Privacy Statement for Candidates and Agents
Overview:
To help administer elections on behalf of the appointed Returning Officer, we need to collect, store, use, share and dispose of personal information. This is known as data processing.
In processing personal information, Orkney Islands Council must comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. We refer to this as “data protection legislation”.
When we collect personal data, we must tell you why we need it, and what we will do with it. This information is called a privacy notice.
This privacy notice explains how we process your personal information as a Council.
Data Processor
Your personal information will be processed by Orkney Islands Council, School Place, Kirkwall, KW15 1NY. You can contact the Council on 01856 873535 or electionoffice@orkney.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer
The Council’s Data Protection Officer is Gavin Mitchell, Head of Corporate Governance, who can be contacted using the contact details for the Council as set out above.
Why do we need your personal information and what do we do with it?
You are giving us your personal information to allow the Returning Officer to register you as a candidate, agent or campaigner for a forthcoming election or referendum. We also use your information to verify your identity where quired, contact you by post, email or telephone and to maintain our records.
Legal basis for using your information:
We are registering you on behalf of the appointed Returning Officer for this area.
We will not use or share your information for marketing purposes, unless we ask for, and you specifically give us, permission to do so.
Who do we share your information with?
To provide you with efficient services, we will sometimes share your personal information between teams within the Council, and with external partners and agencies involved in delivering services on our behalf.
The Council may also provide personal information to third parties, but only where it is necessary, either to comply with the law or where permitted under data protection legislation.
We are legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies, such as HMRC and will do so where the law requires this. We are also legally obliged to safeguard public funds so we are required to verify and check your details internally for fraud prevention. We may share this information with other public bodies (and also receive information from these other bodies) for fraud checking purposes.
We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and proportionate.
We will only share your information with partners or suppliers who have sufficient measures and procedures in place to protect your information and can meet their legal obligations under data protection legislation.
How long do we keep your information for?
We only keep your personal information for the minimum period amount of time necessary. Sometimes this time period is set out in the law, but in most cases it is based on the business need.
The Council’s Retention and Disposal Schedule which is published on the Council’s website, sets out the retention periods that apply to records for the various elections that we administer.
Your rights under data protection law:
Under data protection legislation you have certain rights which are set out below:-
- The right to be informed about how your information will be used.
- The right of access to your personal information.
- The right to rectification, which is the right to require the Council to correct any inaccuracies or omissions.
- The right to request the erasure of any personal information held by the Council where the Council no longer has legal reason to hold the information.
- The right to request that your information is only processed in certain ways.
- The right to data portability.
- The right to object to the Council processing your personal information.
However, there may be circumstances where we may need to keep your information for longer. Once the Council no longer needs to keep your information it will be securely destroyed.
Right to complain
If you are unhappy with the way the Council has processed your personal data you have the right to complain. Any complaints regarding your data should be addressed to the Data Protection Officer.
If the matter is not resolved, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office. The address and contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:
45 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HL
Telephone: 01312449001
Email: mailto:scotland@ico.org.uk
