Personal data is information that relates to living individuals, including customers and council staff. It does not include information relating to dead people, groups or communities of people, organisations or businesses.

The management of personal data is regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998. The council has a data protection policy to guide officers in applying the Act. The Act and the policy mean that:

• where you have a choice as to whether to provide us with your information, it is as easy as possible to make it
• information about you is only processed without your knowledge where this is necessary for purposes such as public safety, statistical analysis, the protection of the economy, the prevention of crime or disorder, the protection of health or morals, the protection of the rights and freedoms of others
• only information that we actually need is collected and processed
• your personal information is only seen by staff who need it to do their jobs
• any information which we no longer need is deleted
• decisions affecting you are only made on the basis of reliable and up to date information
• your information is protected from unauthorised or accidental disclosure
• a copy of any information we hold about you is normally provided on request
• any inaccurate or misleading information is checked and corrected as soon as you bring this to our attention
• proper procedures are in place for dealing promptly with any complaints that you make.

In return we ask you to help us to keep your information up to date by telling us about changes immediately.

Service specific privacy statements

Where we hold your personal information we will tell you:

• who will see it
• how we safeguard your personal information
• why they need it
• how you can check and correct it
• what they will do with it
• how to pursue a query or complaint
• when they will delete it