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Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice: Housing

Data Controller:

Mole Valley District Council (“MVDC”) is the body exercising control over the purpose for which and the manner in which your personal data is processed.

Data Controller’s contact details:

MVDC Pippbrook, Dorking RH4 1SJ. Telephone: 01306 885 001.

Data Protection Officer:

Mr Tom Penlington (Solicitor): Telephone: 01306 879 354

The legal basis for and the purposes of the processing:

MVDC has statutory duties under the housing and homelessness legislation.

Should you contact MVDC about your housing situation, homelessness or threatened homelessness the personal data provided by you will be used to:

  • assess your situation;
  • contact you about your situation and the information you have provided;
  • request you to provide documents to prove your housing situation, homelessness or threatened homelessness;
  • contact third parties with your personal information to request further personal information about you;
  • refer you to third parties and/or other agencies that may be able to help you; and
  • refer you to third parties if the Council needs to take action to evict you from its emergency accommodation and or to conduct a review you have requested where the Council has given you negative decision about housing and or homelessness application.

For the purposes of administrating your housing and/or homelessness application/s and/or your approach for advice on your housing situation we have a legal power and, in some cases, a legal duty to share your information without your consent with the people and or types of organisations listed below in this Privacy Notice. If we need to request personal information about you or share it with people or other types of organisations not listed below we will ask you for your consent.

Sometimes third parties may request information on your behalf about your housing and/or homelessness application/s and/or your approach for advice on your housing situation and they must provide your consent and show they are compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018 (implemented from 25 May 2015) for us to do this. The processing of your personal data is necessary for MVDC to comply with its legal obligations under the law on housing and homelessness.

Where you have criminal convictions or offences, MVDC is able to process relevant personal information for the purposes of complying with the law on housing and homelessness. This is because:

  • the processing is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising obligations or rights of either MVDC or for you under housing and homelessness law; and
  • MVDC has a policy document in place (which sets out how MVDC will comply with the data protection principles and which clarifies MVDC’s policies regarding the retention and erasure of relevant personal data).

The source of the personal data:

For the purposes of housing and homelessness applications and approaches for advice on homelessness and/or your housing situation you are the applicant and are the source of the personal data about you and the members of your household.

Personal information about you relating to you and your household may also  be gathered from other sources such as  private sector landlords, housing associations, lettings agents, mortgage lending companies, providers of emergency accommodation, friends and relatives you and your household may have been living with and/or you are happy for us to contact about your situation, health services, children, family and adult services, education services, Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services, Job Centre Plus, Ministry of Defence, the Police, prisons, probation, youth offending services, secure training units, employers, banks, building societies, other financial institutions where you may have money invested, East Surrey Outreach Service, the Employment, Training and Housing Options Service, Citizen Advice Bureau and other voluntary sector organisations.

 

Recipients and categories of recipients of the personal data:

MVDC staff involved in the administration and management of the housing register, homelessness and housing advice and options.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for the purpose of evaluating and researching homelessness nationally. See the MHCLG Privacy Notice on our website.

Information about you relating to your housing situation, homelessness or threatened homelessness may be shared with third parties such as private sector landlords, housing associations, lettings agents, health services, children, family and adult services, education services, Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services, Job Centre Plus, National Fraud Initiative, the Police, prisons, probation, youth offending services, secure training units, contractors that repair the Council’s emergency accommodation, providers of emergency accommodation, debt collection agencies acting on behalf of the Council, East Surrey Outreach Service, the Employment, Training and Housing Options Service, Citizen Advice Bureau, voluntary sector organisations and for the purpose of gathering your feedback as one of the Council’s customers.

 

Further information on onward transfers:

MVDC will not transfer the personal data you have provided outside of the UK or European Union unless this is permitted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018

 

How long the personal data will be kept for:

The personal data you have supplied will be destroyed in accordance with MVDC’s Data Retention Policy seven years after you have been housed or have not renewed your housing application.

 

Statutory Obligations to provide the personal data:

There is no statutory obligation on you to provide any personal data about you, however, if you do not your service request and housing/homelessness application cannot be considered further.

 

Automated Decision Making:

The personal data provided by you will not be used for any automated decisions.

 

Data Subject Rights:

From 25 May 2018 you will have some specific rights in respect of your personal data. These may include some or all of the following rights to:

  •  see what personal data about you MVDC holds at any time (subject to certain caveats, for example where third parties are identified);
  •  have MVDC correct any errors (if any) in the personal data it holds about you;
  •  request your personal data is erased (though this right will not apply where MVDC is processing your personal data because it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation);
  • request processing of your personal data is restricted (this will only apply in certain situations, for example where its accuracy is contested, where the processing is unlawful and the you  oppose its proposed erasure by MVDC, or where MVDC no longer needs to process the personal data, but it is required by you  in connection with legal claims);
  •  object to the processing where the processing is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller (though MVDC will still be able to continue with the processing in certain circumstances, such as if there are compelling grounds for the processing which over ride your interests).

 

Will the personal data be processed for a different purpose?

No. If MVDC needs to inform recipients about any action it has taken under the Data Protection Act then it will do so by placing a Notice on MVDC’s website informing the public of any relevant changes

If you are dissatisfied with how your personal data is processed by MVDC then you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, and Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF

 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics sets cookies to help MVDC accurately estimate the number of visitors to the website and the volumes of usage. The cookies MVDC uses for this purpose are:

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How do I prevent being tracked by Google Analytics?

If you are uncomfortable with this tracking, you can take the following actions:

  • Use a tracking-blocker, such as Privacy Badger
  • Clear cookies after every browsing session
  • Install the Google Analytics opt-out extension

More information about Google Analytics use of Cookies can be found on their website. 

 

30 May 2018

Updated 14 June 2019