Adult social care privacy notice

Updated: 16 April 2025

Our contact details

Name: Data Protection Officer

Address: Time Square, Market Street, Bracknell, RG12 1JD

Phone Number: 01344 352000

Email: dpo@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Bracknell Forest Council is registered as a controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

You can find us on the ICO website - our registration number is Z4971654.

The type of personal information we collect

We currently collect and process the following information:

  • name
  • age and date of birth
  • address
  • contact information (telephone number, email address and so on)
  • gender
  • nationality
  • children’s personal details and contact information
  • next of kin personal details and contact information
  • significant family members, friends or neighbours 
  • financial information (such as bank details, income, benefits)
  • visual images

We also collect the following special category information:

  • racial/ ethnic origin
  • religion
  • sexual orientation (this is optional, and you can decide to withhold this information)
  • information included in referrals to and from other organisations
  • lifestyle and social circumstances
  • employment and education details
  • accommodation status and housing needs

Medical information including:

  • NHS number
  • GP surgery
  • admissions to medical facilities
  • alerting information (relating to the person's medical information)
  • allergies
  • details of medical appointments and assessments
  • care plan (including interventions and problems)
  • deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLS) and other safeguarding information
  • early interventions
  • health promotion information
  • information relating to medications
  • preventative medical procedures
  • details and results of medical procedures and events (including discharge and diagnoses)
  • risk management plans
  • risks and warnings relating to medical issues

How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is given to us directly by you in various formats. For example, by letter, email, telephone, in online forms, during face-to-face meetings or home visits. When you complete online self-assessments, we may use your information for automated decision-making to give you an idea your eligibility.

We may also receive information about you from third parties such as:

  • family members and non-family members (such as spouses and friends)
  • hospitals
  • GPs
  • clinicians
  • integrated care systems
  • hospices
  • Sue Ryder (Duchess of Kent)
  • Optalis Limited
  • East Berkshire Primary Out of Hours Service
  • schools and colleges
  • private and voluntary organisations such as advocacy services, parent and carer organisations (such as MENCAP) and so on
  • other local authorities
  • police
  • Bracknell Forest Council housing teams
  • Bracknell Forest Council children’s social care
  • Bracknell Forest Council education and learning teams
  • Bracknell Forest Council mental health teams
  • Berkshire Emergency Duty Service

We use the information that you have given us to provide the best possible care and support, including working with you and colleagues to deliver high quality care, for example:

  • providing person centred support
  • providing a safe service
  • making referrals to partner organisations like health services, advocacy services and so on

How the law allows us to use your personal information

Lawful basis for processing

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing the information is Article 6 UK GDPR:

  • (a) Your consent
  • (c) We have a legal obligation
  • (e) We need it to perform a public task

Special category data

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing the information is Article 9 UK GDPR:

  • (a) Your consent
  • (g) Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest
  • (h) Processing is necessary for provision of health or social care treatment

You can read the guide to lawful basis for processing special category data on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Where we use consent to process your personal data, we will explain to you what we are asking you to agree to and why.

If we have consent to use your personal data, you have the right to remove it at any time.

If you want to remove your consent, please contact adult.socialcare@bracknell-forest.gov.uk and we will deal with your request.

If you remove your consent we are unlikely to be able to provide continued services to you.

Our ‘legal obligation' and tasks that we are required to carry out as a local authority, can be found in:

  • Health and Care Act 2022
  • Care Act 2014
  • Health and Social Care Act 2012
  • Health and Social Care Quality and Safety Act 2015 Section 251(b)
  • Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019
  • Housing Act 2004
  • Mental Health Act 1983/2007
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Children’s Act 1989 

Who we share your information with

Information held by the council may be shared with the following organisations:

  • GP Practices
  • East Berkshire Primary Out of Hours Service
  • NHS Foundation Trusts
  • NHS England
  • Virgin Community Services (Virgin Care Services Ltd)
  • integrated care systems
  • hospices
  • Optalis Limited
  • other local authorities
  • police
  • commissioned health care providers
  • voluntary sector organisations
  • other commissioned services (such as home care, care homes, day care, transport providers)
  • Department for Work and Pensions
  • Department for Health and Social Care
  • Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Bracknell Forest Council housing teams
  • Bracknell Forest Council children’s social care
  • Bracknell Forest Council education and learning teams
  • Bracknell Forest Council mental health teams

We share your information in order to provide you with the best level of care possible, where you have requested this yourself, or where we have a legal duty to do so.

