We take your privacy seriously and will only keep and use your personal information for reasons that the law requires or allows. We are a data controller for the personal information we hold about you in relation to customer services, feedback, complaints and enquiries. In order to comply with data protection legislation we want to be sure you understand how we use this information.

The purposes for which your data will be used are:-

• processing your feedback and to respond to your complaint / enquiry
• to allow us to communicate and provide services appropriate to your needs
• where we are legally obliged to undertake data processing e.g. for licensing, planning enforcement, food safety, prevention and/or detection of fraud and crime.
• where necessary to protect citizens from harm or injury
• to assist the council in responding to emergencies or major accidents. This allows the council, in conjunction with the emergency services, to identify citizens who may need additional support.

We are able to do this for various reasons including;

• legislation says we must do it
• it is necessary to perform a task in the public interest or 
• we have your consent to do so

There are very many different regulations covering our services which may be found within the service specific privacy notices on this web page.

We may share your information with:

• other councils or organisations as part of the national fraud initiative.
• for use within the internal department relevant to the topic of the enquiry or request for service and with our Councillors with your consent

Otherwise, we will only share your data if you ask us to, or if the law requires or allows us to.

We only keep this data for the time specified in our retention schedule or as required by law.

Your personal data is processed (including storage) within the European Economic Area only.

Data protection law provides you with certain rights, however not all of these rights will be available to you in all situations, particularly where we process your information as part of one of our statutory duties. Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose you will not have the right to prevent it being used in that way.

A full list of the rights you may have, under data protection law, is given in the 'Your Rights' section on Privacy Notices.

If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights, please contact the Information Manager at dpo@staffordbc.gov.uk or write to Information Manager, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ.

If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by the Council then please contact the Information Manager in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can submit a formal complaint to the Council via the Council's complaints procedure.

Finally you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or you can visit their website at ico.org.uk.

For any general enquiries you can contact the council by phone on 01785 619000, via email info@staffordbc.gov.uk or by writing to us at Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ.