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Trading Standards Business Advice privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 14 November 2022

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

KCC Trading Standards service is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe and fair trading environment where Kent businesses can operate and grow and Kent consumers can engage in their economic activity with confidence. We provide advice to a range of businesses, from start-ups and small businesses to importers and manufacturers, to help them navigate complex regulations to protect their businesses and support good customer service.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of delivering a business advice service in Kent, we may collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Name
  • Contact details (address, email address and telephone numbers)
  • Business specific information and contact details.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • Provide you with the requested business advice
  • Update you on any changes to the legislation

Provide you with information on Kent County Council business advice events that may be of interest to you.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(b) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data ie ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a contract’.

As we have a contractual basis for collecting your personal data if you do not provide all of the personal data requested, we may be unable to provide the business advice that you have requested.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for six years following our last contact with you, after which time, the entire file will be securely destroyed.

Who we share your personal information with

Your personal data is not shared outside of the Kent County Council Trading Standards service and is used only in the provision of business advice services.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities 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.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have a number of rights which you can access 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
  • Ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
  • Object to direct marketing
  • Make a complaint to the Information Commissioners 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
  • 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 GDPR.

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.

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.

GDPR 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 on 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.