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Privacy Notice - Councillors

  1. Elected Councillors are the controllers accountable for the processing of personal information in connection with requests received from ward constituents.

  2. In accordance with current data protection legislation, this Privacy Notice provides information about how Elected Councillors process personal information for the purpose of responding to requests from constituents and provides information about the privacy rights of individuals.

  3. Elected Councillors regularly hold advice surgeries and respond to casework and policy queries raised by residents in their ward. In order to provide assistance and respond to these enquires, it is necessary to process personal data relating to the constituent making the request and other individuals who may be involved or identified in the matters raised or during the course of enquiries.

  4. When you ask an Elected Councillor for help and assistance they will need to collect some information from you. This will generally include personal information such as your name, address and contact information together with details of your problem or concern. 

  5. The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This includes information about racial or ethnic origin; sexuality and sexual life; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; political opinions; genetic and bio-metric data; physical or mental health; and criminal convictions and offences.  It will only be necessary to collect this type of information where it is relevant to the request you are making.       

  6. You may be asked to complete a consent form to enable the Elected Councillor to process your information

  7. The personal information you provide and Elected Councillors may receive from organisations or individuals in the course of enquiries, will only be used to progress the problem or concern you have raised. Your personal data will not be used in a way that goes beyond your reasonable expectations.​

  8. Personal information about you will only be disclosed on a ‘need to know’ basis to a relevant third party organisation and/or individual who is able to provide information to help address or resolve your concern. Examples include Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, another council or Welsh Government, elected representatives and other holders of public office, landlords, law enforcement agencies and investigating bodies, the media, healthcare, social and welfare advisers or practitioners.

  9. No personal information obtained by Elected Councillors will be further disclosed other than for the purpose of progressing and responding to requests from constituents, unless required by law e.g. for crime prevention or detection or the safeguarding of vulnerable children or adults.

  10. Personal information may be stored on behalf of Elected Councillors by the Council on a dedicated part of its secure network. Other than technical and monitoring operations, access and processing is undertaken only in accordance with Elected Councillors instructions.

  11. Any third parties with whom Elected Councillors may share your data are obliged to keep your details securely, and to use your data for purposes already communicated to you. If you specifically ask an Elected Councillor not to disclose information identifying you to other third parties they may need to contact, they will try to respect that. However, please be aware that it may not be possible to progress a matter for you on an anonymous basis.

  12. In representing constituents, Elected Councillors will from time to time also process personal information relating to:
    • employees working in the Council and/or other public sector, third sector or private sector organisations 
    • elected representatives and others in public office
    • complainants and enquirers 
    • relatives, guardians and associates of the constituent an Elected Councillor represents  
    • business or other contacts 
    • the subject of complaints

  13. The legal bases relied on for processing personal information in relation to responding to requests from constituents are:

    • the explicit consent of the constituent making the request (or any other relevant persons where this is appropriate) 
    • in the substantial public interest in elected representatives responding to casework requests 
    • for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or the exercise of an Elected Councillor’s functions, to carry out casework to support or promote democratic engagement
    • in pursuit of an Elected Councillors legitimate interests as an elected representative and those of their constituent, in order to assist in resolving concerns raised with them, when it is assessed that these interests override any privacy intrusion involved in processing personal data about other individuals
  14. Personal information wit​hin Elected Councillors control will not be sent beyond the UK and European Economic Area.

  15. Following closure of a case, the case papers are usually kept for a period of 6 months unless otherwise required by law

  16. Security measures are taken to ensure that personal information within an Elected Councillor’s control is protected from accidental loss or alteration, inappropriate access, misuse or theft.

  17. At any point while an Elected Councillor is in possession of, or processing, your personal data, you, the data subject, may withdraw your consent for them to process your data. You also have the following rights: 
    •  Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that Elected Councillors hold about you.
    • Right of rectification –you have a right to correct data that Elected Councillors hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
    • Right to be forgotten in certain circumstances you can ask for the data Elected Councillors hold about you to be erased from their records.
    • Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing. 
    • Right of portability – in certain circumstances, you have the right to have the data Elected Councillors hold about you transferred to another organisation.
    • Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing, such as direct marketing and automated processing
    • Right to complain - if an Elected Councillor refuses your request under rights of access, they will provide you with a reason why. You have the right to complain.  If an Elected Councillor is unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (please see contact details below).
  18. You can get in touch with an Elected Councillor by letter, email or telephone, using the contact details given on the Council’s website. Please note that Elected Councillors will need to ask for identification if you choose to exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data.

  19. The Information Commissioner’s Officer (“ICO”) is the supervisory authority in the UK established to ensure that you data rights are upheld and I am responsible to this body for ensuring that all the personal date you provide to me is processed and controlled in a fair, lawful and transparent manner.  Please be advised that in the event that you make a request or a complaint to me (see 15 above) and you are dissatisfied with the response you are entitled to complain directly to the ICO.  Details of the ICO’s contact details and further information on your rights may be obtained from the ICO’s website