City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) - reference Z5809563. We created this privacy notice in March 2026 and will review it regularly.
CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data 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 tells you what to expect when we process your information, and it applies to the council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund Discretionary Payments.
CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.
You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:
Data Protection OfficerWest Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA
Telephone: 01904 555719.
Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.
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 from the following sources:
- directly from you when you apply
- from third parties on your behalf such as Citizens Advice, other council services
- from other organisations such as NHS and the police
- from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf
What personal data we process and why
We will only process the information that is necessary to consider your application such as:
- name and address
- National Insurance Number
- date of birth
- telephone numbers
- income for you and your household
- your characteristics (including gender, language and ethnicity)
- where appropriate, relevant medical information for you and/or your household
- any additional information that's necessary for us to assess your application and provide you with the service you require
- details of any previous and current involvement with specialist services
- details of your bank or building society
If we need any other details to assess your application for the Crisis and Resilience Fund Discretionary Payments, we will ask you for this and explain why we need it.
We will use your information for the following purposes:
- to consider your eligibility, process and make a decision on your application for Crisis and Resilience Fund Discretionary Payments
- to consider your eligibility and, if appropriate, make an award for Council Tax Support, Council Tax Discounts or other City of York Council support.
- to notify you that you may be eligible for support from other organisations.
- to gather your comments, feedback, and opinions if you choose to take part in our surveys, consultations to help us improve our services - you can withdraw your consent to these at any time by contacting us on email: benefits@york.gov.uk
We will inform you if your call is being recorded and you can find more details about our call recording in our Call Recording Privacy Notice.
We must protect public funds and may use personal data and data-matching techniques to detect and prevent fraud, collect taxes and ensure public money is targeted and spent in the most appropriate and cost-effective way. To do this, your personal data may be shared with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, including the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, the police and other local authorities.
Artificial Intelligence
We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to support or enhance council services. Where AI is involved in a process that directly affects your interaction with us, we will inform you before your user journey begins. This ensures transparency and helps maintain trust in how we use AI.
Our use of AI complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), including the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, accountability, and accuracy. We conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) where AI systems are likely to result in high risks to individuals’ rights and freedoms, such as automated decision-making or profiling.
If generative AI tools are used, we do not use personal or end-user data to train AI models. This helps ensure compliance with the purpose limitation and data minimisation principles under UK GDPR.
AI for Staff Productivity and Accessibility
Where AI tools are used solely by staff to assist with drafting, research, or accessibility - for example, to improve writing efficiency or summarise information - these uses do not form part of a business process that affects service delivery or decision-making. As such, no specific notification will be provided for these internal productivity uses.
These uses are considered low risk and do not involve automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. They are also subject to internal governance and safeguards to ensure responsible use.
Examples include:
- drafting internal reports or meeting notes
- summarising lengthy documents for quicker review
- assisting with spelling, grammar, or formatting tasks
We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you or individuals such as:
- for statistical analysis
- for statutory returns
- for audit frameworks
- to see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
- to help design better services
- to inform funding decisions
Automated decision-making
We do not carry out any automated decision making without any human intervention in providing this service.
Collecting information automatically
Please see our Cookies Policy 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 Article 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
The legal basis for processing your information data is in accordance with the following:
- Article 6 (1):
- (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose
- (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
- (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
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 and then it will be securely and confidentially destroyed.
You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the council 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
- other organisations such as NHS and the Police
- third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
- internal and external auditors
Where you have provided details of a support worker, adviser or other person supporting you and given us your permission, we may discuss your application and information provided with them.
In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information. We may also share information about you with third parties including our data processors, government agencies and external auditors.
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:
- Canon (UK) Ltd, as the council's main multi-functional print devices. You can find out how they use your information in the Canon (UK) Ltd Privacy Notice
- Charis Grants Ltd, for the purpose of maintaining records for audit purposes, returns and statistical information to ensure vouchers are able to be provided to those most in need. ou can find out how they use your information in the Charis Privacy Notice
- Eventbrite, for arranging and organising events. You can find out how they use your information in the Eventbrite Privacy Policy
- Forvis Mazars, who provide external audit services to the council. You can see how Forviz Mazars assist with Local Government Audits in England
- Granicus/Gov Delivery, to send you updates and newsletters. You can find out how they use your information in the Granicus Privacy Policy
- Low-Income Family Tracker Dashboard (LIFT) from Policy in Practice. Policy in Practice (PIP) (ICO Registration Number: ZA006797). You can see how they use your information in the Policy in Practice Privacy Policy
- Microsoft Forms, as part of MS365. You can find out how they use your information in the Microsoft Privacy Statement
- the council’s use of Microsoft 365 as its main operating system; read the Microsoft Privacy Statement, alongside our contract with Phoenix Software Limited; read the Phoenix Data protection 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
- 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
- WhatsApp, to contact you. You can find out how they use your information in the WhatsApp Privacy Policy
- 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
- 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
- other organisations to support the council’s corporate transformation programme such as Impower. You can find out how they use your information in the Impower Privacy Notice
- other specialist or assistive systems, software, platforms, applications (apps), to help provide our services and support to you and our staff
Transfers of personal data
We don’t routinely transfer 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 OfficerWest Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA