Privacy and data protection

Retention periods and your rights

Retention periods

We will not keep your information for any longer than it is needed, and will dispose of both paper and electronic records in a secure way. The length of time we need to keep information will depend on the purpose for which it is collected. The Council has a Record retention schedule which sets out how long we keep records and the reason why.

Your right

  • to be informed about how we collect and use your personal information through privacy notices such as this.
  • to request information we hold about you. This is known as a subject access request and is free of charge. We must respond within one month, although this can be extended to three months if the information is complex.
  • to rectification. You are entitled to have your information rectified if it is factually inaccurate or incomplete. We must respond to your request within one month. If we decide to take no action, we will tell you why and let you know about your right of complaint to the UK Information Commissioner.
  • to erasure. You have the right to ask us to delete your information or stop using it.  It will not always be possible for us to comply with your request, for example if we have a legal obligation to keep the information.  If we decide to take no action, we will tell you why and let you know about your right of complaint to the UK Information Commissioner.
  • to restrict processing. You have the right to restrict how your data is processed in certain circumstances, for example if the information is not accurate. If a restriction is applied, we can retain just enough information to ensure that the restriction is respected in future. If we decide to lift a restriction on processing we must tell you.
  • to data portability. If we are processing your personal data with your consent, and it is held in a structured, commonly used, machine readable form, you have a right to ask us to transmit it to another data controller so they can use it.  This right does not apply if we process your personal data as part of our public task.
  • to object. You can object to your information being used for profiling, direct marketing or research purposes.
  • to automated decision making and profiling, to reduce the risk that a potentially damaging decision is taken without human intervention.

Collecting Information Automatically

Please see our cookies page for further information about the information we collect automatically when using our website.

To make a subject access request, or to exercise any of your rights, please contact Information Rights Team.