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  6. Privacy Notice - Complaints

Privacy Notice - Complaints

Privacy Notice

Who will process Your Information?

The personal data you provide to us as part of your complaint and also any personal data we collect about you (“Your Information”) will be processed by East Dunbartonshire Council 12 Strathkelvin Place, Kirkintilloch, G66 1TJ for the purposes of investigating and resolving your complaint.

You can contact the Council on 0300 123 4510 or customerservices@eastdunbarton.gov.uk.

The Council’s Data Protection Officer is Karen Donnelly who can be contacted on the below noted details:

12 Strathkelvin Place, Kirkintilloch, G66 1TJ

Email: DPO@eastdunbarton.gov.uk

Tel: 0300 123 4510

Why will Your Information be processed?

Your Information will be processed in order to investigate the subject matter of your complaint and provide a resolution.

Your Information may also be shared with other departments within East Dunbartonshire Council or other organisations for the same purposes and also to:

  • check the information we hold is accurate;
  • prevent and/or detect crime; and
  • protect public funds.

Other organisations may include bodies responsible for auditing or administering  public funds, bodies carrying out data matching exercises,  the Scottish Public Services Ombudsmen, other councils, public sector agencies, governmental departments, regulatory and law enforcement bodies voluntary organisations and other private companies or entities (such as Council service providers/contractors and/or partner bodies).

What is the legal basis for us to process Your Information?

The legal basis for processing Your Information is:

  • Our legal obligations under the following legislation:
  • The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002;
  • The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (to ensure proper administration of the Council’s financial affairs (including the detection and/or prevention of fraud) (and providing such information as necessary to the Accounts Commission));
  • The Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (disclosure of data to Audit Scotland for data matching).

Do I have to provide my information?

Making a complaint to the Council is a voluntary process. Without the correct information however we may not be able to resolve your complaint.

A complaint can be made on an anonymous basis however you won’t receive updates on the progress of your complaint if it is made anonymously.

Deliberately providing false information when making a complaint can waste Council time and resources.

How do you collect information about me?

Some of the information East Dunbartonshire Council hold about you for the purposes of dealing with your complaint may come from third party sources.

For example:

  • if you make a complaint about one of our contractors / service providers we may get further details from the contractor/service provider about how they engaged with you or the extent of work they carried out for you / at your premises and personal details may be provided to us in the course of these investigations;
  • if you make a complaint and advise that you have reported the matter to the police we may double check that the police have a record of this complaint and further personal details may be provided to us as a result.

How long will you keep my Information?

East Dunbartonshire Council uses the Scottish Council of Archives Records Retention Schedules to manage the amount of time the Council keeps Your Information. Further information on these can be found on the Scottish Archives website.

 If you are searching SCARRS the Reference which covers Your Information is: 20.004.003

We will hold Your Information from the end of the last action regarding the complaint for a period of 5 years. Your information will be retained for the minimum period necessary. Your Information will be destroyed under confidential conditions after this period.

Who will we share Your Information with?

Your Information will be accessed by Council employees who need to do so to administer and resolve your complaint.

The Council is also required to ensure proper administration of its funds so details will be checked internally for fraud prevention and verification purposes. Information is also analysed internally in order to provide management information, inform service delivery reform and similar purposes.

Your Information may also be shared with other departments within the Council, bodies responsible for auditing or administering  public funds, bodies carrying out data matching exercises,  the Scottish Public Services Ombudsmen, public sector agencies, governmental departments, regulatory and law enforcement bodies and other private companies or entities (such as Council service providers/contractors and/or partner bodies to whom the complaint may relate).

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access Personal Data Held About You;

You have the right to access the personal data the Council holds about you. This right is called a Subject Access Request, often referred to as a SAR.

You can receive a copy of your personal data held by the Council, details on why it is being used, who it has been/ will be shared with, how long it will be held for, the source of the information and if the Council uses computer systems profile or take decisions about you. Details on how to submit a Subject Access Request can be found on the Subject Access Request page.

  • Rectification of  Personal Data;

You have the right to request the Council correct any personal data held about you that is inaccurate.

  • Erasure of Personal Data

You have the right to request that the Council deletes personal data about you. This is known as the right to be forgotten.

You can request erasure of personal data in certain circumstances for example: i) the personal data is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected; ii) it is  being processed unlawfully; iii) the personal data has to be erased due to a legal obligation the Council is subject to.

  • Restrict Processing

You have the right to request that the Council restrict processing your personal data if: i) you think the personal data is inaccurate; ii) the processing is unlawful; iii) the Council no longer need the personal data but you may need it for legal purposes; or iii) you object to the Council processing for the performance of a public interest task or the official authority vested in the Council.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way East Dunbartonshire Council has processed Your Information you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Head Office Address:  Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Regional Scottish Office Address: 45 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HL

Tel: 0303 123 1115

Email: scotland@ico.org.uk

You should however raise any issues regarding Your Information with the Council’s Data Protection Officer in the first instance.

The Council do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes for dealing with your complaint. Some processes are semi-automated (such as the data matching as set out above) but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.