Data Protection privacy notice

Gosport Borough Council is a registered Data Controller (Registration Number Z5545795).

The Council tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information in accordance with data protection law.

This privacy notice tells you about how the Council collects and uses personal information. It applies to information we collect about:

• People who use our services, or request a service from us;
• People who register for Council tax;
• People who apply for an allotment, planning permission or parking permits
• Business customers
• Complainants and other individuals in relation to a complaint or query;
• Job applicants and our current and former employees; and
• Visitors to our website

How we use your information

The Council uses personal information to:

• Deliver services and support to residents and businesses
• Help investigate any concerns or complaints including concerns or complaints raised by Councillors or MPs on behalf of constituents
• Plan and manage Council services, including checking on the quality of services, developing future services and keeping track of spending
• Carry out the Council's regulatory, licensing and enforcement functions, for example. planning permissions and food safety
• Deal with payments, benefits and other financial transactions
• Check an individual's identity or entitlement to personal information
• Carry out research and consult with residents and people who use Council services

People who use the Borough Council Services

The Council provides various services to the public and local businesses.  We have to hold the details of the people who have requested a service in order to provide a service to them. However, we only use these details to provide the service the person has requested and for other closely related purposes. For example, we might use information about people who receive a service to carry out a survey to find out if they are happy with the service they received.

Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.

The Council uses information about people who use Council services for research, planning and statistical purposes, to monitor the performance of local services and to evaluate and develop those services. Statistics are used in such a way that individuals cannot be identified.

People who telephone the Council

When you telephone the Council, your call may be recorded. The reasons for this include to help with staff training and to maintain records of conversations, to help with the detection, investigation and prevention of crime. We will tell you if your call is being recorded.

People who email us

Any email sent to us, including any attachments, may be monitored and used by us for reasons of security and for monitoring compliance with the Council's information security policies.  Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used.

The Council uses a secure email service for sending personal data outside the Council.  Other organisations are responsible for ensuring that any email that is sent to the Council is secure and within the bounds of the law.

People who contact us via social media

The Council uses a range of social media services to publicise Council news, stories, offers and events and to receive comments and feedback from residents including through direct messages, which are private, and through posts which are public to other social media users.

The information you provide via social media is subject to the social media service providers' privacy notices and policies. Any information you post on the Council's social media platforms is also subject to the Council's social media moderation policy.

People who make a complaint to us

When we receive a complaint from a person we generally make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.

We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We do compile and publish statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone.

We usually have to disclose the complainant's identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person's record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn't want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy, which is available on request. Information relating to a complaint will normally be retained for up to 7 years from when the complaint is resolved.

Job applicants, current and former Council employees

When individuals apply to work at the Council, we will only use the information they supply to us to process their application and to monitor recruitment statistics. Where we want to disclose information to a third party, for example where we want to take up a reference or obtain a 'disclosure' from the Disclosure & Barring Service we will not do so without informing them beforehand unless the disclosure is required by law.

Personal information about unsuccessful candidates will be held for 12 months after the recruitment exercise has been completed, it will then be destroyed or deleted. We retain de-personalised statistical information about applicants to help inform our recruitment activities, but no individuals are identifiable from that data.

Once a person has taken up employment with the Council, we will compile a file relating to their employment. The information contained in this will be kept secure and will only be used for purposes directly relevant to that person's employment or in order for the Council to meet a legal obligation, for example inspection by a regulatory body.

Once their employment with the Council has ended, we will retain/delete the file in accordance with the requirements of our retention schedule.

Visitors to our website

When you visit the Council's website www.gosport.gov.uk to view a page or download a form, we will collect the following information automatically:

• the domain name (if available) and IP address from which you accessed our site
• the date and time you visited
• the pages you viewed
• the type of browser and operating system you used

We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site which helps us to improve our website service. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone.

We use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect this information. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

We will make it clear to you whenever we collect any personal information through our website and will explain what we intend to do with it.

