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Authorisations privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 28 September 2021.

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 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.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 and Kent County Council’s Constitution, the Monitoring Officer can authorise staff members to appear in legal proceedings on behalf of Kent County Council.  The Authorisations Service manages the application process by sharing the application form with relevant staff members and maintaining secure records of authorisations. These records are monitored by the Authorisations Service to ensure staff members are acting lawfully under the Legal Services Act 2007.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of reviewing and monitoring applications we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Your name and employment contact details (email address and telephone number)
  • Job title and role description
  • Professional qualifications and relevant experience if applicable
  • Your Line Manager’s name and employment contact details (email and telephone number)

We do not collect any ‘special category data’ (personal data which is more sensitive and is treated with extra care and protection). Any special category data which is volunteered as part of your application will be deleted.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • review your application to participate in legal proceedings on behalf of Kent County Council
  • review and monitor any conditions set by the Monitoring Officer
  • monitor the expiry date of your authorisation

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

When we collect and your personal data, we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Article 6(1)(c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject, including:
    • Local Government Act 1972
    • Local Government Act 2000
    • Legal Services Act 2007
  • 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

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for:

  • a period of 7 years from the date the delegation expires. All information will be held securely and disposed of confidentially.

Who we share your personal information with

We will share your personal data with relevant managers. Your personal data will be shared with HR personnel if necessary.

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.

KCC uses Microsoft 365 and stores its data on servers based in the UK and in the Netherlands. Data will move between Microsoft servers based in in the UK and in the Netherlands. As we transfer your data to the Netherlands (in the EU) 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).

Your rights

Under 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 at any time (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 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.

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.

The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation 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.