Customer Service Privacy Notice

As the 'data controller' for the personal information - or data - we hold about you, South Ayrshire Council decides how your personal information is used/processed, and what it is used for.

This statement provides more details about how we will use your personal data when you call or come into one of our Customer Service Centres. It provides information on how to get in touch with us if you need to know more about Council Services.

Your personal data - what is it?

Personal data is information relating to a living person who can be identified from that data. Identification can be based on the information alone, or in conjunction with any other information. The processing of personal data is governed by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018.

What Personal Data will we collect from you?

We will only collect the personal information we need to provide you with relevant information, services and support. The personal data we will collect will be dependent on your enquiry and could include:

How will we use your information?

All personal data is processed by our Customer Services staff. We will only collect the personal data we need in order to provide the delivery of front-line service requests -for example:

• To provide support, advice and deliver services to customers at first point of contact
• To create a record of customer requests received, and retain a history of services delivered to customers for audit purposes
• Liaising with service colleagues and partner organisations, as required to respond to your enquiry
• General communication with customers

What is the legal basis for using/sharing your information?

The legal basis for sharing your information is dependent on your enquiry, however, the main reason is the processing is necessary for the performance of the Council's public tasks and duties as per Article 6 (1) (e) of the GDPR.

The following legislation underpins the processing of your personal data:

• To comply with the Local Government Finance Act 1992 legislation when delivering council tax services to customers at first point of contact.
• To comply with the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 legislation when delivering housing services to customers at first point of contact.
• To comply with Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) Act 2002 legislation, around registering complaints/comments/compliments at first point of contact.
• To comply with the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 legislation around the arrangement of any services.
• To comply with Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 around processing general enquiries about services.

Who will we share your information with?

Where necessary your information will be shared with a range of Council Services which may include:

• Council Tax
• Housing and Council Tax reduction (Revenue and Benefits)
• Social Work Services
• Neighbourhood Services
• Housing
• Property Maintenance
• Scottish Welfare Fund (relevant grants)
• National Entitlement Cards
• Employee Services, including recruitment
• Bereavement Services
• Licensing
• Planning and Building Standards
• Employability and Skills
• Economy and Regeneration
• Ayrshire Roads Alliance

Each of these services will have their own individual Privacy Notice, which provides you with additional information on how your data will then be used by them, for example South Ayrshire Council Services:  Privacy notices - South Ayrshire Council (south-ayrshire.gov.uk)

As well as any other Council Service that you seek support, information or a service from, we may also share your information with other third parties only when necessary to fulfil your request for assistance:

• Health and Social Care organisations such as NHS Ayrshire & Arran and South, North or East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership;
• Police Scotland and other criminal investigation agencies;
• Strathclyde Partnership for Transport;
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman;
• The Improvement Service (Scotland)
• The (UK) Information Commissioner;
• External Regulators;
• Scottish Government;
• Registered social landlords;
•  Housing Associations;
• The Trussell Trust;
• The Salvation Army;
• Councillors & MSPs (where third-party agreement is in place by customers);
• Family, friend, or support representative of customers (again where third-party agreement is in place by customers and relevant authentication levels have been completed).

Please note this list is not exhaustive and is dependent upon the service you require.

How long do we keep hold of your information?

Your personal data is transferred to the appropriate service your enquiry is relating to and will be kept in line with that service's privacy notice. Once your personal information has been transferred to the relevant service this information is no longer held by Customer Services.

Payment card/bank account details are not recorded during telephone enquiries. In line with the Council's retention policy, where you make a payment to a Customer Service Advisor, we will retain the details of this transaction within a receipt for audit purpose for the current year plus six years. 

What are your rights?

The lawful basis for processing/using your personal data directly impacts which rights are available to you. For example, some rights will not apply, in this case we are processing your data under public task we are not required to:

• erase your personal information.
• enable the right to data portability

However, you do have the following rights and can ask us to:

• correct your personal information if it is inaccurate;
• complete your personal information if it is incomplete;
• restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances

You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information.

What are the consequences of failing to provide personal information?

If you fail to provide the correct information during your enquiry, we may not be in a position to process your request appropriately. This will have implications in enabling you to access the services you require.

What about Automated Decision- Making?

The Council does not use profiling or automated decision-making. Some processes are semi-automated (such as data matching for the prevention or detection of fraud), but an actual person will always be involved before any decision is reached affecting any individual.

Do you require this statement in a different format?

Please contact us if you require this information in an alternative format.

How can you get in touch with us?

If you wish to obtain any records held by the Council relating to you, or if you have any general data protection queries, please contact the Council's Data Protection Service at:

Data Protection Officer

South Ayrshire Council

County Buildings

Wellington Square

Ayr

KA7 1DR

Email: DataProtection@south-ayrshire.gov.uk 

Telephone: 01292 612 223

Are you dissatisfied with the way your Personal Information has been handled?

If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your personal information, you can complain to the Council's Data Protection Officer using the contact details noted above.

If you remain dissatisfied after contacting us, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner

Information Commissioner's Office - Scotland

Queen Elizabeth House

Sibbald Walk

Edinburgh

EH8 8FT

Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1115