Who will own my data once I submit it?
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Why do you need my information?
We will collect certain personal information from you, for example: your name, your phone number, and your email address to process your housing service request.
To help us investigate your request, we use the HHSRS (Housing Health and Safety Rating System) Housing App by RHE Global to record defects, hazards, damp and mould evidence, building elements and findings etc from housing visits.
What Personal Information do we collect?
In order for the Environmental Health service to offer support within Knowsley, we may collect all, or some, of the following information from you:
- Personal details:
- Name
- Home address
- Contact details:
- Phone number
- Email address
- Nature of service request: (e.g. noise complaint, housing disrepair, etc.)
- Names
- Addresses
- Contact details of any other persons involved in the service request (e.g. the subject of the complaint, landlord of a property, etc.)
- As part of our investigations, information and photographs about your property may be collected.
What allows you to use my information?
In carrying out this function, the Environmental Health Service has a lawful basis under Articles of the UK GDPR:
6(1)(c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
6(1)(e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
To receive, view, store, retain and use photographs and video recordings where necessary for the investigation of a complaint and the exercise of its statutory duties.
The lawful bases and lawful conditions are supported by the following statutory acts and/or guidance:
- Housing Act 2004
- Housing Act 1988
- Renter’s Rights 2025
- Environmental Protection Act 1990
- Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015
- Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
- Public Health Act 1936
- Social Housing Regulation Act 2023
- Prevention of Damage by Pest Act 1949
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
Who will my information be shared with?
To assist in the investigation of your case, we may, on occasions, contact and share information with the following services:
- Other services within Knowsley Council, e.g. Legal Services, Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care
- Police
- Courts
- Solicitors or Insurers
- Other Local Authorities.
Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?
In order for us to be able to investigate your case we will require the information requested. If the information is not provided, we may not be able to progress the case correctly. You can opt out of this by contacting the Council at environmentalhealth@knowsley.gov.uk.
How long will you keep this data for and why?
Information will be retained in line with Knowsley Council’s Records Management Policy and Retention Schedule. We will keep your information for as long as it is required by us or other regulatory bodies in order to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, or for other operational reasons. In most cases, this will be a minimum of six years.
Information Stored on the Housing App:
This is the platform in which the cases are held. The data will be stored on this platform throughout the duration of the investigation. Once data is manually deleted, it is transferred to a recycle bin for 30 days. Then permanently deleted.
Data is permanently deleted when/if a council is offboarded.
For more information about how this is done please see the HHSRS Privacy Notice.
How will my information be stored?
Information used for the HHSRS Housing App is stored securely within Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud-based, UK server and is used solely to support the Council's inspection process. Only specific members of the Environmental Health service have access to the app.
Any information downloaded as part of any ongoing case will be stored on the Council System/devices. Information about the case will subsequently be uploaded onto the council case management system. This system is secured with individual staff logins and passwords and is audited to monitor who has accessed and the reasons for this.
Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?
No
Will my data be transferred abroad and why?
No identifiable data will be transferred abroad Data is hosted within AWS in the UK (eu-west-2). Data is not transferred outside of this region.
HHSRS use Sentry for application monitoring and error reporting. Our Sentry environment is hosted in the United States although we have plans this quarter to move the region to the EU.
The information that is intentionally transferred to Sentry is minimised and consists of an internal user ID and crash log information. They do not intentionally transfer users' names or email addresses to Sentry for this purpose.
The Data Processing Addendum with Sentry provides for transfers from the UK to the United States using the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (UK-US Data Bridge).
What rights do I have when it comes to my data?
Under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018/ UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have the following rights with regards to your personal data: -
- The right to subject access – you have the right to see a copy of the personal data that the council holds about you and find out what it is used for.
- The right to rectification – you have the right to ask the council to correct or remove any inaccurate data that we hold about you.
- The right to erasure (right to be forgotten) you have the right to ask the council to remove data that we hold about you.
- The right to restriction – you have the right to ask for your information to be restricted (locked down) on council systems.
- The right to data portability – you have the right to ask for your data to be transferred back to you or to a new provider at your request.
- The right to object – you have the right to ask the council to stop using your personal data or to stop sending you marketing information, or complain about how your data is used.
- The right to prevent automated decision making – you have the right to ask the council to stop using your data to make automated decisions about you or to stop profiling your behaviour (where applicable).
To find out more about your rights under the DPA 2018/UK GDPR, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.
You can request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used by visiting our website here.
By email to: Inforights@knowsley.gov.uk
Or in writing to:
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
L36 6GA
Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?
You can complain directly to the Council’s Data Protection Team by writing to: -
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
L36 6GA
Or email: data.protection.officer@knowsley.gov.uk
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details: -
ICO Head Office
4th Floor, No. 3 Circle Square
5 Hawkshaw Street
Manchester
M1 7BL
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk