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Privacy

We process personal data in to provide many of our services.

As part of our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 we have a duty to make sure that we give people information about how we process this personal data.

We do this in a number of ways, one of which is the publication of privacy notices.

To avoid duplicating information, our privacy notices are tiered.

The generic information is provided below and then there are links through to service-specific information about the way in which personal data is processed.

Data controller

The data controller is Darlington Borough Council, except in relation to data processed by the Electoral Registration Officer for Darlington, the Superintendent Registrar for Darlington and Councillors.

If you would like more information, you can contact:

Complaints and Information Governance Team
Darlington Borough Council
Town Hall
Darlington
DL1 5QT

You can also call in to the Town Hall to see us in person but we suggest that you make an appointment first so that we can make sure we have someone available to see you.

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer is responsible for advising the Council on compliance with data protection rules and monitoring its performance with them.

If you have any concerns regarding the way in which the Council is processing your information, you can contact the Data Protection Officer via the Complaints and Information Governance Team.

Your rights in relation to your information

Privacy notices and/or consent

You have the right to be given information about how and why we process your personal information.

Where you have a choice about how your information will be used, we will ask you for consent.

Where you do not have a choice (for example, because we have a legal obligation to process the data), we will provide you with a privacy notice.

A privacy notice is a verbal or written statement that explains how we use personal your information.

If you gave your consent for the processing of your information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

Where withdrawal of consent will have an effect on the services we are able to provide, this will be explained to you, so that you can determine whether it is the right decision for you.

Accessing your information

You have the right to be told whether we are processing your personal information and, if so, to be given the following information:

  • The purposes of the processing.
  • The categories of personal data concerned.
  • Who the information has been, or will be, disclosed to.
  • How long the information will be kept for, or, if not possible, the criteria that will be used to determine the retention period.
  • Details of how to request that the Council corrects or deletes your information.
  • Details of how to object to the way the Council uses your information.
  • How to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
  • Where the information came from, if it did not come directly from you.
  • Whether any automated decision-making was involved and, if so, the logic and significance behind it.

You also have a right to be given a copy of the information.

This is known as the right of subject access. You can find out more about this right on the Council’s Data Protection web pages.

Right to rectification

If you believe that information we hold about you is inaccurate, you can contact us and let us know and we will try to put it right.

You can also request that we complete any incomplete data.

Once we have determined what we are going to do to rectify the data, we will contact you to let you know.

Right to erasure

You can ask us to erase your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • We no longer need the personal data for the purpose it was originally collected.
  • You withdraw your consent and there is no other legal basis for the processing.
  • You object to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing.
  • The personal data have been unlawfully processed.
  • The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation.
  • The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services (information society services are online services such as banking or social media sites).
  • Once we have determined whether we are going to erase the data, we will contact you to let you know.

Right to restriction of processing

You can ask us to restrict the processing of your information in the following circumstances:

  • You believe that the information is inaccurate and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether it is indeed inaccurate.
  • The processing is unlawful and you want us to restrict processing rather than erase it.
  • We no longer need the information for the purpose we originally collected it but you need it to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
  • You have objected to the processing and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether our legitimate interests in processing the data override your objection.

Once we have determined how we propose to restrict processing of the data, we will contact you to discuss and agree this with you.

We will communicate this to anyone we have disclosed your personal data to, unless this proves impossible or would involve disproportionate effort.

Making a complaint

Where you are not happy with the way in which we process your personal data, we ask that you let us know so that we can try and put things right.

If we are not able to resolve issues to your satisfaction, you can refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO can be contacted at:

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

Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office 365 is the platform which many of the Council's desktop & collaboration services use.

This cloud based suite of software from Microsoft updates our previous versions of Microsoft Office, whilst bringing together new technologies and tools to create a more collaborative working environment for every day use.

Microsoft's privacy information is available here [external link]