How our elected members protect personal data
How I deal with your enquiries and correspondence
This notice explains what personal data (information) I hold about you, how I collect it and how I use and may share information about you, as an Elected Member (also referred to as a Councillor) of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. I am required to give you this information under data protection law.
As well as being subject to the data controllership of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, there are also times where I may be a data controller in my own right where I deal with constituent enquiries and complaints, or otherwise under the data controllership of another Council, body or political party. This Privacy Notice applies to my role at the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk when acting as a data controller.
My role in managing your information
As an Elected Member at the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, I collect, use and am responsible for certain personal information about you. I am required to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and I am responsible as ‘data controller’ with regard to that personal information for the purposes of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 2018”).
Depending on the nature of your enquiry or contact with me, I may work with the officers and other Councillors of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, or other organisations connected to the Council’s business, to progress the matter on your behalf. This may involve sharing some of your information with them. Whenever I do share your information, these agencies will be required to manage your data appropriately under the GDPR and DPA 2018 and will have their own arrangements regarding this. The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk has its own corporate privacy notice and department privacy notices which are available on its website.
Personal information I collect and use
In the course of handling enquiries and correspondence from members of the public, I collect the following personal information when you provide it to me:
- Name and contact information of the person contacting me
- Any relevant personal information supplied as part of the enquiry (this could include an address, details of family members and potentially special category data - ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics, health, sex life, or sexual orientation)
How I use your personal information:
- To respond to the enquiry or correspondence
- To investigate relevant issues raised as part of the enquiry
- To maintain a record of public and external organisation enquiries
- To monitor outcomes arising from the issues raised
How long your personal data will be kept
For as long as is necessary to allow me to effectively address the issues raised in your correspondence or enquiry but not longer than 3 months after the end of my term of elected office. This is to allow me to build up case history and to return to your records when further matters arise. All information will be held securely and disposed of confidentially.
When information is shared with the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk departments or partner agencies, it will be held by them in line with their own retention schedules and privacy policies.
Reasons I can collect and use your personal information
The processing is necessary for the completion of a task in the public interest. This means that your personal data is needed to allow me to deal with your enquiry as part of my duties as an Elected Member of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. If you do not provide the necessary personal data, I may not be able to address your enquiry.
I rely on substantial public interest as the lawful basis for collecting and using your special categories of personal data for government purposes and facilitating an Elected Member to respond to requests. Where special category data is used under these terms, it will be managed in accordance with Member’s Code of Conduct and in line with the corporate and relevant service policy of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk departments or other agencies assisting in responding to your enquiry.
The provision of additional special category demographic information (race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics, health, sex life, or sexual orientation) is not required from you unless it is relevant to your enquiry. If you feel it is relevant and have supplied it as part of your enquiry, the processing of this data will be used to investigate and address your enquiry.
Whilst I will generally process your information because it is necessary to complete a task in the public interest, there may occasionally be a situation where this does not apply, and I will instead process your information with your consent. Where you give your consent, I will only hold and process your information for as long as that consent remains, and you have a right to withdraw that consent at any time.
With whom I share your information
I may share your name, contact details and any personal data relevant to your enquiry with the relevant service within the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk in order to address your issue – this may involve referring the matter to another Elected Member.
Your details may also be shared with relevant partner agencies if relevant to your enquiry – County, District, Borough, Town or Parish Councillors / Officers, other public sector organisations and MPs.
I will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required to do so by applicable law or if I consider there is an immediate threat to yours or another person’s safety.
Your rights
Under the data protection legislation you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which allow you to:
- know what I am doing with your information and why I am doing it
- ask to see what information I hold about you (subject access request)
- ask me to correct any mistakes in the information I hold about you
- object to direct marketing
- make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office
Depending on my reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:
- ask us to delete information I 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 I am using your information
- stop me using your information in certain ways
I 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 data protection legislation.
Keeping your personal information secure
I have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. I 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.
I also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach via joint arrangements in place with the Council. I will notify you and any applicable regulator of a relevant data security breach where I am legally required to do so.
Who to contact
My details are on the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk’s website. The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk can provide me with appropriate support in managing privacy issues and enquiries. Please therefore contact the Corporate Governance team at the Borough Council where you wish 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 I have kept it for.
The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted via https://ico.org.uk/.
You can contact the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk at the Council Offices, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, PE30 1EX. The Council’s Data Protection Officer is based at this address and can be contacted on 01553 616200 or by email at Data.Protection@west-norfolk.gov.uk.