Democratic Services forms part of the Governance and Corporate Services Directorate and this document explains how information will be held about you and processed.
This notice should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy.
How do we get your information?
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you. We may also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources:
- Friends and family acting on your behalf
- Professionals (e.g. Planning Agents) employed by you acting on your behalf
- Other Council departments
- Cameras and audio recording equipment used in meeting rooms
What personal data do we process?
The information we process about you will vary depending on the service being provided, but will fall within the following categories:
- Name
- Address
- Email addresses
- Telephone numbers
- Correspondence
- Website user stats
- Photos / Video recordings
- Records of contributions/participation in meetings
- Profession
Information relating to health and wellbeing and other special category data
In order to meet our statutory and legal obligations in respect of these services, we may also need to process sensitive, or “special category” personal data about you, which could include data related to:
- Political opinions (e.g. whether you support or oppose a particular matter.)
Why we collect personal information about you
Wealden District Council will collect and hold personal information relating to:-
Recording the proceedings of public meetings:
- If you participate in a public meeting your name and details of what you say or do may be recorded in the minutes.
- If you attend a public meeting your picture and details of what you say or do may be recorded in the webcast. Any third-party may also record or film meetings, the Council is not responsible for any third-party recordings.
- Your details will also be used, but not published, to ensure compliance with the public speaking procedures to ensure fairness and transparency.
Enabling you to sign a petition:
- If you sign a petition your name will be shown publicly.
- Your details will also be used, but not published, to ensure compliance with the petitions procedures to ensure fairness and transparency.
We also use personal information for the following purposes:
- Maintain internal records.
- Train and manage our workers who deliver those services.
- Investigate your queries or complaints you may have about our services.
- Check the quality of our services.
- Assist with research and planning of new services.
Lawful basis for processing your personal data
We process personal data because:
- We have a legal obligation in accordance with UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c).
- We need it to perform a public task in accordance with UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e).
The legislation we rely on when using your personal information to meet our legal obligations or public tasks may include but is not limited to:
- Local Government Act 1972.
- Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements (Access to Information) England) Regulations 20212.
- Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009.
- Local Government Act 2000.
Your consent: If you have previously given your consent and would like to withdraw your consent, you can do this by contacting informationgovernance@wealden.gov.uk.
Who do we share your data with?
The data you provide may be disclosed with other departments of the Council and Members of the Council (Councillors) or external organisations for related purposes or as required by law. As described above, your personal data may also be made publicly available in certain circumstances (e.g. where you participate in public meetings).
In some circumstances, such as under a court order, we are legally obliged to share information, and we may also share information with the Police and other enforcement agencies for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection, or prosecution of criminal offences.
We may also share information internally, in order to verify or confirm your personal details, to ensure our records are accurate and up-to-date. Data held by this service will only be used by other internal departments or services when we are satisfied there is a lawful basis for doing so and is considered fair.
Do we use data processors?
Data processors are third parties who provide certain parts of our services for us. We have contracts in place with them and they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do so. Our current data processors for this service are listed below.
Data Processor | Purpose |
Microsoft Teams | To provide video conferencing services. |
Public-i | To provide webcasting services. |
Civica Modern.gov | To provide record keeping and archiving services. |
The Keep (East Sussex Record Office) | To provide archiving services. |
Transfer of personal data
No data is transferred overseas as part of this service. However, as described above, your personal data may be made publicly available in certain circumstances (e.g. where you participate in public meetings).
Automated decision making
Democratic Services does not use automated decision making in respect of your personal data.
Retention period
We process your personal data for the above purposes for no longer than necessary and in accordance with current legislation and the Councils Retention Schedule.
Only in exceptional circumstances will we hold your information for longer, for example a pending court case. All information will be held securely and disposed of confidentially.
Anonymising your data
Your personal information maybe converted into statistical or aggregated data that ensures that you cannot be identified from it. Anonymised data means it cannot be linked back to you as an individual and may be used to conduct research and analysis. This includes the preparations of statistics for use in our reports.
Your rights
Your rights are set out in the Data Protection legislation and include:
- the right to access your personal information, to request rectification or erasure of certain personal
- information and to object to processing in certain circumstances
- the right to withdraw any consent you may have given to process your personal information
- the right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel we are processing your personal information unlawfully
- the right to restrict processing activity in certain circumstances
- the right to object to certain types of processing activity
If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact our Information Governance team on informationgovernance@wealden.gov.uk in writing or by completing our online form.
If you are dissatisfied with how we have used your personal data you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner Office
Data Protection Officer
If you have any questions or concerns about how your personal data is handled, you can contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) at dataprotection@wealden.gov.uk