This document explains how information will be held about you and processed when the council provides third-party translation & interpreting services.
The translation and interpretation service is a corporate support function that helps many different teams and services across the organisation deliver their lawful functions. Because we provide support to multiple areas, this privacy notice supplements rather than replaces the privacy notice of the individual team or service you are contacting.
You should therefore read this notice together with the privacy notice of the specific council team or service you are using. That team’s privacy notice will explain in detail why they need your personal information, what they use it for, and who they may share it with.
This notice should also 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:
- Other departments of the Council
- Other local authorities
- Statutory service providers
- Voluntary and community sector enterprises
- Your family members
What personal data do we process and why
The information we process about you will vary depending on the service being provided, but will fall within the following categories:
- Address
- Date of birth
- Disabilities
- Email addresses
- Employee data
- Finanical information
- Gender
- Income
- Marital Status
- Name
- Profession
- References
- Telephone numbers
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:
- Criminal offences
- Health
- Racial or ethnic origin data
- Religious or philosophical beliefs
- Sexual orientation
We always ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your rights and freedoms (including, where required, maintaining an appropriate policy document), and we only retain this data for as long as necessary for the purpose(s) for which it is processed.
For full details, please refer to the privacy notice of the specific team or service you are using.
Information relating to criminal offence data
We may process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. This is known as “criminal offence data” under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
This could include, for example:
- information about criminal convictions or cautions;
- details of alleged offences, investigations, proceedings, or related security measures (such as bail conditions, restraining orders, community protection notices, or criminal behaviour orders); or
- records relating to the alleged commission of an offence (even if unproven).
We always ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your rights and freedoms and we only retain this data for as long as necessary for the purpose(s) for which it is processed.
For full details, please refer to the privacy notice of the specific team or service you are using.
Why we collect personal information about you
Wealden District Council will collect and hold personal information for the purpose of providing third-party translation & interpreting services. We use this information for the following purposes:
- deliver and manage the services we provide
- investigate your queries or complaints you may have about our services
Lawful basis for processing you personal data
We process personal data because it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations which are:
- We have a legal obligation to provide fair and accessible services as part of the Public Sector Equality Duty, under the Equality Act 2010.
- We have obtained your consent. If you would like to withdraw your consent, you can do this by contacting informationgovernance@wealden.gov.uk.
- We need it to perform a public task.
Who do we share your data with
The data you provide may be disclosed with other departments of the Council or external organisations for related purposes or as required by law. We may share information with the following types of organisations:
- Translation and interpreting service providers
- Statutory service providers
- Voluntary and community sector enterprises
- Other local authorities
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 |
AA Global | Spoken language interpreting |
The Big Word | Spoken language interpreting, written translation |
Language Empire | Spoken language interpreting |
Absolute Interpreting | Spoken language interpreting |
Vandu | Spoken language interpreting, written translation |
Sign Solutions | Non-spoken language interpreting |
Action Deafness | Non-spoken language interpreting |
The Big Word | Non-spoken language interpreting |
Premium Linguistics | Non-spoken language interpreting |
Royal Association for Deaf People | Non-spoken language interpreting |
DA Languages | Written translation |
Transfer of personal data
Your personal data may be transferred to other organisations or jurisdictions where necessary to deliver our services or meet our legal obligations. Any such transfers will be carried out in accordance with data protection laws and appropriate safeguards will be applied to ensure your information remains secure and protected. This may include the use of approved contractual clauses, adequacy decisions, or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms designed to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and security of your personal data.
Automated decision making
To provide third-party translation and interpreting services, the council 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 you data
Your personal information may be 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(opens new window) 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 GDPR@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