Councillors

What we do

As an elected Councillor within the Royal Borough of Greenwich I am the data controller accountable for the processing of personal information in connection with requests received from constituents. This means I need to collect your personal data so that I can process your request for assistance or respond to your enquiry.

Why we need your information and how we use it

When you ask for my help and assistance I will need to collect some information from you.

I will collect personal data from you, other constituents, groups or members of the public in relation to matters which they have asked me to pursue in the interests of individuals and groups who live in the ward.

If you provided personal information about someone other than yourself, we may need to check the facts with that other person. If you ask a Councillor to take action on behalf of a friend or relative, they may need to contact that person to confirm that they are happy for them to act on their behalf. If you feel it would not be appropriate for the Councillor to contact the other person, you should discuss this at the point of giving this other person’s information.

The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This information consists of:

racial or ethnic origin
sexuality and sexual life
religious or philosophical beliefs
trade union membership
political opinions
genetic and bio-metric data
physical or mental health

Some of the information that is collected may consist of criminal convictions and offences (including alleged offences).

What is our power to obtain and use personal data?

The legal basis for processing personal information in relation to responding to requests from constituents is:

consent or explicit consent of the constituent making the request (or any other relevant persons where this is appropriate)
necessary in pursuit of my legitimate interests as an elected representative and those of my constituent and it is assessed these interests override any privacy intrusion involved in processing personal data about other individuals
discharging functions as an elected representative for the purpose of responding to requests from constituents where this is permissible, without explicit consent.

What information do I collect about you?

I collect personal information that is supplied to me by you which will generally include personal information such as your name, address and contact information together with details of your problem or concern.

I will collect information supplied by you and others in relation to matters which I have been asked to pursue such as:

details of specific cases
information provided by signatories on petitions
responses to questionnaires

contact details for the purpose of communicating new and updates

Who we may share your information with

As a Councillor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, I may need to pass your personal details, and the circumstances of your query/complaint to Council Officers in order to allow the Council to look into the issue. I will not pass personal details of constituents who contact me to anyone else unless I am required to do so by law or where this is in connection with a criminal investigation.

If you have contacted me about a personal or policy issue, I may pass your personal data on to a third-party in the course of dealing with your request or query, such as an MP, local authorities, government agencies, public bodies, health trusts and regulators. Any third parties with whom I may share your data are obliged to keep your details securely, and to only use your data for purposes already communicated to you.

In any event, I will not use your personal data in a way that goes beyond your reasonable expectations in contacting me.

If you specifically ask me not to disclose information identifying you to other third parties it is necessary for me to contact, I will try to respect that. However, please be aware that it may not be possible to progress a matter for you on an anonymous basis.

How long we keep your information

Reasonable security measures will be taken to ensure that personal information within my control is protected from accidental loss or alteration, inappropriate access, misuse or theft.

I need to hold accurate and up to date information about you so that I can deliver appropriate services. If any of your details change, you need to tell me as soon as possible so that your records can be updated.

I will process your personal data until your matter has been resolved and will store electronic and paper records for as long as their contents have operational value and for as long as they may be required as evidence of the transactions they document

Your rights

You have a number of rights including:

right to ask us to provide you with copies of personal information we hold about you at any time, known as a Right of Access (previously known as a Subject Access Request). You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge and within 30 days;
right to object to the use of your personal information for certain type of processing, such as direct marketing or automated processing, including profiling;
right to object to the use of personal information for certain type of processing, such as direct marketing or automated processing, including profiling;
right to ask us to delete, update and correct any out of date or incorrect personal information that we hold about you free of charge; and
the right to opt-out at any time where you have given consent and to have your data erased where you have given consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights you should contact your Councillor using the contact details provided above.

You have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we will self-report breaches to the Information Commissioner.

If you are dissatisfied with how I have used your personal information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at casework@ico.org.uk