Luton Borough Council

Councillors

We're committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. We have a data protection officer (DPO) who makes sure we respect your rights and follow the law.

If you have any concerns or questions about how we look after your personal information, please contact us at [email protected].

Elected members are data controllers in their own right for parts of their role and must ensure that any personal information they hold/use in their office as an elected member is treated in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) which incorporates General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

When constituents ask for their councillors’ help and assistance, the councillor will need to collect some information from them. This will generally consist of “personal data” but on occasion, the councillor will require “special category data”.

Please note, special category data will only be collected where it is necessary due to the relevance to the request the constituent is making.

Personal data

Personal data

Personal data includes information about you, which can be used to identify you as an individual.

Examples include but are not limited to: name, address, email, telephone number, date of birth (together with details of your problem or concern)

Special category data

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 biometric data
physical or mental health
criminal convictions and offences

Purpose for using it

Councillors will use your personal data to:

investigate and respond to your request for advice, guidance or information
investigate and respond to an enquiry or complaint you have contacted them about
contact you regarding recently attended and/or future ward events (only where you have provided your details via a sign-up sheet at a ward meeting)

Only the minimum amount of personal information will be collected in order to assist with the provision of relevant information, services or support.

Lawful basis

Personal data:

Article 6 (1)(e) where processing is necessary to perform a task which is in the public interest for official functions as an elected representative, where that task has a clear basis in law (public task)

Special category data:

UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) – where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest

Who we share it with

There may be a need to pass on personal data and the circumstances of queries/complaints to third parties so that the matters raised can be investigated.

Third parties may include:

Luton Council
Other local authorities
Government agencies such as Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
Other bodies such as schools or charities
Health trusts
Regulators
Other Luton Council councillors to proactively work on any issues raised

Where possible, councillors will inform you if your information has been shared.

Personal and special category information will not be shared with anyone else unless required to do so in particular circumstances.

These circumstances may include:

Court proceedings
Detection and/or prevention of crime or fraud
To protect a child or vulnerable adult who may be at risk

Please be aware, if councillors receive a request for help on an anonymous basis, it may not be possible to progress the request without sharing identifiable information. At this point, the councillor will respond notifying the requester of this.

Any third parties with whom data is shared are obliged to keep these details securely, and to only use the data for purposes already communicated.

Councillors will never sell constituent’s data onto third parties.

Why we share it with them

Councillors may need to share a constituent’s personal details and the circumstances of their query/complaint to council officers to allow the council to look into the issue.

Any automated decision making or profiling

None

Transfer of data to another country

Generally, a Councillor will not process your personal data outside of the UK or the EEA. In exceptions where they do, they will ensure equivalent data protection controls are in place.

Retention period

Your data will be kept for as long as needed to fulfil the councillor’s obligations and to comply with any legal requirements for keeping certain types of data.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed.

Any information held at the end of a councillor’s term will either be passed to the appropriate council representative or securely destroyed.

Exercising your rights

Constituents have several rights regarding their personal data, these are:

The right of access (also known as Subject Access Request)
The right to rectification
The right to erasure
The right to restrict processing
The right to object to processing
The right to data portability

To find out more, please refer to Luton Council’s privacy notice in particular the section called “What are your rights?”

If you would like to obtain a copy of the information held on you by a councillor, please use the online form to apply to access, amend, delete or restrict personal records Luton Council will then liaise with the councillor to fulfil the request.