You can find out more about how we use cookies on our websites and how we protect the privacy of people who use our websites by reading the Council's Cookie Policy.

How do we keep personal information secure?

We will take appropriate steps to make sure that the personal information we hold (on paper and electronically) is kept securely and only used by people who have a right to see it. The Council's security measures include encrypting personal data and equipment, system access controls and training in data protection for all staff.

Where another company or organisation processes personal information on behalf of the Council, they will only process your personal information in line with the Council's instructions and are obliged to provide security assurances to the Council and to certain regulatory bodies. 

How long do we keep hold of personal information?

Records are kept in line with the Council's retention policy and we will not keep your information longer than necessary.

The Council has a duty to ensure that all Council staff and volunteers, and companies or persons providing services or undertaking contracts on behalf of the Council create full, accurate and reliable records of their actions.

Access to personal information

Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a 'subject access request'. If we do hold information about you we will:

• give you a description of it;
• tell you why we are holding it;
• tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

To make a request to the Council for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing addressing it to:

Data Protection Officer
Gosport Borough Council
Town Hall,
Gosport,
PO1 1EB

A request form is available to print and complete: Data subject access - request form 

If you cannot come to the Town Hall, have difficulty making a written request, or don't have any form of identification please use the contact details below to discuss your request with us.

If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting the Data Protection Officer.

Please be aware that we would not let you see any parts of your record which contain:

• Confidential information about other people; or
• Information that a professional thinks will cause serious harm to your or someone else's physical or mental wellbeing; or
• If we think that a crime may be prevented or found out by disclosing information to you.

Access to CCTV images

You also have the right to see CCTV images of yourself and be provided with a copy. For further information, see:

Gosport Borough Council's Town Hall CCTV system Policy

Gosport Council's Open Spaces CCTV  Council's Community Safety and CCTV

The Housing Management CCTV System

You can ask to see CCTV images by making a subject access request using the Data subject access - request form or as detailed above.

Sharing or disclosing personal information

In many circumstances we will not share or disclose personal information without consent. However when we investigate a complaint, for example, we will need to share personal information with the organisation concerned and with other relevant bodies.

We may pass relevant information, such as your contact details, on to different parts of the Council so that we can co-ordinate our services properly. For example, housing will tell the Council tax team when someone has a change of address.

Where we do not directly provide a particular service, we may need to pass your information on to the company or organisation which provides services on our behalf.

We may pass your information to other agencies or organisations as allowed or required by law, for example to enable them to carry out their statutory duties or where it is necessary to prevent harm to yourself or other individuals.

We may be required by law to disclose your personal information without your consent for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime/fraud or apprehending and prosecuting offenders (for example to the police, Cabinet Office, Department for Work and Pensions or as part of the National Fraud Initiative) or where we have a statutory duty to do so. For more information follow the link to read our Fair processing notices page.

Sometimes we are required to give personal information to a court, for example for child protection purposes and in connection with mental health law.

Use of Data Processors

Data processors are third parties who provide elements of our services for us, such as IT systems suppliers and market researchers who handle or collect personal data on behalf of the Council. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from the Council or approved sub-contractors. Data processors are required to hold any personal information securely and to retain it for the period we instruct. 

Complaints or queries

We take any complaints we receive very seriously. Please bring it to our attention if you think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate.

You should let us know if you disagree with something written in your record. We may not always be able to change or remove the information. However, we will correct factual inaccuracies and may include your comments in the record.

We are happy to provide any additional information or explanation about how the Council collects and uses personal information.

Any complaints, queries or requests should be sent to the Council's Data Protection Officer.

Email:  foi@gosport.gov.uk

Telephone: 023 92584242

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (if you prefer to use a national rate number).

Links to other websites

This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

How to contact us

If you want to request details of our privacy policy and how we collect and use personal information, you can write to:

Data Protection Officer
Gosport Borough Council
Town Hall
High Street
Gosport
PO1 1EB

Email:  foi@gosport.gov.uk

Telephone: 023 92584242