Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Privacy Notice

How we use your personal data alongside AI tools

Who the Council is and what the Council does

The Forest of Dean District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation (UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018) as the Council collects and processes personal information about you in order to for processing personal data and processing is in the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, has a basis in law.

This Privacy Notice describes how we use your personal data alongside AI Tools. It also explains how your data is protected when these tools are used. This notice is in addition to our Data Protection Privacy Notice. It should be read in conjunction with the relevant Service specific privacy notices

Any questions regarding our privacy practice should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices
Coleford GL16 8HG

Email: data.protection@fdean.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861194

Important information on our AI tools

Personal data may be contained within the documents uploaded to our AI Tools. We are the data controller of your personal data when it is used, and the supplier/contractor is a data processor. We have a signed agreement in place with each supplier/contractor to ensure that your personal data is protected. Users of our AI Tools know to process personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR and our various data protection policies.

None of your personal data is used solely by the AI technology provider to improve their AI products.

Why we process your personal information

In most cases, we process your personal data using the AI Tools to improve the efficiency, quality, and speed of our business processes. A lot of these processes are already happening manually. By using AI to automate these processes, this allows council resources to be used where they are needed most.

Any supplier who has access to your data is assessed for compliance with Data Protection legislation before any information is processed by them.

The Lawful basis for processing:

We have a statutory function to carry out the above duties under various legislation including the following:

UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council.

What type of information is collected from you

Forest of Dean District Council will collect your personal data directly from you

Your name
Address and contact details, including email address
Comments Information for our Council services such as Local Plan teams

Information shared internally and externally

The Council may share your information internally (within the Council) in accordance with statutory obligations. In addition, the Council may share your information with third parties in accordance with statutory and regulatory obligations.

Automated Information

We do not use AI to make automated decisions. There is always a human intervention to review and approve any outputs from the AI tools. Decisions are not made solely by automated means. For more information on your Individual Rights, contact the Data Protection Officer

Anonymisation

Your personal information may be converted ('anonymised') into statistical or aggregated data in such a way that ensures that you cannot be identified from it. Anonymised data cannot, by definition, be linked back to you as an individual and may be used to conduct research and analysis, including the preparation of statistics for use in our reports.

How long the Council keep your information (retention period)

The information you provide as part of your request will be retained in accordance with the Council Retention Policy schedules.

The Council has retention schedules in place to ensure that information is only held for as long as it is needed. We will not keep your information for longer than is required to by law.

Your information will be disposed of in a controlled and secure manner in accordance with the Council’s destruction Policy.

How the Council protect your Information

All the information the Council collects is stored securely on our IT system and manual filing systems. The Council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.

The Council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.

The Council has implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, or unauthorised alteration or destruction.

Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

The Council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Your rights

You have rights under the Data Protection Legislations:

to access your personal data
to be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
to have your personal data corrected
to have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
to object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
to have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
to be told if the Council has made a mistake whilst processing your data and the Council will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.

How you can access, update or correct your information

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'.

If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection Officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. We are working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date please email us or write to us at:

Forest of Dean District Council
Data Protection Officer
Council Offices
Coleford GL16 8HG