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Civic Office privacy statement

This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you. We are required to give you this information under data protection law.

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 General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘data controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The Civic Office is responsible for recording and processing nominations for the appointment of Deputy Lieutenants of Kent, Honorary Aldermen of Kent, Honours nominees, The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service nominees. In addition to this, the Civic Office also processes applications for places to attend Royal Garden Parties within an allocation from the Lord Chamberlain’s Office or the Local Government Association and nominations for the Kent Invicta Award.  It is also responsible for managing a programme of civic and ceremonial events for the benefit of Kent.

Where information is collected on behalf of the Cabinet Office and the Lord Lieutenant of Kent, the Civic Office is acting as a data processor on behalf of those data controllers, under privacy arrangements set by them.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

We may record the following information either from you as part of your involvement in relevant KCC, Civic or ceremonial events.  Information may also be provided to us by persons nominating you (in relation to Honours etc.), such as Members, former Members, the Lord Lieutenant and the Cabinet Office:

  • name, address, email address, telephone number, gender
  • car registration number
  • bank details
  • business / voluntary sector details (if applicable)
  • age
  • special Category data such health information (dietary or accessibility requirements), ethnicity and religious beliefs.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information in the following ways depending on the purpose for which it was submitted (personal details of any guests you invite will be used to facilitate their involvement in the activity you are involved in – please ensure you get their consent for this information to be used before supplying it to us):

Appointments

  • process the nomination and forward the relevant appointment paperwork to the Cabinet Office, Group Leader or other governing authority;
  • make appropriate arrangements for you to attend events as part of your role;
  • sensitive (special category) data (for example health matters) will be used to ensure your safety and provide any appropriate support at any events;
  • if you provide your car registration details these will be used to notify relevant security staff that you will be parking in specified car parks.

Events attendance

  • allow for the communication with you as a guest of the Chairman or Lord Lieutenant of Kent;
  • make appropriate arrangements to facilitate your participation in the event (food, seating and room selection);
  • sensitive (special category) data (for example health matters) will be used to ensure your safety and provide any appropriate support.

Honours and awards

  • scrutinise Honours nominations at the request of the Cabinet Office;
  • make appropriate arrangements to facilitate your invitation to the specific event (Buckingham Palace Garden Parties, Kent Invicta Award);
  • sensitive (special category) data (for example health matters) will be used to ensure your safety and provide any appropriate support at the event.

Events attendance / entertainment

  • allow for the communication with you as a service provider or visitor to KCC premises;
  • make appropriate arrangements to facilitate your participation in the event;
  • pay for services (entertainment) or expenses (exhibitions);
  • special category data (for example health matters) will be used to ensure your safety and provide any appropriate support.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold personal information for:

Deputy lieutenants

Until retirement from the appointment before being securely destroyed. From that point in time, upon providing your consent, your name and contact details will be added to the mailing list for the purpose of contacting you regarding relevant future civic and ceremonial events within the County.

Honorary aldermen

Honorary Aldermen who attend a Council meeting to receive their award, your name will be included in the minute of the meeting in which case your personal information will be held for 7 years followed by archiving.

Otherwise your personal information will be held for a period of two years at which point it will be securely destroyed. From that point in time, upon providing your consent, your name and contact details will be added to the mailing list for the purpose of contacting you regarding relevant future civic and ceremonial events within the County.

Bank details will be held for 6 years plus the current year (from the last time you received payment for services).

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal information is that processing is necessary for the purposes of a legitimate interest of the data controller or by a third party (to nominate residents of Kent for honours or awards or as guests to civic and ceremonial events).  The Civic Office receives nominations for recipients for various appointments, Honours and Awards within the County, along with nominations for guests to attend relevant civic or ceremonial events.  Your personal information, (name, address, business or voluntary work information) is required to facilitate the processing of these nominations and invitations to events and to make appropriate arrangements for your attendance at these events.

When health information or other special category data is provided to us to support your attendance or involvement in relevant Civic Office activities (accessibility or dietary requirements, for example), this is information is processed on the lawful basis of explicit consent.  If the information is not provided, it may not be possible to appropriately support your attendance or involvement in the civic activities.

Where you choose to remain on Civic Office mailing lists, for the purpose of being invited to future events or activities, the continued processing of your data is conducted on the lawful basis of consent.  You may be contacted periodically to confirm whether you still wish to be contacted and whether your data may continue to be processed by KCC.

With whom we share your personal information

We routinely share your personal information with:

Deputy lieutenants

We have a statutory obligation to publish the names of the Deputy Lieutenants of Kent in the London Gazette. The names are also published on the Kent Lieutenancy website and details are also circulated to Kent Media.

Honorary aldermen

Nominations are shared with KCC Group Leaders as part of the nomination process. Honorary aldermen appointments (names) will be made available to the public in the minute of the public meeting at which the appointment is presented.

Honours nominations

We process data on behalf of the Cabinet Office in relation to Honours Nominations. Please see Cabinet Office Privacy Notice for full details.

Buckingham Palace garden party

We process data on behalf of the Cabinet Office in relation to Honours Nominations. Please see Cabinet Office Privacy Notice for full details.

Kent Invicta Award

Your personal information will be shared with senior officers and Members of Kent County Council and will be made available to the public in the minute of the public meeting at which the award was presented.

Events attendance / entertainment

Your name and business details (if applicable) will be shared with relevant KCC Staff and Members (internally) for the purposes of managing the event.  Attendance lists and any relevant background information provided by you may be shared with KCC Members, staff and other event attendees to assist engagement.

We will also share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.

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.

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 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.

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.