What rights do I have under the Data Protection Act?

Under the General Data Protection Regulations and the UK Data Protection Act an individual, known as the 'Data Subject,' has several rights which must be upheld.

Your rights

You have the following rights with regard to your personal information:

Right to be informed. You have the right to know the following:

what information we intend to collect
why we need your information
the lawful basis under which we can process your information
how we will process your information
whether we share your information
who we might share your information with
your rights until the law
how long we will retain your information and how you can contact us

This Privacy Notice should have detailed all of the above, but if for any reason you are dissatisfied with our stewardship of your information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), contact details are provided below.

What if the information is wrong?

Rectification of your information – if it is established that information we hold about you is incorrect, you have the right to request that we correct this information.

Erasure of your information – in cases where the information we hold about you is no longer required in relation to the purpose for which it was collected and where there are no lawful grounds for holding your information, you can request an erasure of information.

The Right to Restrict processing – you can restrict us from using your information if you believe the data is inaccurate or if there are no lawful grounds for using the information but you do not want us to delete the information. In addition, you can prevent us from deleting information we no longer use or need if you require it for a legal claim or defence.

Following investigation, if it is determined that the right to restrict processing should not apply, the council will inform you of reasons for this before the restriction is lifted.

Can my data be moved?

Right to Data Portability - you have the right to request that information we hold about you be transferred to another public authority or other controller. Your data portability request will have to be made in writing, we will assess your request in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR to ascertain if your request is covered under the law. Our response will contain our decision regarding the viability of your request and asking you to choose between the following:

If you want the information handed to you
If you would like the information transferred directly to the public authority or other controller

Right to Object – if you object to the council using your information in the ways detailed about we will cease to process your information unless we can show there are legitimate reasons which override your interests.

How long will it take?

Whether or not you have legitimate grounds to object to processing of your information, the council will respond to your request within 1 month stating that your request has been upheld or the reasons for not upholding your request if that is the case.

What is done with my information?

Access to your information – If you would like to know what information we hold and process about you, the category of information, who we share your information with, to ascertain the accuracy of the information and the criteria we apply in processing your information, you can make a request to us in writing. Such a request is known as a Subject Access Request (see Access to personal records)

To make a subject access request and receive a copy of your personal information, or request the application of the above rights, please contact Information Rights by email.

Write to us at:

Information Rights
Resource and Transformation Directorate
Walsall Council
Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall
WS1 1TW

Telephone: 0800 085 6018

Please be aware we will need you to provide appropriate identification but you can find details of this and everything else about our Subject Access Request process on our website .

We should respond to your request within 30 days of receipt but if the request is complex and more time is required we will inform you in writing.

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) is Paul Withers. If you have any questions about your rights under the GDPR, how the council uses your information, or you wish to make a complaint about how we have processed or utilised your data, Paul will be able to help.

How to contact our DPO:

Contact Address:

Office of the DPO

Resources & Transformation

Civic Centre 3rd Floor (HR Suite)

Walsall Council

Darwall Street

Walsall

WS1 1TP