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My Powys Account Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice explains how we use and process your personal information that you share with Powys County Council for use with your My Account; why this information is collected and held, and with whom it is being shared.

What is personal information?

Personal information can be anything that relates to a living person and that can be used to identify them. For example, this includes your name and contact details.

Who is the organisation (data controller)?

Powys County Council is the controller for the purposes of data protection law.  As a data controller, the council determines the purpose and methods for processing information and ensures it safeguards any personal and/or sensitive information it handles.

Council Contact Details:

Powys County Hall
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 5LG

Email: customerservices@powys.gov.uk

Telephone: 01597 826000

Data Protection Officer (DPO)

The council's Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at information.compliance@powys.gov.uk 

Purpose of Collecting and Using Personal Data

We hold and use your personal data for:

  • maintaining our own accounts and records
  • managing your personal Powys County Council account and subscriptions
  • personalising your repeat visits to our web pages
  • promoting the services the Council provides (Powys People's Panel)

Powys People's Panel

In your account profile, you will notice that there is a section regarding 'Powys People's Panel'.  Powys People's Panel are a group which take part in surveys and other opportunities to express their views on council services and other issues related to living in Powys.  In order to be included on the mailing list for such communications, we will ask for your consent to "opt in" to emails regarding council engagement activities on your 'My Powys' account.  Should you choose to opt-in to receiving such communications, but in future feel that you no longer wish to be contacted, you can be removed from the mailing list by logging into to your account, selecting 'My Profile' and unticking the box for opting in. Once this has been done, you should not receive any further emails regarding council engagement activities. 

We put safeguards in place to ensure that:

  • we only gather as much information as we need, and no more
  • the information is accurate and up-to-date
  • the information is only used for the purpose intended
  • we keep the information for only as long as we need to  
  • we will not disclose personal information to third parties for marketing purposes or use personal data in a way that may cause unwarranted detriment.

Legal Basis

Data protection law requires that we make clear the legal grounds on which we can hold and use your personal data.  We base our processing on the basis on having received your consent to process your information, for My Account.

What type of personal data do we collect?

In order to manage your account and subscriptions, provide services requested, and (through the use of cookies) personalise your use of the website, Powys County Council may obtain, use and disclose personal data including the following:

  • Personal details (including such things as your name, address, phone number, email address)
  • Licences or permits held

We also collect information including:

  • Council Tax reference numbers
  • Business Rates reference numbers
  • Commercial recycling account numbers
  • Housing tenancy account numbers (and date of birth in order to identify and link accounts)
  • People's Panel opt-in status, which then includes date of birth and gender

This information is required to link in with our services' back-office systems to display your information in your 'My Account'. You are able to provide or remove this information at any time through your 'My Account'.

Further information on how we use cookies can be found on our website here: Data Protection and Privacy

How long will your information be kept for?

Your account will be retained for as long as you wish to hold it - it is never automatically deleted.  Please note that should you choose to delete your account, the website platform will still retain information relating to website processes which you have previously engaged in (e.g. 'get a new bin').  This information is kept for the minimum period necessary (including a period relating to reporting requirements).  After this time, information is deleted/destroyed in accordance with council approved retention schedules.  Please see our 'retention schedule' which explains how long we keep information: Retention and destruction of records

Who will the information be shared with?

We may share your personal information with other agencies (e.g. law enforcement agencies) where the law requires us to do so - this can include providing personal data to support the detection and prevention of crime, or to protect public funds. 

Your data may also be shared with the relevant departments within the Council in order for us to carry out the services you require.  Some services may require us to share your data with third parties who are contracted by the Council to deliver services on our behalf.  These services must have a valid lawful basis in order to process your personal data, and details regarding this and their purpose for such processing can be found in their own privacy notice.  A list of all the relevant service area's privacy notices can be located by using the Council website's search function: Search - Powys County Council - Privacy Notice.

Where information is shared with other organisations, or processed on our behalf, we will ensure adequate protection by ensuring contracts and sharing agreements are in place.  These will define the minimum amount of data to be shared, how your information is to be used, and will enforce security controls to protect your information.

A 'customer declaration' will be presented to you prior to each individual interaction process;  We have two versions of these (a standard declaration and a full declaration) which are used to confirm that you understand how the data provided in your 'My Account' will be processed.

All council officers are required to undertake relevant training to ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with the principle of data protection legislation.

For further information on Powys County Council's processing of personal data and your data protection rights then visit Data Protection and Privacy