City of York Council (CYC) complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), reference: Z5809563.
We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in August 2025.
CYC is committed to ensuring that information is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
This Privacy Notice explains how and why we process your information, under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for law enforcement purposes and the steps we take to keep your information safe.
CYC is the controller for the personal data we process, unless otherwise stated. You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:
West OfficesStation Rise
York
YO1 6GA
Telephone: 01904 555719.
Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.
You can find more information about the role of the Data Protection Officer in our Data Protection Policy Statement.
This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant specific privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice.
When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this privacy notice.
- How we collect your information
- What personal data we process and why
- Automated decision-making
- Collecting information automatically
- Children's information
- Lawful basis for processing your personal data
- How long we keep your personal data
- Data sharing
- Data processors and/or third parties
- Transfers of personal data
- How we protect your information
- Your rights in relation to this processing
How we collect your information
We get information about you
- directly from you
- from council staff
- from councillors
- from third parties acting on your behalf such as family member(s), advocates, and so on
- from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf
What personal data we process and why
The amount and type of personal data and special categories of personal data that Democratic Services collects and uses, will depend on why and how you're contacting or interacting with us.
This may simply mean providing your name and address but for some things we may need to ask you for more details and sometimes special categories of personal data such as health or disability information.
Records of council meetings
We publish a record of all council decisions and meetings, as well as any background information and reports that inform discussion and decision making.
To provide this service, we will need to process personal data and special categories of personal data about members of the public, staff, consultants, and elected Members, such as:
- name
- contact details
- date of birth
- health information
- disability information
The majority of council meetings are held in public. Agendas and reports for all council and committee meetings are made available to the public 5 clear working days in advance of meetings, in accordance with statutory requirements.
Petitions
The council welcomes petitions as a valuable tool for people to let us know their concerns about the local community.
We provide a platform for people to create petitions on our website.
Please see the Petitions privacy notice.
Webcasting
Our webcasting service is part of a range of tools that we use to increase transparency and encourage greater participation in how local decisions are made. We hope it will keep you better informed about the work of the council and the decisions being made, on your behalf, by councillors and how they're representing your views and interests.
Videos of meetings are made available for all to view live and on-demand via our website and directly via the City of York Council YouTube channel where the videos are stored. View YouTube’s Privacy Policy.
You can also find out more attending public meetings at:
We will also collect your comments, feedback, and opinions if you choose to take part in our surveys, consultation etc. You can withdraw your consent to these at any time by contacting democratic.services@york.gov.uk.
When you complete an online form on the council’s website and you have provided your email address, we will send you a copy of your completed online form.
We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you, your family, or individuals such as:
- statistical analysis
- statutory returns
- audit framework
- see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
- help design better services
- inform funding decisions
Automated decision-making
We do not carry out any automated decision making in Democratic Services.
Collecting information automatically
Please see our cookies page for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.
Children’s information
Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.
Lawful basis for processing your personal data
Any personal data including special category data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Articles 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
Article 6(1)
- (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose
- (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
- (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
Article 9(2)
- (a) Explicit consent
- (b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
- (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
This is supported by Schedule 1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and legislation such as:
- Local Government Act 1972,
- Local Government Act 2000
- Localism Act 2011
- Local Government and Housing Act 1989
- Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
- Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
- The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014
- The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012
Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.
Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.
How long we keep your personal data
We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.
Videos are made available to view on-demand for a period of 6 years following the meeting (consistent with the statutory timescales for retaining other records relating to public meetings, such as minutes and reports). After 6 years they will be permanently deleted from our YouTube channel and will no longer be available to view.
You can find details on how long the council keeps records at Retention Schedule.
Data sharing
We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:
- other CYC services
- other councils, government departments and agencies
- third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
- internal and external auditors
In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information.
We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making and satisfy ourselves we have a legal basis on which to share the information.
Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.
Data processors and/or third parties
When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps) for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:
- Modern.gov (Civica UK Ltd). You can find out how they use your information in the Civica Privacy Notice
- Zoom Pro or Business version of Zoom (version 5), to host some public facing meetings, training sessions across different services in the council. Where these meetings are recorded, recordings will be kept locally on our server and will not be retained by Zoom. You can find out how they use your information in the Zoom Compliance Information
- Microsoft Teams, to contact you, to gather information from you, or if we are recording or transcribing our discussion or meeting with you, we will let you know. You can find more details about this in the City of York Council Microsoft Office 365 (MS365) Teams Meeting recording and transcription privacy notice
- SurveyMonkey, for our surveys or consultations. You can find out how they use your information in the SurveyMonkey Privacy Notice
- Zimma Ltd, trading as Ticket Tailor, for arranging and organising events. You can find out how they use your information in the Ticket Tailor Privacy Policy
- Eventbrite, for arranging and organising events. You can find out how they use your information in the Eventbrite Privacy Policy
- Granicus/Gov Delivery, to send you updates and newsletters. You can find out how they use your information in the Granicus Privacy Policy
- WhatsApp, to contact you. You can find out how they use your information in the WhatsApp Privacy Policy
- Microsoft Forms, as part of MS365. You can find out how they use your information in the Microsoft Privacy Statement
- Veritau Public Sector Limited (VPS), who provides services to the council such as internal audits. You can find out how they use your information in the Veritau Privacy Policy
- other specialist or assistive systems, software, platforms, applications (apps), to help provide our services and support to you and our staff
- YouTube, where we provide information in British Sign Language via the City of York Council YouTube channel, please read YouTube Privacy Settings and Google Privacy Policies
Transfers of personal data
We do not routinely transfer personal data or special categories of personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.
How we protect your information
We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:
- IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
- on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
- training for all staff and elected councillors
- policies and procedures
Your rights in relation to this processing
To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.
You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 555719, or write to:
Data Protection OfficerCity of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA