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Community Warden Service privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 8 March 2023.

Kent County Council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

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 UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information.

KCC’s Kent Community Warden Service (KCWS) is a community-based service that identifies and addresses local concerns by implementing preventative and early intervention measures. Collaborating with partners to deliver solutions which will allow Kent’s residents and communities to thrive. The service has four key objectives: Strengthening community resilience to ensure ‘Stronger, Safer Communities’; Supporting the elderly and vulnerable; Fostering community cohesion and wellbeing; and Assisting residents to navigate public services.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of receiving requests, or identifying opportunities to deliver KCWS services in line with the objectives listed above we collect the following personal information when either you provide it to us, or a third party (e.g. Adult Social Care) provides it as part of a referral:

  • Your name
  • Your contact details
  • Your date of birth
  • Name and contact details of an alternative contact e.g. next of kin/friend/neighbour (if required).

We also collect the following ‘special category data’ (personal data which is more sensitive and is treated with extra care and protection) when you provide it to us:

  • Information about your health (such as medical conditions or disabilities).

We may occasionally also process criminal offence information about you for law enforcement purposes in line with powers conferred on Community Wardens as accredited persons (to give a name and address where we have reason to believe a person has committed a relevant offence).

We may also obtain personal information from other sources if required during an assessment of the referral, to ensure the request can be fulfilled effectively and safely:

  • Information about your health and safety from KCC’s Public Protection Intelligence Team, Adult Social Care and/or Kent Police.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • create a secure record of all the work we do with and for you:
    • your name, address, telephone number, date of birth
    • contact details for an alternative contact, e.g. family member (if required)
  • fully understand the request and your needs. Then make an assessment of the referral/request to ensure KCWS services are delivered safely and effectively.
    • Information about you and your circumstances
    • Information about your needs and wishes
  • promote your health and wellbeing:
    • information about any health conditions or disabilities that may apply to you, including your mental health
  • liaise with agencies, companies and charities on your behalf:
    • relevant personal information held on our systems
  • keep you safe from harm:
    • information about any health and safety concerns that may be relevant
  • analyse the service that we are providing:
    • statistical report outputs by our computer systems of aggregated and pseudonymised* data to support workload management within the service and to understand overall service performance to inform future service developments. (*No personal data which can identify you is included in these outputs).
  • make contact with you as required to deliver KCWS services. (This may be via your alternative contact if appropriate).

The sharing of information facilitates a joined-up approach with partner agencies, to provide you with the best possible care and support.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

When we collect and use your personal data, we rely on the following lawful bases as described under UK GDPR Article 6(1):

  • (e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
  • (c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject

When we collect your ‘special categories of personal data’, (such as health) we rely on the following legal bases under GDPR Article 9(2):

  • (g) processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest relating to the following conditions under Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2:
    • statutory purposes (the exercise of our legal functions)
    • preventing or detecting unlawful acts
    • protecting the public against dishonesty
    • regulatory requirements relating to unlawful acts and dishonesty etc
    • preventing fraud
    • safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk
    • safeguarding of economic wellbeing of certain individuals
  • (b) processing is necessary for carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law in so far as it is authorised by law providing for appropriate safeguards for the fundamental rights and interest of the data subject,

We also rely on the condition in the Data Protection Act 2018 which extends the substantial public interest conditions relied on above to criminal offence data.

These legal bases are underpinned by acts of legislation that dictate what actions can and should be taken by local authorities, including:

  • the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015
  • the Care Act 2014
  • the Health and Social Care Act 2012, s12
  • the Children Act 2004, s11
  • the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (amended by the Police and Justice Act 2006). Supported by Community Safety Accreditation powers. (KCWS relevant are 1. Taking names and addresses in relation to ASB – see (c) above)
  • the Children Act 1989
  • the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

We take the following appropriate safeguards in respect of your special category data when relying on the conditions above:

  • we have a Special Category Appropriate Policy Document which explains how data protection principles are secured and in place when using your special category data
  • this policy is retained throughout the time we use of your data and for 6 months after we cease to use it
  • we have a Retention Schedule which explains how long data is retained
  • we maintain a record of our processing in our ‘Record of Processing Activities’ and record in it any reasons for deviating from the periods in our Retention Schedule.

The provision of your personal data and special category (health) data is required from you to enable us to deliver KCWS services safely and effectively.

Where the KCWS has a statutory basis for collecting your personal data, we do not need to ask for your permission to collect and share it, however we will only ever share your data on a basis of need, in line with legislation and will work transparently with you at all times.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information:

  • Electronic records will be retained for no longer than 6 years from the last involvement with KCWS, at which point personal data will be securely destroyed.
  • Community Wardens also utilise controlled pocket notebooks in their day-to-day work. Once a notebook is complete they will be retained securely for one year on area, and then a further 6 years after which time, the notebooks are securely destroyed.

Who we share your personal information with

We only share information when necessary and will only share that which is relevant.

Our reasons for sharing your information are to sign-post and/or refer you to further support services relevant to your circumstances, needs and wishes. Commonly, these referrals can include:

  • district, borough and parish councils
  • police
  • Adult Social Care and Health
  • health services
  • housing associations
  • KCC Trading Standards
  • Kent Fire and Rescue Service
  • charities with support services relevant to your needs

This will be in discussion with you and with your agreement unless a referral falls under a statutory requirement, for example, to report safeguarding concerns for which there are legal obligations as covered by the acts of legislation previously mentioned.

KCC is a signatory to the Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement (KMISA) - a documented protocol which sets out how public services in Kent and Medway share information whilst respecting the privacy and confidentiality of individuals and protecting their personal information whilst ensuring they receive effective and efficient services.

The Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement and the current list of signatories can be viewed on the Dartford Borough Council website.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities for the purposes of community safety (Section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998), 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.

The service will rely on the exemptions in Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 where the provision of privacy information would prejudice the prevention of crime or obligations to secure workers under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge that 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.

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

  • object to how we are using your information
  • 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
  • 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 the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.

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 on our behalf 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.

KCC uses Microsoft 365 and stores its data on servers based in the UK and in Ireland and the Netherlands.

As we transfer your data to the EU when doing so we rely on UK GDPR Article 45 which states that this transfer may take place where there are ‘adequacy regulations’ determining that data is adequately protected by the laws in that country. A copy of this decision can be found in section 102 of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (2019/419).

As Microsoft is an international organisation based in the United States, where necessary, KCC relies on Article 46 of the UK GDPR and appropriate safeguards being put in place, including standard contractual clauses in its data processing agreement with Microsoft. Read Microsoft’s data protection addendum.

Who to 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.

Read our corporate privacy statement.