What we do with your data

Managing personal data

We are responsible for managing the information we hold and we recognise that this information is important to you. We take our responsibilities seriously and aim to use personal information fairly, correctly and safely in line with the legal requirements set out by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to do the same and has a set of data protection clauses included in their contract. 

Any organisations that process personal information on or behalf Staffordshire County Council, or with whom we share information, also have the same legal obligation to comply with GDPR and will have a set of data protection clauses included in their contract or other form of agreement.

As we collect and process personal information we are registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Our registered address as Data Controller is:

How we use your personal data

We will use your personal information for a limited number of purposes and always in line with our responsibilities, where there is a legal basis to do so, and in line with your rights under the GDPR. When we collect personal data from you, we will only use it to provide services you have requested or require. We will not collect any personal data from you that we do not need.

We will use the information you provide in order to:

• deliver services and understand your needs

• maintain and update your records or contact details

• contact you where necessary

• obtain your opinion and feedback about the services we provide

• ensure that we fulfil our legal obligations

• Inform and fulfil our audit requirements

If we wish to use or share your data for any purpose other than that for which it was originally collected, we will provide information on these purposes. We will strive to make sure that the third party has sufficiently robust systems and procedures in place to protect your personal information.

Sometimes we may not be able to provide a service if you do not provide the information we need in order to do so.

How we share your data

Where necessary, information may be shared with partners and other organisations that provide services on our behalf. In such cases, the information provided is only the minimum necessary to enable them to provide services to you. These organisations are required to retain your information in a secure manner and only use it to undertake the services they provide to you.

We are also required by law to protect the public funds we administer and may share information provided to us with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud. More information is available from the National Fraud Initiative website.

If the information we intend to share is of a sensitive, personal nature we will only share it with partner organisations if we have obtained your consent or unless we are legally required, or enabled, to share it. We have an information sharing protocol with local partners under which our partners agree to similar commitments toward privacy, security and transparency.

Personal information about you may also be provided to other local authorities. For example, if you have moved from one local authority to another and the new authority requires confirmation of the services you were receiving.

At no time will your information be passed to organisations external to us or our partners for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior explicit consent.

How we look after your data

Under the general data protection regulations (GDPR) we have a legal duty to protect any information that we hold about you. We take measures to safeguard your data and implement security standards and controls to prevent any unauthorised access to it. Information which you have provided us will be stored securely. It will only be used for the purpose(s) stated when the information was collected.

The amount of time data is kept before being disposed of will vary depending on why it was collected, how it is used, and in line with any applicable UK laws. Our retention and disposal schedule give details about how long we keep data.

Use of personal information for marketing

We will only send you information about our services and/or products if you have agreed for us to do so. You can opt out of this at any time using the contact details below.

Use of CCTV

We have installed CCTV systems in some of our locations for the purposes of public safety and the prevention and detection of crime.

We will only disclose CCTV images to third parties for the purposes of public safety and the prevention and detection of crime. CCTV images will not be released to the media for entertainment purposes or placed on the internet.

You have the right to see CCTV images of yourself and be provided with a copy.

Covid-19 supplementary statement

This supplementary statement to the privacy notice describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak. The health and social care system is currently facing significant pressures. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health and social care services and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the outbreak. In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations.

Existing law which allows confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully in a public health emergency is being used during this outbreak. Using this law the Secretary of State has required local authorities along with NHS organisations and GPs to share confidential patient information to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. Any information used or shared during the Covid-19 outbreak will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis to use the data.

During this period of emergency, opt-outs will not generally apply to the data used to support the Covid-19 outbreak, due to the public interest in sharing information.

Further information is available on the Gov.UK website.