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Access to Personal Information privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated in January 2023.

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

Kent County Council (KCC) provides a range of government services to local people and businesses and needs to collect, use and process personal data to deliver these services. When we do so, we are regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

To comply with your statutory rights of access to personal information under UK GDPR or Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) or to respond to your complaint, enquiry or comments, including any alleged data security incidents and/or personal data breaches.

We need to collect the following personal information:

  • contact details (e.g. name, email/postal address)
  • reason for contacting us (e.g. details of your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comment)
  • proof of your identity and where you live (for access to your own personal information)
  • written consent from other individuals (if you are asking for personal information about them).

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to respond to your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comment. This may include requesting information from third parties who are commissioned by the Council and may have been responsible for delivering a service on our behalf.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information (and other information relating to your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comment) for 3 years from last contact.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The provision of contact details, including name, address or email address is required from you to enable us to validate and respond to your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comments.

If you do not provide your contact details, we will not be able to progress your request for information, or keep you updated with progress of any investigations we may make because of your feedback.

We collect and use your personal information to carry out tasks to comply with our legal obligations, and to carry out tasks in the public interest.  We rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

  • Article (6)(1)(c) - Legal obligation: the processing is necessary to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
  • Article (6)(1)(e) - Public task: the processing is necessary to perform a task in the public interest or for official functions (task or function has a clear basis in law).

We do not ask for, or need, special category data from you (for example racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health, sexual orientation, genetic/biometric information) to progress your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comments.

However, if you provide it to us voluntarily, we will only use that information if it is vital either to your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comments and/or is to comply with a special requirement that you may have.

We rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

  • Article 9(2)(g) - Reasons of substantial public interest. We rely on the ‘regulative requirements’ purposes condition from Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 when relying on Article 9(2)(g) to process your special category data.

Who we share your personal information with

We use a system (iCasework) provided by a third-party supplier to capture, coordinate and manage your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comments.

We routinely share your information with those who may need to help us respond to your request for information, complaint, enquiry or comments.

We routinely share with;

  • services within KCC who can provide information meeting the scope of your subject access request
  • third party suppliers who are commissioned by the council to deliver services within the scope of your request. This may include care homes, waste and highway contractors, schools, public health contractors, academies, NHS, GEN2, The Education People, district and borough councils
  • the Local Government Ombudsman or the Information Commissioner’s Office, if you have requested their intervention.

This data sharing enables them to investigate the relevant part of your request that relates to a service that they provide on our behalf.

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 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 Commissioners Office
  • withdraw consent at any time (if applicable).

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.

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 incidents and/or personal data breaches. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required 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.