When we share your information with another body, we will only do this for the provision of arranging, providing, managing and evaluating your direct care.

The national data opt out

Your health information may be used by the NHS or government to:

  • improve the quality and standards of care provided
  • research into the development of new treatments
  • prevent illness and diseases
  • monitor safety
  • plan services

The national data opt out was introduced on 25 May 2018 to allow you to opt out from the use of your data for anything other than your individual care and treatment. This will prevent it being used for research or planning purposes as listed above. The opt out is in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in the Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-outs.

The national data opt out applies to the NHS and some of the activities of the council. If you are happy with use of your data for research and service planning, you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

Health agencies and councils must check the NHS national data opt out system before using your data for research or planning. 

You can change your national data opt out choice at any time by using the online service or by selecting Your Health in the NHS App, and selecting choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning.

More information

You can find out more about how patient information is used at:

Client Level Data

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has directed NHS England to establish a system for the collection and analysis of Client-Level Adult Social Care Data from local authorities. 

The information being provided to NHS England supports the government’s drive toward the integration of health and social care specifically for:

  • monitoring, at a population level, particular cohorts of service users and designing analytical models which support more effective interventions in health and adult social care
  • monitoring service and integrated care outcomes across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care
  • developing, through evaluation of person-level data, more effective prevention strategies and interventions across a pathway or care setting involving adult social care
  • designing and implementing new payment models across health and adult social care
  • understanding current and future population needs and resource utilisation for local strategic planning and commissioning purposes including for health, social care and public health needs

The legal bases on which NHS England collects the information are sections; 254(1) and (6), 260(2)(d), 261(3), 262(3)(b), 262(7) and 304(9), (10) and (12) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and Regulation 32 of the National Institute for Health and Social Care Excellence (Constitution and Functions) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (Functions) Regulations 2013.

Bracknell Forest Council is legally required under Section 259(5) of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to provide the information to NHS England under the Data Provision Notice (DPN).

The National Data Opt-Out does not apply to the submission of data to NHS England for this collection as the DPN is a legal requirement with which the Council must comply.
You can find out more information about the collection of Client Level Data at:

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored on our case management system LAS. Where you have given permission as part of the Shared Care Record, this will be securely shared using a third party system (Graphnet).

Personal information used by different services will have varying retention periods and disposal mechanisms. We may have to keep some information for longer if, for example, we have a legal obligation to hold the information. Your information will be deleted or disposed of in a secure way, the method of disposing of the information will vary based on how it is held.

You can find a breakdown of how long we keep information for and how we dispose of it, in our retention and disposal schedule.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights we need to make you aware of. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information.

Your right of access

You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This right always applies. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process.

Find out more about your right of access from the ICO.

Your right to get your data corrected

You have the right to ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies.

Find out more about your right to get your data corrected from the ICO.

Your right to get your data deleted

You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.

Find out more about your right to get your data deleted from the ICO.

Your right to limit how organisations use your data

You have the right to ask us to limit the processing of your information in certain circumstances.

Find out more about your right to limit how organisations use your data from the ICO.

Your right to object to the use of your data

You have the right to object to processing if we are able to process your information because the process forms part of our public tasks.

Find out more about your right to object to the use of your data from the ICO.

Your right to data portability

This only applies to information you have given us. You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us from one organisation to another, or give it to you.

The right only applies if we are processing information based on your consent or for the performance of a contract, and the processing is automated.

Find out more about your right to data portability from the ICO.

Making a request

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have 28 days to respond to you.

To make a request, contact adult.socialcare@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.

Service adjustments

As a public authority and a provider of services to the public, we have a legal duty to comply with the Equality Act 2010.

This means we need to make service adjustments for anyone with a disability who contacts us in any capacity, to eliminate any barriers to accessing our services.

Our lawful basis for processing this information is article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR as we have a legal obligation to provide this. Our processing of special category data, such as health information you give us, will be based on article 9(2)(a), which means we need your consent.

We will create a record of your adjustment requirements. These will give your name, contact details and type of adjustment required, along with a brief description of why it is required. Relevant staff can access this to make sure they are communicating with you in the required way.

Please contact adult.socialcare@bracknell-forest.gov.uk should you require service adjustments.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at dpo@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data by:

  • visiting the ICO website
  • phoning the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113
  • writing to:
    • Information Commissioner’s Office
      Wycliffe House
      Water Lane
      Wilmslow
      Cheshire
      SK9 5AF