cookies. Read the Kent Wildlife Trust privacy notice.
  • With third parties such as planning authorities, landowners, developers and ecological consultants with a view to offering them the opportunity to create an account on the Register and to upload details of any sites available for habitat creation or enhancement and the opportunity to link up prospective pieces of land with developers.
  • Within KCC Environment and Waste who manage the online Kent Biodiversity Net Gain Site Register form service and any other teams within KCC who are involved in the Register project.

We will publish non-personal Biodiversity Net Gain Units and habitat information regarding of your parcel of land (which has been ‘sold’) on the Kent Nature Partnership website, which will be available to KCC and other local authorities to view. This is for the purposes of informing future service provision decisions and service improvement.

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.

We transfer your data to the following countries or organisations outside the UK: Dublin and Germany. This is based on an adequacy decision by the Secretary of State and safeguards prescribed by the UK GDPR.

More information can be found on the Information Commissioners Office’s (ICO) website.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have several 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 (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 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.

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 emailing bng@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.

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.