North Tyneside Council privacy notice

Most of the information we process is provided by you and through your interactions with us. Personal information is anything that identifies and relates to a living person. It can include information that when put together with other information can identify a person. For example, this could be your:

• name
• contact details
• bank details
• personal and family history
• identification numbers
• online identifiers

Some personal information is more sensitive and needs more protection, this is called special category data. It's often information that is very personal to you and is information that can reveal or is concerning your:

• Racial or ethnic background
• Genetic or biometric data
• Health
• Political opinions
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Sex life
• Sexual orientation
• Trade union membership

Criminal Offence information is any information that can reveal or is concerning your criminal history.

We may also process some information about you from:

• the technology you use to access our services.
• information you make public on social media.
• family members
• your legal representative
• referees
• employers
• information from publicly available sources
• health and education providers
• commissioned partners
• regulatory bodies
• police and other local authorities

There are several legal reasons why we need to collect and use your personal information. Generally, we collect and use personal information where:

• you have entered a contract with us.
• it is necessary to perform our statutory public duties.
• it is necessary to protect someone in an emergency.
• it is required by law, and for prevention and detection of crime, fraud and corruption in the use of public funds.
• it is necessary for employment purposes.
• you, or your legal representative, have given consent.
• it is necessary to deliver health or social care services.
• it is necessary for legal cases.
• it is to the benefit of society.
• it is necessary to protect public health.
• it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes.
• it is to improve our services and facilities.

We may not be able to provide you with a service unless we have the necessary information to do so.

Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is:

• 6(1)(e) Public task: the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
• 6(1)(c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
• 6(1)(b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract we have with the you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract.

We may process special category information for the following reasons under Article 9 of UK GDPR:

• 9(2)(g) Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest on the basis of Union or Member State law which is proportionate to the aim pursued and which contains appropriate safeguards.
• DPA 2018 Schedule 1 Part 2(8)- Equality of opportunity or treatment.

Your information is safely stored in password protected secure systems and is retained in line with Authority and statutory retention schedules.

We work hard to make sure that the records we hold about you are: 

• looked after securely.
• only available to those who have a right to see them.

Some of the ways we do this are by:

• controlling access to systems and networks.
• training of staff so they understand how to look after your information.
• putting in place controls over where data is stored.
• ensuring personal information sent by email is encrypted.
• deleting personal information when it is no longer needed.
• regular testing of our systems and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates.

We may disclose your information to others, but only where this is necessary either to comply with the law and legal obligations or as permitted by Data Protection legislation.

We may share information with other public service bodies including the NHS, the police, and other local authorities. 

The reasons why we may share your data with other public bodies are as follows: 

• To improve our understanding of your needs to enable us to provide a service to you.
• To monitor and improve our performance and delivery of services.
• For the prevention and or detection of crime.
• Where necessary to protect individuals from the risk of harm or injury.

We may share your personal information with a range of organisations to store personal information on our behalf or help deliver our services. When we do this, we always have an agreement in place to make sure that organisation complies with data protection law to keep your information safe.

We will not pass your personal information to external organisations for marketing or sales purposes, or for any commercial use, without your prior consent.

Under Data Protection legislation you have several rights, subject to legal exceptions, and the right to ask for access to all the information the Council holds about you.

You have the right:

• to have any inaccuracies corrected
• to have your personal data erased
• to place a restriction on our processing of your data
• to object to processing
• to request your data to be ported (data portability).

Your rights depend on the legal basis for collecting and using your personal information.

Please contact us at foi.officer@northtyneside.gov.uk if you wish to make an information rights request.

If you have any worries or questions about how your personal data is handled, please contact the Data Protection Officer at information.governance@northtyneside.gov.uk

If you are unhappy with the way the Authority has handled your data, you may contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate)