Privacy statement

 

Privacy Statement & Cookies Statement 

 

IGS is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services.  The Privacy Notice below explains how we use information and the ways in which we protect your privacy.  When using your personal data we are relying on our contractual obligation to provide you with the agreed services for which we may need to use personal data.

 

Personal data means data which relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data, or from that data and other information which is in the possession of or is likely to come into the possession of IGS.

 

The UK GDPR singles out some types of personal data as likely to be more sensitive, and gives them extra protection, these include:

• personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin;
• personal data revealing political opinions;
• personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs;
• personal data revealing trade union membership;
• genetic data;
• biometric data (where used for identification purposes);
• data concerning health;
• data concerning a person’s sex life and/or sexual orientation.

 

Where necessary IGS processes personal data to deliver our services effectively.  We will not use personal data unless we need to, and where possible the data will be anonymised or pseudonymised.  We do not sell personal data to any other organisation for direct marketing or any other purpose. 

 

We may need to use some information about you to:

• deliver services and support to you;
• manage services;
• train workers;
• investigate any concerns or complaints;
• check the quality of services; and
• help with research and planning of new services.

 

You have several rights in relation to the use of your personal data, which are explained below.  If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing  igs@essex.gov.uk or calling 0333 032 2970.

Access

You have the right to ask for copies of all the information we have about you. When we receive a request from you, we must normally give you access to everything we have recorded about you unless it is confidential information about other people; or likely to adversely affect the prevention or investigation of crime or fraud.

Rectification

You should let us know if you disagree with information we hold about you. We will correct factual inaccuracies. 

Erasure

Where it is no longer necessary for us to process your personal data to provide your service you have the right to ask us to delete your data.  We will comply with your request unless we are required by law to retain the data, or it is required for a legal claim or defence.

Restriction

If the data we use is inaccurate, or the processing is unlawful, you can restrict the use of your personal data so that it is only processed to ensure its security or to make or defend against a legal claim.

Automated Decision making/Profiling

No automated decisions or profiling is carried out using your personal data.  Should we wish to carry out this type of activity we will ask for your consent prior to any use for these purposes.

 

We will take appropriate steps to make sure we hold records about you in a secure way, and we will only make them available to those who have a right to see them.  Our security includes:

• Encryption
• Access controls on systems
• Security training for all staff
• Policies and procedures 

 

We will retain information relating to our contract with you, which may include some personal data, for seven years after the contract has expired. Some information will be held for a shorter period, for example if as a data processor we process personal data to assist you with a subject access request or data breach we will only retain that personal data whilst processing the case and for one year after closure to enable us to respond to any queries. The data will then be securely destroyed.

 

We use several commercial companies to either store personal information or to manage it on our behalf. Where we have these arrangements there is always a contract in place to ensure that the organisation complies with data protection law. Arrangements involving sensitive personal data will have been formally assessed in more detail for their compliance with the law. We may also share your personal information when we feel there is a good reason that is more important than protecting your confidentiality. This does not happen often, but we may share your information:

• For the detection and prevention of crime/fraudulent activity; or
• if there are serious risks to the public, our staff or to other professionals

 

We do not process any personal data overseas. Should we wish to do so, in the absence of an adequacy decision for the receiving country, we would complete a transfer risk assessment and put in place appropriate safeguards so that your privacy and rights remain the same as though your data remained in the UK.

 

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data 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

For the public | ICO 

 

Cookies

To make this website function properly we sometimes place small text files on your device called ‘cookies’. Most websites do this too.

We don’t use cookies on this website that collect information about what other websites you visit (often referred to as privacy intrusive cookies).

Our cookies aren’t used to identify you personally. They’re just here to make sure the site works well for you. You can manage and/or delete these files as you wish.

We collect data on the number of times a word is searched for and the number of failed searches. We use this information to improve access to the site and identify gaps in the content and see if it is something we should add to the site.

You can stop cookies being downloaded on to your computer or other device by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. If you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

There is more information about how to delete or stop using cookies on About Cookies.

 

Further guidance on the use of personal information can be found at ico.org.uk