This website is run by Potton Town Council. We regard your privacy as important and comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.

This Statement sets out the information we collect or are supplied with. It tells you how the information is held, who we share it with, and how it is used. There are contact details for queries about your personal information.

Using our website

We record personal information if you:

• subscribe to or apply for services that require personal information,

• report a fault and give your contact details for us to respond,

• contact us and leave your details for us to respond.

What information do we collect and what information are we supplied with 

When you contact us we create a record in your name. To that record we add information you give us. We keep records when you contact us. We are provided with a copy of the Register of Electors by the Registration Officer which is used in connection with electoral purposes only.  We do not sell personal information to other organisations.

The Data Controller for your personal data is Potton Town Council 

How we use your information

We will only use any personal information you send us for the purposes for which you provide it. 

We use your personal information in the following ways:-

• to process inquiries and applications

• to provide services to residents including sending you information about current and future services. This includes notices of Council meetings, Agendas and Minutes and our Newsletter

• to provide certain on-line facilities and/or services as referred to in the terms and conditions when you sign up for those facilities or services

• to allow other organisations to provide services to residents

• to assist us with planning and improving our services. We may contact you ourselves or ask an outside agency to do so on our behalf. This may be done as part of our preparation of the Potton Neighbourhood Plan

• to produce aggregated statistical information, including data for monitoring equality of opportunity

• to collect or process payments

Information sharing

We may share information with other local authorities or the emergency services where we consider that this would be necessary or helpful. We would seek your explicit consent to this other than where such sharing was considered necessary in an emergency or for health and safety reasons. If you write to us, your letter will be in the public domain unless you make it clear you do not wish it to be and we are able to justify confidentiality under the relevant legislation (this is very unlikley to be the case in planning matters).

Your contact details may be passed to a contractor to conduct a survey. This could be undertaken as part of the Neighbourhood Planning process.  Such details will only be used for that purpose and then be deleted.

If you are in debt to us, we may give other people information for the purpose of recovering the debt. Your information may also be used to detect and prevent fraud in respect of public funding and we may release information to the Police and other law enforcement agencies for the purpose of crime prevention and detection if required to do so.

Transfer of data outside the European Economic Area 

The Council will only transfer your personal information outside the European Economic Area where necessary safeguards have been secured.

How long do we keep data 

We will publish on our website any changes we make to our data protection/information management policies and notify you by other communication channels where appropriate.

Where you exercise your right to removal of your personal data, we will continue to maintain a core set of personal data to ensure we do not contact you inadvertently in future. We may also need to retain some financial records about you for statutory purposes.

Protecting your information

We have a Data Protection and Privacy Policy. This defines our commitments and responsibilities to your privacy and covers a range of information and technology security areas.

• Information will be protected against unauthorised access.

• Confidentiality of information will be assured.

• Integrity of information will be maintained.

• Regulatory and legislative requirements will be met.

• Information security training will be available to all staff.

• All breaches of information security, actual or suspected, will be reported to, and investigated by the Information Commissioner 

Children

We will not process any data relating to a child (under 13) without the express parental/ guardian consent of the child concerned.

How can I access the information you hold about me?

You are entitled to know what personal information the Council holds about you and how that information is processed. You are entitled to ask for your personal data to be corrected where you believe it is inaccurate. You are entitled to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data by the Council. However, if the processing is necessary to provide you with the service (or information) you have requested, then withdrawal may mean that you will not receive that service or information. We will make it clear if this is the case and discuss your concerns directly with you before we stop processing your data.

Any requests for further information can be made to :-

Potton Town Council, Community Centre, Brook End, Potton, SG19 2QS.

email: pottoncouncil@btconnect.com

(Data Protection Officer to be advised).

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or a complaint, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. There is no charge for making an appeal. The Commissioner can be contacted as follows:-

The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone 01625 545745 or 03031231113 (local rate) or email casework@ico.gov.uk

This policy

We will continually review and update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our services and feedback from service users, as well as to comply with changes in the law.