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Kent Plan Tree questionnaire privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 24 August 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 United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information. Kent County Council Plan Tree team are working closely with schools and residents to increase the tree canopy cover of Kent and raise awareness of tree benefits. The team is running a series of tree planting, tree maintenance, tree awareness days and a free tree giveaway scheme throughout Kent. A short survey has been created so that members of the public can sign up to receiving information about the Free Tree giveaway, our events and also volunteering opportunities.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of you registering your interest to find out more information about the Plan Tree scheme, the Free Tree giveaway and volunteering opportunities with Kent County Council, we will collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Your email address.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal data to:

  • contact you about volunteering opportunities with Kent County Council in 2024 and 2025, in the district area of Kent that is of interest to you
  • contact you to inform you about accessibility information regarding the volunteer site locations
  • contact you regarding the availability of volunteering opportunities at certain sites, on a certain date, due to site maximum capacity restrictions
  • contact you with further information regarding our future events and updates regarding the Free Tree giveaway.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(a) – the data subject has given clear consent as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data.

The provision of your email address is required from you to enable us to contact you regarding the details of future events and volunteer opportunities, any accessibility information regarding a volunteer site location, to manage the number of attendees attending our events (for maximum capacity restrictions), and to contact you to give you further information regarding the free tree giveaway.

As we have a consent basis for collecting your personal data, if you do not provide your email address we may not be able to contact you regarding the details of events and volunteer opportunities, any accessibility information regarding a volunteer site location, to manage the number of attendees attending our events (for maximum capacity restrictions), and to contact you to give you further information regarding the free tree giveaway.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information:

  • until March 2025 when the current project deadline and scheme funding will be reviewed, and we will contact you regarding the future of volunteer opportunities on this scheme
  • until we receive an email from you requesting for us to stop further contact or withdraw your details
  • as a non-personal anonymised summary report indicating how many people have registered for interest in receiving information regarding volunteer opportunities and the Free Tree giveaway will be kept indefinitely for the purposes of informing future service provision decisions and service improvement.

Who we share your personal information with

Your personal information will only be shared with Kent County Council Plan Tree Team and relevant teams within the council.

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 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.

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.

Your right to withdraw consent

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you can withdraw your consent to our use of your data at any time.

You can do this by emailing plantree@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.

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.