Website User Privacy Notice

Privacy notice name
Website User Privacy Notice
Last updated
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Introduction

​​​This section contains details about how we deal with information from users of t​​his website. This includes information obtained from forms, email and website log files, how it is used, and under what circumstances we will share it.

The way we deal with privacy applies only to the Rochdale Borough Council websites at rochdale.gov.uk and its subdomains; this does not apply to any other site, including:

  • Other websites operated by or with our partner organisations.
  • Any site that is linked from one of our pages.
Information collected by this website

Information that this website routinely collects falls into 2 categories, forms and website log files.

Forms

The website provides forms that allow you to:

  • Give general feedback about the site.
  • Make complaints, comments or compliments about council services.
  • Access council services.
  • Make payments to us and invoice us.

The information collected will be used by us mainly so we can deliver a service, deal with the enquiry or process a payment.

The information may need to be shared within the council or to external organisations to provide you with that service or to ensure that the council meets all of its legal requirements for example preventing crime or fraud.

We will not share any personal information that we receive about individuals with other organisations for commercial purposes, or use it for any marketing purposes that we have not told you about either on the form or on this page.

We may use non-personal information for business, research and marketing purposes. In these cases reusing the information will not identify the individual who provided it and will not contain any contact information relating to them or their company.

For example, possible reuses of non-personal information may include (but are not limited to):

  • A report made publicly available on the site listing all the complaints and queries made in a given period.
  • An internal report produced for our own staff listing any technical problems that have arisen with the website and steps taken to remedy them.
  • Marketing literature using quotes drawn from feedback given about the council.

In some cases, the information you provide on a form is optional but omitting important information may make it difficult to deal with an enquiry. You can send complaints, compliments and comments without having to provide your name or email address. However, contact details may be given if you would like to receive a reply.

Other forms only make sense if certain information is included; for example, a missed bin collection report is only useful if a contact name and address are provided. On electronic forms the required fields are clearly marked.

Personal data collected in forms is stored by us or on the website server for various lengths of time according to the service area privacy notice. This data may also be sent by email or to other computer systems accessible only by authorised staff. With the exception of our online payments system, forms are not intended for the transmission of security-related material and you should not use them for this.

Website log files

All websites produce log files that record the activity on that site. Log files record which pages on the site have been accessed and how many times. From this information it is possible to produce statistics such as how busy the website is, which pages are the most popular and whether there are any broken links.

Log files typically record the IP address or hostname of all users accessing the website. This allows us to distinguish between different users and therefore estimate the number of unique visitors to the website. IP addresses and host names are not linked to your personally identifiable information.

We will not make specific IP addresses and host names publicly available. They will only be used by website log file software to compile overall summary statistical reports on the performance of the website. (For more information about IP addresses and host names, see 'Additional information' below.)

Website log files are stored securely on the website using industry best practice methods for safeguarding information and server functions.​

General Data Protection Regulation

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires us to protect any information we collect from you. We do this by ensuring information collected from completed feedback forms is not stored on the website, but is instead sent to computer systems only accessible only by authorised staff.

Only incomplete forms will be stored on the website. We store personal information collected as part of this process for a minimum of 6 months from the date of collection, or for an additional length of time if necessary.

Website log files are stored securely on the website using industry best practice methods for safeguarding information and server functions.

Transferring personal information beyond the EEA
This service doesn't transfer your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

We do not routinely share data with any organisation outside the UK, but our website is available across the internet and we communicate with applicants and stakeholders wherever they are.
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Contact

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