Be a Councillor Event privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 20 September 2024.

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

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. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of processing your registration for the Be a Councillor Event we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Name
  • Email address

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:

  • Health data in relation to accessibility requirements.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • register your attendance at the Be a Councillor Event
  • contact you regarding the Be a Councillor Event
  • provide any accessibility support required to support your attendance.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Consent (Article 6(1)(a) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data.

We rely on Explicit Consent Article 9(2)(a) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your special categories of personal data.

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 health data is required from you to enable us to support your attendance at the Be a Councillor event.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for:

  • Date of registration for the event +6 months following the date of the event or if consent is withdrawn, whichever is shorter.

Who we share your personal information with

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.

We transfer your data to the following countries or organisations outside the UK:

  • KCC uses Microsoft 365 and stores its data on servers based in the UK and in the European Economic Area.

As we transfer your data to European Economic Area 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).

If you would like further information, please contact us (see our ‘how to contact us’ section below).

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 ICO.

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. 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 your 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. To withdraw your consent, email elections@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.

Who to contact

Please contact elections@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.

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.

For further information read our privacy statement.