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Elected Members – enquiries and correspondence privacy statement

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

My role in managing your information

As a KCC Elected Member, I collect, use and am responsible for certain personal information about you. When I do so I am regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and I am responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.

Depending on the nature of your enquiry or contact with me, I may work with KCC Officers or partner agencies to progress the matter on your behalf.  This will involve sharing some of your information with them.  Whenever I do share your information, these agencies will be required to manage your data appropriately under the GDPR and will have their own arrangements in place to confirm this.

When your personal data is provided to me as part of a complaint or customer feedback about KCC services, it will be recorded on KCC’s Customer Feedback System – for more information, read the Customer Feedback privacy notice.

Personal information I collect and use

In the course of handling enquiries and correspondence from members of the public, I collect the following personal information when you provide it to me:

  • name and contact information of the person contacting me
  • any relevant personal information supplied as part of the enquiry (this could include an address, details of family members and potentially special category data - ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics, health, sex life, or sexual orientation)

How I use your personal information

  • respond to the enquiry or correspondence.
  • investigate relevant issues raised as part of the enquiry.
  • maintain a record of public and external organisation enquiries
  • monitor outcomes arising from issues raised via correspondence and public enquiries.

How long your personal data will be kept

For as long as is necessary to allow me to effectively address the issues raised in your correspondence or enquiry but not longer than 3 months after the end of my term of elected office.  This is to allow me to build up case history and to return to your records when further matters arise.  All information will be held securely and disposed of confidentially.

When information is shared with KCC departments or partner agencies, it will be held by them in line with their own retention schedules.

Reasons I can collect and use your personal information

The processing is necessary for the completion of a task in the public interest. This means that your personal data is needed to allow me to deal with your enquiry as part of my duties as an Elected Member of KCC.  If you do not provide the necessary personal data, I may not be able to address your enquiry.

I rely on substantial public interest as the lawful basis for collecting and using your special categories of personal data for government purposes and facilitating an elected representative responding to requests.  Where special category data is used under these terms, it will be managed in accordance Member conduct policies and in line with the relevant service policy of any KCC departments or other agencies assisting in responding to your enquiry.

The provision of additional special category demographic information (race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics, health, sex life, or sexual orientation) is not required from you unless it is relevant to your enquiry.  If you feel it is relevant and have supplied it as part of your enquiry, the processing of this data will be used to investigate and address your enquiry.

With whom I share your information

I may share your name, contact details and any personal data relevant to your enquiry with the relevant service within KCC in order to address your issue – this may involve referring the matter to another Elected Member and, if they have a Cabinet position, their staff.

Your details may also be shared with relevant partner agencies if relevant to your enquiry – District or Town Councillors / Officers, other public sector organisations and MPs.

I will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required to do so by applicable law.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which allow you to:

  • know what I am doing with your information and why I am doing it
  • ask to see what information I hold about you (subject access request)
  • ask me to correct any mistakes in the information I hold about you
  • object to direct marketing
  • make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office

Depending on my reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

  • ask us to delete information I 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 I am using your information
  • stop me using your information in certain ways

I 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

I have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. I 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.

I also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach via joint arrangements in place with the Council. I will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where I am legally required to do so.

Who to contact

I have an agreement in place to work with KCC’s corporate services to provide appropriate support for managing these privacy issues.

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 I have kept it for.  The above KCC departments will process your request or complaint on my behalf and in collaboration with me as the data controller.

The 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.