Privacy Notice - Petitions

Who we are

We are Spelthorne Borough Council's Committee Services Department. Your privacy is important to us. We aim for full transparency on how we gather, use, and share your personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

What is the lawful basis for processing the information?

The lawful basis for processing your information is the performance of a public task and is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation as specified by the following legislation:

• the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009

How do we collect information from you?

Information is collected from you as the service user via online web forms, hard copy documents, and e-mail primarily, but can also be by telephone or through face-to-face discussion.  This information will be collected from either you directly as the data subject, or from a representative acting on your behalf, eg the petition organiser.

What type of information is collected from you?

The service collects and processes a range of information about you. The information is provided to enable Committee Services to carry out its duty and functions, provide you with a service, and continue to make service improvements. We can collect the following information as part of a petition: Surname, Forename, Address, Postcode, E-mail, and Signature.

You will be informed of any other data we collect, that is not listed above, orally or by email at the time of collection of the data.

Why do we need to record your information and what do we do with it?

All information provided is used by Spelthorne Borough Council in relation to the petition that has been submitted.  This includes:

• to ascertain that the petition is valid in accordance with the Council's constitution
• to determine how to proceed with the petition
• provide the petition to the relevant service for action and/or response
• provide the petition to the relevant Council committee for debate
• correspondence with the petition organiser and to keep them updated

Who has access to the information about you?

Your information in relation to a petition is managed by staff employed in Committee Services. Your information may also be shared with officers from other service areas for assistance with these matters. All personal data is stored securely.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our sites, any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access, and any exchanges of information carried out once we are in receipt of your data will be done securely.

Any personal data held in paper format is held in lockable filing storage, and accessed only by authorised officers.

Who has access to the information about you?

When contacting Committee Services, your information will be shared with other Council staff and Members to the extent required to provide you with the service you have requested.

To ensure that information continues to be held securely, and that accuracy is maintained, there will also be instances where our system suppliers will need to access individuals personal information. This will be on a strict need to know basis and all contracts have confidentiality clauses built in.

The Council will not transfer your information to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless this is necessary, and only to countries which have sufficient safeguards in place to protect information.

Information will be shared internally if required for better performance and efficiency of Council services and the welfare of individuals.

Spelthorne Borough Council may also share personal information with the police and other local authorities under Article 23 of the General Data Protection Regulations in order to prevent or detect crime.

How long do we store your information?

The Council will retain personal date in relation to a petition for 1 year from the year in which the petition is created.

You have the following rights:

• you have the right to be informed via Privacy Notices such as this
• you have the right to request access to and to receive a copy of any information we hold about you (including in an electronic format) - to request a copy of this information you must make a subject access request in writing
• if you find that the information Spelthorne Borough Council holds about you is no longer accurate, you have the right to ask to have this corrected
• you have the right - under certain conditions - to ask us to erase your personal data
• you may request that Spelthorne Borough Council stops processing your personal data in relation to any council service (this may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you, we will seek to comply with your request but may be required to hold or process information to comply with our legal duties)

If you require further information about the use of your data or would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact the Data Protection Officer:

Spelthorne Borough Council, Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines upon Thames, TW18 1XB Email: data.protection@spelthorne.gov.uk

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). This is an independent body responsible for making sure that organisations comply with Data Protection legislation.

The ICO will always expect you to have raised your concerns with us before submitting a complaint.