Data Protection Act
Data Protection covers any form of personal information
regarding living individuals. This information, whether it is on
paper or in electronic format, has legal protection under the Data
Protection Act.
Some categories of personal
information are exempt from sections of the Act, and some highly
sensitive information is given added protection.
The Act contains eight basic
principles regarding personal information. It has to be:
- Fairly and lawfully processed (stored, used, destroyed)
- Processed for limited purposes
- Adequate, relevant and not excessive
- Accurate and where necessary kept up to date
- Not kept longer than necessary
- Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights
- Secure
- Not transferred to countries outside the EEA without adequate
protection
If you are the subject of personal information held by the
council, then you have the right to expect that we will give it due
protection, and to know what that information is.
How to request information
‘Requests must be made in writing or by email and you will need
to complete the ‘application to access personal information’ below.
You need to identify which services you are interested in or have
had dealings with.
What will you receive?
- A copy of the information held about you
- A description of the information processed
- The purposes for which the information is being processed
- A list of recipients of whom the information are/may be
disclosed
- An explanation of any codes used
Your rights
You have the right to ask the council:
- Not to use personal information about you for direct
marketing.
- To stop processing personal information which is likely to
cause damage or distress.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with how your request has been dealth
with or if the information held about you is incorrect:
- You should write to the Corporate Records Manager outlining
what is incorrect and ask for it to be corrected
- If you are still not satisfied, you should complain to the
Information Commissioner, officially appointed to consider such
complaints. The address is Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF. Telephone 01625 545 7000
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