PN160 - National Resident Survey Privacy Notice

Torfaen County Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. This Privacy Notice is designed to give you information about the data we hold about you, how we use it, your rights in relation to it and the safeguards in place to protect it.

TCBC Service Area: Adults and Communities
Work area: Communications, Engagement and Civil Contingencies
Contact Details: GetInvolved@torfaen.gov.uk
Privacy Notice Name: National Resident Survey

Data Controller: Torfaen County Borough Council, c/o Civic Centre, Pontypool, NP4 6YB

If you wish to raise a concern about the handling of your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer on 01495 762200 or email dpa@torfaen.gov.uk

The National Resident survey is to support local councils to increase their understanding of their own performance and hear and understand the views and perceptions of their residents.

Local councils in Wales are subject to numerous and various legal duties, many of which require regular and ongoing engagement with residents. One of the core aims of the National Resident Survey is to support local councils to meet these current and potential future engagement duties but, most importantly, to increase their understanding of their own performance and hear and understand the views and perceptions of their residents.

Who provides your data to the Council?

The personal information we process is provided to us directly by you.

How does the Council collect this information?

We collect data and process data when you:

  • voluntarily complete the National Resident Survey through digital links and paper records.

What information does the Council collect about you?

The Council collects the following personal data:

  • IP addresses
  • Postcode
  • Age – 10 year bands from 16 up to 85+
  • Sex
  • Gender identity
  • National identity
  • Ethnic group
  • Sexual orientation
  • Physical or mental health conditions
  • Ability to carry out day-to-day activities (if respondent says they have a physical or mental health condition)
  • Religion 
  • Preferred language (other option where language can be specified)

Why does the Council process your personal data?

Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is:

(e) We need it to perform a public task.

The Council collects your data so that we can:

  • understand local trends to develop local solutions.
  • undertake sector – led improvement through benchmarking.
  • contribute to meeting various legislative requirements around engagement and consultation:
    • Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015
    • Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021

Special categories of personal data

We collect the following special category data

  • personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin
  • personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs
  • data concerning health
  • data concerning a person’s sexual orientation

We collect this under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

  • 9(g) – processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

We do not collect any criminal data.

Who has access to your data?

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Your personal data is shared with the listed partner organisation:

  • Data Cymru

Data Cymru is running this survey on behalf of the Council. The core questions you are being asked are also being asked in many other local councils across Wales as part of a broader approach to hearing from residents. This data is shared for the purpose of supporting local councils to meet these current and potential future engagement duties.

Apart from where previously stated, we do not pass your details to third parties unless we are lawfully required do so.

Is the Data transferred out of the UK?

No

How does the Council keep your data secure?

The Council has internal policies in place to ensure the data it processes is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed. Access to this data is restricted in accordance with the Council’s internal policies and in compliance with the UK GDPR.

Data will be stored securely in:

  • Secure network storage areas
  • Data Cymru will store original survey responses on the SmartSurvey software

Where the Council engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions. These third parties are also under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate measures to ensure the security of data.

How long does the Council keep your data?

The Council will hold your personal data only for the period that is necessary and will follow organisational and Local Authority standards in this area. At the end of the retention period the Council will securely destroy or dispose of the data in line with retention schedules.

The Council will dispose of paper surveys once digitised to avoid duplication and enhance security.

Data Cymru will keep personal data for 3 years. Once this time has expired, we will delete your data.

Are we making automated decisions/profiling with your data?

No

Your rights

You have a number of Rights you can exercise:

  • Access - to obtain a copy of your data on request
  • Rectification – to require the Council to change incorrect or incomplete data
  • Object, Restrict or Delete - under certain circumstances you can require the Council to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
  • Data portability – to receive and/or transmit data provided to the Council to other organisations (this applies in limited circumstances)
  • Withdraw your consent at any time (where consent has been given)
  • To know the consequences of failing to provide data to the Council
  • To know the existence of any Automated Decision-making, including profiling, and the consequences of this for you
  • To lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Information Commissioners Office)

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact: (Jan Whitham, Engagement Officer, GetInvolved@torfaen.gov.uk)

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail Wales@ico.org.uk

Last Modified: 28/11/2024 Back to top