Customer Services Privacy Notice
Details of what information we collect from you, what we do with it and who it might be shared with.
Information like your name, address, email address or telephone number. Sometimes we collect other information you may feel is sensitive to you. This might be financial, employment or health information, for example.
If you visit the Gateway we may also capture CCTV images of you.
If you contact us with an enquiry we may keep a record of that enquiry such as a recording of a telephone call or transcript from your web chat session.
To handle enquiries from you and provide services to you and other residents in the borough. Some of these services we are required to provide by law. For us to do this, you must provide your personal information to us.
Other services we provide because it is in the wider public interest to do so. If you do not give us your personal information, we may be unable to provide these services to you.
For some services we provide we need your consent. You can tell us to stop using your information at any time. But we may have to stop providing the service to you.
Our software providers will store your information, but only on our instructions. They won’t use it for any other reasons, and they have to look after it in the same way we would. You can view their privacy information via their websites:
Where you request a referral to an agency or one of our partner services, they will also use your information. They may use it for their own reasons that are different to ours, but they still have to look after it in the same way. For a list of these organisations you can contact our Data Protection Officer (see below).
If you visit our customer services staff at the Weald Information Centre, Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council may capture CCTV images of you. They may use these for their own reasons that are different to ours, but they still have to look after it in the same way. You can view their privacy information on the Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council website.
If you telephone us outside of our opening hours, our contractors Kyndi will also use your information, but only on our instructions. They won’t use it for any other reasons, and they have to look after it in the same way we would. You can view their privacy information on the Kyndi website.
We use it to handle your customer enquiry. We may also use some of your information, such as telephone recordings, web chat transcripts or CCTV images for:
- training our staff
- improving our services
- investigating complaints made against the council
- prevention and detection of crime, including fraud
- employee safety and wellbeing
We won't use it for any other purposes without your consent, or without telling you first.
Sometimes we have to give it to other authorities, organisations or people. This would be for the prevention or detection of crime, or because of legal matters, for example. We don't need your consent to do this, but if we can, we'll let you know if we've passed your information on.
For as long as we need it. Once we no longer need it, we will keep it for a set period (a retention period) but not use it. When the retention period expires we will delete your information from our records.
See our Retention Schedule for more details.
- Access – you can request copies of any of your personal information that is held by the council.
- Rectification – you can ask us to correct any incorrect information.
- Deletion – you can ask us to delete your personal information. The council can refuse to delete information if we have a lawful reason to keep this.
- Portability – you can ask us to transfer your personal data to different services or to you.
- Right to object or restrict processing – you have the right to object to how your data is being used and how it is going to be used in the future.
- Right to prevent automatic decisions – you have to challenge a decision that affects you that has been made automatically without human intervention, for example an online form with an instant decision.
What security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?
We are strongly committed to data security and will take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the information you provide to us.
We want to ensure any information we hold is accurate. You can help us by promptly informing us of any changes to the information we hold about you.
There are no automated decisions in this process.
If you are accessing online services and are aged 13 or under‚ please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.
What are cookies and why are they used?
Cookies are small text files which identify your computer to our servers. They are used to improve the user experience. View what cookies we use and how you can manage them on our privacy and cookies page.
If you would like to make a complaint regarding the use of your personal data you can contact our Data Protection Officer:
Email: dataprotection@tunbridgewells.gov.uk
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number.
Alternatively, visit the ICO website or email casework@ico.org.uk.