Privacy Statement

Who are we?

Wexford County Council (the Council) is the democratically elected unit of Local Government in County Wexford and is responsible for providing a range of services to meet the economic, social and cultural needs of our customers. To meet the needs of the citizens, communities and businesses of our County the Council will be required to collect, process and use information about people and organisations. In this context the Council is a public authority in accordance with Data Protection Acts 1988 & 2003 (as amended).

Why do we have a Privacy Statement?

This privacy statement demonstrates the Council?s commitment that the personal data you may be required to supply to us is

  • Obtained lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.
  • Obtained for only specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
  • Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for purpose for which it was obtained.
  • Recorded, stored accurately and securely and where necessary kept up to date.
  • Kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was obtained.
  • Kept in a form which permits identification of the data subject.
  • Processed in a manner that ensures the appropriate security of the personal data including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing.

More detail is available in our Data Protection Policy at:

www.wexfordcoco.ie/council-and-democracy/freedom-of-information-foi-and-data-protection/data-protection

Why do we ask for personal data?

Depending on the service sought ?personal data?, as defined by the Data Protection Acts and the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), may be collected and processed by the Council. This may relate to current, past and future service users; past, current and prospective employees; suppliers; and members of the public who may engage in communications with our staff. In addition, staff may be required to collect, process and use certain types of personal data to comply with regulatory or legislative requirements. The Customer Service Unit is the first point of contact at Wexford County Council. To make it easy for you to access services and the Council to communicate with you, you will be asked for contact details and details of your enquiry. You do not have to provide all contact details but providing more, such as email, phone, address, makes it easier to communicate. If you have an existing enquiry or other business with the Council you may be asked for a relevant file or reference number. This is requested to assign your enquiry to the correct service area. Where you need to access personal data, you may be asked to verify your identity to reduce risk of unauthorised access.

 What types of personal data do we need?

The types of personal data you typically may be asked to supply can be categorised as follows,

    • Contact details to allow for efficient communication.
    • Details of personal circumstances you are required by law to supply as part of your application for a service.
    • Your own financial details which you are required by law to supply as part of your application for a service.
  • Typically information required is described in separate application forms relevant to each service, containing a privacy notice specific to the service. Privacy notices outline the legitimate purpose for which data is sought, the legal basis under which it is required to be supplied, other organisations/bodies that the Council will be required to share data with, or obtain data from, details of how your personal data will be kept safe and the period for which your data will be retained. Application forms to access specific services, which include privacy notices, are available on our website www.wexfordcoco.ie or at our public counters.

How do we use personal data?

The volume and range of services we provide requires an IT system to manage customer requests. When you interact with our staff at our Customer Service Unit or on the phone, there may be many outcomes to your enquiry; you may be seeking information or wish to be directed to the correct Department but, where it?s not possible to resolve your enquiry at our Customer Service Unit or over the phone we need to create a record of your enquiry to ensure it is managed. Where this occurs the contact details you provide are added to the Council?s electronic Customer Relation Management (CRM) system as a customer case and assigned to a service Department and staff member who has access only to cases relevant to their area.

Is personal data shared with other organisations?

The Council may, to fulfil statutory or regulatory obligations or in the public interest, from time to time, have to share personal data with other organisations or entities. Where this is required the Council shall have regard to the security and integrity of the data and will minimise the data shared. More information on this is contained in our specific application forms. Personal data gathered in the Council?s CRM system is not shared with other agencies.
 

 How long is my data kept for?

The Council has a detailed record retention policy which outlines time periods for which your personal data will be retained and what will happen to it after the required retention period has expired. A copy of Record Retention Policy can be accessed via the following link: http://www.lgma.ie/sites/default/files/2002_national_retention_policy_for_local_authority_records_2.pdf

Your rights:

You have the right to request access to personal data held about you, obtain confirmation as to whether data concerning you exists, be informed of the content and source of data and check its accuracy. In addition, if the data held by us is found to be inaccurate you have the right to change, remove, block, or object to the use of, personal data held by the Council. In certain circumstances blocking access to data may delay or remove access to a service where the data is required by law or for legitimate purposes related to delivery of a service to you or performance of a contract. Please note that to help protect your privacy, we take steps to verify your identity before granting access to personal data. To exercise these rights logon to www.wexfordcoco.ie/council-and-democracy/freedom-of-information-foi-and-data-protection/data-protection, use one of the forms at our Counter or contact us.

Wexford County Council - Access to Information Officer

 

Phone

 

053 919 6281

 

E-mail

foi@wexfordcoco.ie

  

 Postal Address

 Wexford County Council,

Carricklawn,

Wexford, Y35 WY93

  

Right of Complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the response received from the Council you are entitled to make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner who may investigate the matter for you.  The Data Protection Commissioner?s website is www.dataprotection.ie or you can contact their Office at:

                              

Lo Call Number

 

1890 252 231

 

E-mail

info@dataprotection.ie

  

Postal Address

Data Protection Commissioner Canal House Station Road Portarlington, Co. Laois. R32 AP23.