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Data Protection Act

Data Protection covers any form of personal information regarding living individuals. This information, whether it is on paper or in electronic format, has legal protection under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Act contains eight basic principles regarding personal data. It has to be:-

• Fairly and lawfully processed (stored, used, destroyed)
• Processed for limited purposes
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Accurate and where necessary kept up to date
• Not kept longer than necessary
• Processed in accordance with the data subject's rights
• Secure
• Not transferred to countries outside the EEA without adequate protection.

Access Guidance

If you are the subject of personal data held by the Council, then you have the right to expect that we will give it due protection, and to know what that information is.  If you would like access to personal information held about you by Dover District Council you can make a Subject Access Request, which we respond to within 40 calendar days. 

• Application form

Who is entitled to personal information?

In general, personal information will only be given to an individual, and then only with appropriate identification. Requests for information about a person other than yourself will normally be rejected except for the following common situations:

• Parents may request information about a child under 16, but there is no automatic right to the data;
• A solicitor may request information on behalf of a client.

What you will get

• Copies of documents you are allowed to see under the Act (some documents will be provided by 3^rd parties or contain information about 3^rd parties and in general you will not be able to see those);
• A catalogue of the documents you can see;
• A description of common disclosures;
• An explanation of any codes used in the documents.

What is the process?

• Complete the Application Form (in .pdf format for you to print out); Send it to the Data Protection Officer (DPO), with a cheque, identification, etc, as requested on the form;

The DPO checks the validity of the request, agrees the scope of the search and sets the 40 day time period when satisfied;

• You are sent the results of the review, or in the case of an exceptional number of documents, you may be asked to attend the office to view the documents.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the review, you can request an assessment of your case by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

National Fraud Initiative

To enable the Council to tackle fraud and serious crime, all or part of the personal information provided to the Council by its customers may be disclosed or supplied to external organisations or bodies.

• Read the National Fraud Initiative Notice and find out more  
• Fraud policy

Associated Council Documents or Links:

• Data Subject Access Request Form (the Application Form)
• Data Protection Act Policy
• Information Commissioner website
• Records Management Strategy
• Retention Schedule
• Fraud Initiative
• Dover District Council Freedom of Information page

Contact

Tel: 01304 872322

Email: freedomofinformation@dover.gov.uk

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