Read our privacy notice for information on how we collect, store and process your data.
Brighton & Hove City Council is committed to protecting your personal information.
As a data controller we have a responsibility to make sure you know why and how your personal information is being collected, in accordance with relevant data protection law
The primary laws which govern how Brighton & Hove City Council collects and use personal information known as data, are:
However, Emergency Planning and Resilience is also subject to other specific laws which define when and for what purposes it can use your personal data.
The Emergency Planning and Resilience Team delivers the Local Authority’s statutory responsibilities and duties as a Category 1 Emergency Responder, as set out by the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004.
Your information may be used as we prevent, plan and prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.
Data collected will be part of our statutory response to an incident or emergency, and may be used as evidence as part of any future scrutiny and/or legal proceedings.
We are under a legal obligation to process data, specifically working within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Our lawful basis for processing special category data is substantial public interest, specifically the Data Protection Act (2018) Schedule 1, Part 2, Paragraph 6 'statutory etc. and government purposes'.
Your data may be shared internally, potentially with any team in the council, depending on the emergency.
Your information may also be shared externally with Police, Fire Services, Ambulance Service, National Health Service, Clinical Commission Group, Public Health England, Environment Agency, other local authorities, Utility Companies, Highways England, Ministry of Housing, Central Government Departments, Coroner’s Office.
Data that is shared is always done:
Information is only shared with those agencies and bodies who have a need to know, or where you have consented to share of your personal data.
We may use the information we hold about you to assist in the detection and prevention of crime or fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies that inspect and manage public funds.
We will not keep your data for longer than is necessary, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain the data. How long we keep it will vary according to the services you are involved with, and the lawful basis for processing within those services.
The principles we use to determine how long your data will be kept include:
Information held will be reviewed six years from the date an incident was resolved, unless it was a major incident, in which case it will be reviewed 21 years from the date an incident was resolved.
Your information will be stored on electronic databases, document management systems and on paper records.
We will only make your information available to those who need to know, in order to perform their Council role.
Examples of the security measures we use are:
Controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people who are not allowed to view your personal information from getting access to it.
Regular testing of our technology and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates (called patches).
Your information is not processed outside of the European Economic Area.
You have the following rights in relation to your personal information:
The right to be informed – you have right to know about the collection and use of your personal data. We will inform you through our service-specific notices
The right of access – you can request to know what we hold on you along with an explanation for how it is used by making a Subject Access Request
The right to rectification – you have the right to ask us to update, amend or change your information if it is factually inaccurate or incomplete
The right to erasure – you have the right to ask us to delete your personal information where it can be shown that we no longer have a lawful basis to retain it, or the information was collected on the basis of consent only, and you have withdrawn your consent
The right to restrict processing – you have the right to request that we limit using your personal data for specific purposes. If you do not believe we have a lawful basis for a particular purpose, or where you consider the data to be incorrect. Upon receiving a restriction request, we are obliged to consider our use of the data and provide you with a response
The right to data portability – you can, in certain circumstances, ask us to provide you with the information you have supplied the Council, where it was obtained on the basis of consent or performance of a contract
The right to object – you have the right, in certain circumstances, to object to us collecting, using and storing your information. Upon receiving a request of this type, we are required to stop using your data whilst we investigate and provide a response
Automated decision making and profiling - we will tell you if we make an automated decision, including profiling, with your personal information. If we do this you have the right to ask us to make this decision manually instead
At present, the Council only uses automated decision processes to identify first round offers of school placements. These offers are subject to appeal and you have the right to seek a review of your school placement offer by a council officer.
If you have a concern about how we collect or use your personal data you can contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer.
We aim to resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. You also have the right to make a complaint about data protection to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Contact them by post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or phone 0303 1231 113.
You can also make a complaint or find out more information on the Commissioner's Office website.
If your complaint is not about data protection, find details on how to make a complaint about a council service.