Public Health privacy notice

Updated: November 2023

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.

About the Public Health privacy notice

All local authorities have a duty to improve the health of the population they serve. To help with this, our Public Health team use data and information from a range of sources.

We use this data to measure the health, mortality, morbidity and care requirements of our population. It allows us to plan and deliver health and care services in a coordinated and efficient way.

The type of personal information we collect

Your personal data will be used to process your application for the services you require provided by Public Health and will include data such as:

  • name
  • date of birth
  • address

This may also include special category information such as:

  • health records
  • sexual orientation

How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for processing your application for the services you need provided by public health.

We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

  • NHS Digital provide:
    • access to civil registrations datasets, which include births and deaths registrations - this information is person-identifiable
    • a pseudonymised hospital episode statistics dataset - these datasets are used for the following purposes:
      • measuring the health, mortality and care needs of the population
      • planning, evaluating and monitoring health and social care policies, services or interventions
      • protecting or improving public health, including such subjects as:
        • the incidence of disease
        • the characteristics of persons with disease
        • the risk factors pertaining to sections of the population
        • investigating specific areas of local concern relating to the health of the local population
        • the effectiveness of medical treatments
  • Fit4all community physical activity service
  • social prescribing service
  • stop smoking service
  • tier 2 adult weight management service

We use the information that you have given us in order to process your application for the services you require provided by public health.

How the law allows us to use your personal information

Public Health has various legal obligations, such as those stated in the following:

Also, data depending on the types of information being held and analysed. These include:

Lawful basis for processing

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

  • (a) you have given consent
  • (b) process is necessary for the performance of a contract
  • (c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject

Special category data

Special category data is being processed under Article 9 UK GDPR:

  • (a) you have given your consent
  • (e) processing relates to personal data which are manifestly made public by the data subject
  • (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine

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

Your consent

If we ask you for your consent when providing our service you have the right to withdraw consent as fully explained below. Where we do 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, email public.health@bracknell-forest.gov.uk and we will deal with your request. Should you remove your consent we are unlikely to be able to provide continued services to you.

You also have the right to:

  • opt out of Bracknell Forest Council public health receiving and processing your personal identifiable information from NHS Digital datasets
  • choose not to have information about you shared or used for any purpose beyond providing your own treatment or care

However, there are occasions where service providers will have a legal duty to share information, for example safeguarding.

The process for opting out will depend on what the specific data is and what programme it relates to. You can contact your GP for more information about registering an opt-out or to end an opt-out you have already registered.

We have a contractual obligation

Performance of a contract when providing a service with an external provider such as a business providing universal and targeted public health nursing services to children and young people.

Under the contract you have a right to object to processing as explained below, under 'your data protection rights'.

Public interest

Public interest when providing a service in our official capacity, such as the promotion of a ‘Stop smoking’ campaign.

Who we share your information with

We will need to share you personal data with third parties to deliver our services. Third parties include (for example, Police, Care Home Services) This is not an exhaustive list.

You can ask us for more information on the third party service providers. We will not sell your personal data to any party.

Data that is received through our Data Access Agreements (DAA) with NHS Digital (hospital episode statistics and access to civil registrations – including births and deaths) will not be disclosed with a third party that is not identified in our licence agreement.

Any data that is shared will be anonymised and aggregated to a level that complies with the Office of National Statistics Guidance or if we are required to do so for legal reasons. This data is provided through the Personal Demographics Service.

In order to carry out our legal obligations the council may share the school census data it collects from the schools in the Bracknell Forest area with its appointed commissioners.

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored on a server based in council offices at Times Square.

Your data will not be kept for longer than is necessary.

Data that is received through our Data Access Agreements (DAA) with NHS Digital will be retained for a maximum of 10 years, as stated in the DAA.

Data that is received through our DAA with UK Health Security Agency for COVID-19 will be kept until the expiration of the COPI Notice (COVID-19 – Notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service Control of Patient Information Regulations 2002). This is currently 30 September 2021.

Other data will be held for 3 years and will be used for comparison on data to develop the service.

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 us by emailing: public.health@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 UK 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.

Contact us 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