Data Protection - Statement of Policy
The Borough Council needs to collect and use certain types of
information about people with whom it deals in order to operate.
These include current, past and prospective employees, suppliers,
clients, customers, and others with whom it communicates. The
Council is also required by law to collect and use certain types of
information to comply with the requirements of government
departments. All personal information must be dealt with properly
no matter how it is collected, recorded and used - whether on
paper, by computer, or recorded on other material - and there are
safeguards to ensure this in the Data Protection Act 1998.
The Council regards the lawful and correct treatment of
personal information as very important to successful operations and
to maintaining confidence between those with whom we deal and
ourselves. We ensure that our organisation treats personal
information lawfully and correctly.
To this end we fully endorse and adhere to the eight
principles of data protection, as enumerated in the Data Protection
Act 1998.
Specifically, the principles require the following:
- personal data shall be processed fairly and
lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless specific
conditions are met
- personal data shall be obtained only for one or
more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further
processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those
purposes
- personal data shall be adequate, relevant and
not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they
are processed
- personal data shall be accurate and, where
necessary, kept up to date
- personal data shall not be kept for longer than
is necessary for that purpose or those purposes
- personal data shall be processed in accordance
with the rights of data subjects under this Act
- appropriate technical and organisational
measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing
of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or
damage to, personal data
- personal data shall not be transferred to a
country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that
country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for
the rights and freedom of data subjects in relation to the
processing of personal data
Therefore, the Borough Council will undertake the
following:
- fully observe conditions regarding the fair
collection and use of information
- meet its legal obligations to specify the
purposes for which information is used
- collect and process appropriate information, and
only to the extent that it is needed to fulfil operational needs or
to comply with any legal requirements
- ensure the quality of information used
- apply strict checks to determine the length of
time information is held
- ensure that the rights of people about whom we
hold information are able to be fully exercised under the Act.
(These include: the right to be informed that processing is being
undertaken; the right of access to one's personal information; and
the right to correct, rectify, block or erase information which is
regarded as wrong.)
- take appropriate technical and organisational
security measures to safeguard personal information
- ensure that personal information is not
transferred abroad without suitable safeguards
In addition Test Valley Borough Council will ensure the
following:
- there are officers with specific responsibility
for data protection in the Council
- everyone managing and handling personal
information is appropriately trained to do so
- everyone managing and handling personal
information is appropriately supervised
- queries about handling personal information are
dealt with promptly and courteously
- a regular audit (review) is made of the way
personal information is managed
In summary, when asking you for information Test Valley
Borough Council will:
- ensure you know why we need it
- protect it and make sure nobody has access to it
who shouldn't have
- ensure you know if you have a choice about
giving us information
- let you know if we need to share it with other
organisations to give you better public services - and whether you
can say no
- make sure we don't keep it longer than
necessary
In return, we ask you to:
- give us accurate information
- tell us as soon as possible of any changes
- tell us as soon as possible if you notice
mistakes in the information we hold about you as this helps us to
keep our information reliable and up-to-date
If you wish to be supplied with information the Council holds
about you (a subject access request), or you have queries or
complaints, please write to:
Data Protection Administrator
Beech Hurst
Weyhill Road
Andover
Hampshire SP10 3AJ
If you would like to see Test Valley Borough Council's
registration details, as notified to the Information Commissioner,
you can visit the Information Commissioner's notification website
and simply enter the Council's registration number Z5449999 in the
appropriate box.
For independent advice about data protection, please
contact:
Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel 01625 545745
Fax 01625 524510