General Policy

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) respects your privacy. The information that you provide us with, or that is gathered automatically helps us to monitor our service and provide you with the services that you are entitled to as a resident of Sandwell or visitor to our website.

Please bear in mind that any personal information that you submit through the discussion groups/forums may be seen by others. All other emails are treated in the same way as other communications with the council.

Emails to your elected representatives are confidential between yourself and your representative.

If you have any concerns, questions or comments please email us: contact@sandwell.gov.uk

The Data Protection Act

Our privacy statement covers Sandwell MBC and its website.

Under the Data Protection Act, we have a legal duty to protect any personal information we collect from you. We do not pass on your details to any third party or government department unless you give us permission to do so or the law requires/permits it.

Sandwell MBC is committed to respecting your privacy. We have structured our website so that, in general, you can visit it without identifying yourself or revealing any personal information. Once you choose to provide us with any information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used for the purpose for which it was originally collected or compatible purposes.

We have to notify the Information Commissioner of the types of personal data we process and for what purpose we use it for and whom we share it with. You can see what is recorded on our Data Protection Notification entry if you search for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council on the Information Commissioners Web Site www.dataprotection.gov.uk notification number Z6787899.

The Data Protection Act provides you with rights in relation to the personal data we may hold about you, namely;

• be provided with a copy of your personal data that we process and information concerning the processing.
• prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress.
• prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing.
• rights in relation to automated decision taking.
• take action for compensation from the Council if damage results from any breach of the Act by the Council.
• take action to rectify, block, erase or destroy inaccurate data.

With regard to your rights to be provided with a copy of your personal data, you are entitled to this within 40 days of making the request, providing;

• the request is in writing.
• requests must contain the information required to satisfy the Council as to the identity of the person making the request (we may require proof of your identity).
• requests must contain the information required to enable the Council to locate the information which is being sort.

We may charge up to £10 for this data (data relating to your Educational Record is covered by a sliding scale ranging from £1 to £50 depending upon the number of pages to be provided).

Further information about the Data Protection Act can be obtained from:

Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 01625 545 700,
Fax: 01625 524510,
e-mail: data@dataprotection.gov.uk
Website: www.dataprotection.gov.uk

Copies of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be purchased from the Stationery Office (Mail, telephone and fax orders only) PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN. General enquiries 0870 600 5522.

Cookies

We do not use cookies on our Website to collect personal information.

A cookie is small identifier file placed on a user's computer by a Website, which logs information about the user and their previous/current visits for the use of the site next time the user makes contact.

A cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We only use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our Website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from our system.

A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

Confidentiality / Security

We do not currently give visitors to our Web site the option of using a secure transmission method to send us their personal data. Therefore, your attention is drawn to the fact that any information provided over the Internet is not secure; e-mails can be intercepted, lost, redirected, changed and read by other people.

Interactive Facilities

Our Website enables you to communicate with other visitors or to post information to be accessed by others. When you do so, other visitors may collect your data. Our Web site also enables you to use online forms for certain services. Your attention is again drawn the fact that we do not currently provide a fully secure method of submitting your information. Any information is submitted at your own risk.

All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal data, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of our visitors' personal data. We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed except if required/permitted by law, or you have provided the Council with consent.