Cheshire East Council (CEC) is committed to protecting the personal information we hold of people who use our services.
We comply with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We have security measures in place to reduce the risk of theft, loss, destruction, misuse or inappropriate disclosure of personal information. All our systems have unique login details and access is only given to the staff who need it.
If you have any concerns about your personal information held by us e.g. someone else knows your password, or you have been given access to someone else’s information get in touch with us straight away.
This statement of privacy applies to CEC’s use of any personal information we collect or create about you. This includes information:
- we collect from visitors to our website and users of our web applications
- given to us by phone, social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, email, in letters, in forms and other correspondence
- given in person
Contact details of the Data Controller and the Data Protection Officer
Data Controller
Cheshire East Council
Email: dp@cheshireeast.gov.uk
c/o Municipal Buildings, Earle Street, Crewe, Cheshire CW1 2BJ
Data Protection Officer
Julie Gibbs
Email: dp@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Call 01270 686606
1st Floor, Westfields
c/o Municipal Buildings, Earle Street, Crewe, Cheshire CW1 2BJ
What information we may collect about you and where it comes from
CEC collects personally identifiable information whenever you access or sign up to any of our services, request information, make a complaint or participate in activities provided by us. This information may include your name, email address, home or work address, telephone or mobile number, date of birth or bank account details. We also collect anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as postcode, age, gender, preferences, interests and favourites.
Sometimes we will require you to provide additional personal information, and sensitive personal information. For example, if you are applying for a Blue Badge we may need details of your disability, or if you are receiving support from health and social care, we will need to record details of your physical or mental health condition and your care needs. When we do this we will provide further information at the time about why we are collecting your information and how we will use it.
There is also information about your computer hardware and software that is automatically collected by CEC . This information can include unique identifiers such as your IP address, which is a number that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. We use this information for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the cheshireeast.gov.uk website.
We process personal information about the following people:
- customers
- suppliers
- staff
- people contracted to provide a service
- claimants
- complainants, enquirers or their representatives
- professional advisers and consultants
- students and pupils
- carers or representatives
- landlords
- recipients of benefits
- witnesses
- offenders and suspected offenders
- license and permit holders
- traders and others subject to inspection
- people captured by CCTV images
- representatives of other organisations
- elected members
The information comes from a variety of sources but in most cases the information comes from you. Sometimes other people provide personal information by making a complaint or submitting information on behalf of someone else; and sometimes agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions or other local authorities provide CEC with personal information. Our information asset register details the source of the specific information we hold.
How we use the information we collect about you
We process personal information to enable us to provide a range of government services to local people and businesses which include:
- maintaining our own accounts and records
- supporting and managing our employees
- promoting the services we provide
- marketing our local tourism
- carrying out health and public awareness campaigns
- managing our property
- providing leisure and cultural services
- provision of education
- carrying out surveys
- administering the assessment and collection of taxes and other revenue including benefits and grants
- licensing and regulatory activities
- local fraud initiatives
- the provision of social services for all ages
- fostering and adoption
- crime prevention and prosecution of offenders including the use of CCTV
- corporate administration and all activities we are required to carry out as a data controller and public authority
- undertaking research
- the provision of all commercial services including the administration and enforcement of parking regulations and restrictions
- the provision of all non-commercial activities including refuse collections from residential properties
- internal financial support and corporate functions
- managing archived records for historical and research reasons
- data matching under local and national fraud initiatives
- administration of welfare and other benefits
- debt collection including council tax, non-domestic rates and other sundry debts
- management of children and young people subject to an offending prevention programme
- protection of public health
- housing
- planning including applications and decisions, building control, local plans and conservation
- administration and maintenance of highways
Why we can process your personal information
Our information asset register details the legal basis for processing personal data for each function of the council. However, the majority of our functions are governed by local government legislation and the main reasons are:
- the processing is necessary for compliance with that legislation which CEC has to do (for example collection of Council Tax); and
- the processing is necessary for us to carry out our official public function (for example waste management and care and support for adults and children).
Consent
We will ask you for your permission to process your personal information if it is not covered by a public task or legal duty. This might be when we want to use your information in a way which is unexpected or different to the original purpose where there is no legal basis. If we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. If you wish to withdraw your consent, please contact the service that asked for your consent in the first instance.
We will need the parental consent of children under the age of 13 if we offer services directly to children over the internet. We will make reasonable efforts to verify age and parental responsibility.
When we may use your details to contact you
Cheshire East Council may contact you in a variety of circumstances, for instance:
- in relation to any service, activity or online content you have requested or signed up for to make sure that we can deliver the services to you, e.g. to verify your email when you sign up to an online account, to help you reset your password or to check if you still want to use the service (if your account has not been active recently)
- in response to any correspondence we receive from you or any comment or complaint you make
- in relation to any personalised services you are receiving, such as social care
- in relation to any contribution you have submitted to CEC via social media
- to invite you to participate in surveys about CEC services
Detailed information about how CEC will contact you in relation to specific services, activities or online content will be provided on the relevant service webpage.