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Work experience at KCC privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated in October 2021.

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) 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 (DPA 2018). We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Kent County Council provides work experience across the business which offers young people the opportunity to develop their skills in a workplace environment and supports our Strategic Statement.

Work experience that is well-planned and well-organised has an important role in developing students’ employability skills, personal and social skills and helps them learn about the world of work.  The key message is for placements to be ‘meaningful’.

It is one of the most important activities linking employers and educational establishments.  Work experience has also formed an integral part of 16-19 study programmes since September 2013.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of applying for work experience through the KCC work experience webpage we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • your personal information (such as name, address, date of birth, contact number, email address, date of birth, gender)
  • name, contact number and email address of work placement/career advisor
  • name, contact number of emergency contact
  • special category information (such as ethnic group, if you have any disabilities, religion, sexual orientation if disclosed)
  • work placement subject requested
  • interests, exams, personal statement, current school or educational establishment (if applicable).

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • ensure you meet the criteria for the Work Experience Programme
  • source you a meaningful placement (this will involve us sharing information provided with other KCC departments and commissioned services to enable them to make an informed decision about offering a suitable placement)
  • contact you by email with updates regarding placement opportunities or suggest alternatives if your original choice is not available
  • other KCC departments may need to contact you to discuss placement arrangements
  • issue you (the applicant) with a certificate at the end of successful placement
  • let you know of KCC job site and our apprenticeship website
  • record and collect data on the work experience programme to monitor our outcomes and ensure we are supporting our ‘Strategic Statement’ as a Local Authority

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your application which contains your personal information securely in an electronic file on KCC databases which are only accessible by employees who have specific access. Paper copies of the application are disposed of securely after completion of placement or as soon as possible if no agreeable placement can be found. We will hold your personal information for no longer than one year, after which the information is made inaccessible to system users or securely destroyed.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We collect and use your personal information to carry out tasks with your consent. We rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

  • Article (6)(1)(a) - Consent: the individual has given clear consent to process their personal data for a specific purpose

When we collect or share special category personal data, we rely upon the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

  • Article 9(2)(g) - Reasons of substantial public interest. We rely on the ‘equality of opportunity or treatment’ purpose 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 share your personal information with:

  • teams within KCC that offer work placements
  • commissioned providers of local authority services (such as education services and facilities management)
  • KCC clients (such as HoldCo, a holding company wholly owned by KCC)

Where we are acting as a ‘data processor’ for these organisations please refer to their privacy notices for information on how your data is used.

KCC and The Education People work together collaboratively with schools, colleges, and other settings, we work in an integrated way with teams in KCC and partner organisations to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for young people in Kent.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.

Your rights

Under UK 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 Commissioner's Office
  • withdraw consent (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 UK 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 breach. 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 the Information Commissioner who may be contacted via the Information Commissioner's website or call 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.