Community Alarm Services (Forest Linkline/Cotswold Careline) - Privacy notice
Who we are and what we do
The Forest of Dean District Council (FODDC) 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 substantial public interest, has a basis in law.
January 2024 – UK Phone companies rollout of digital landlines. UK Phone companies have agreed a charter in which they commit not to switch customers to a digital network unless they are confident, they can be protected. To assist with this, it may be necessary for FODDC to share the phone numbers of Community Alarm service users with phone companies to ensure they do not change users to a digital landline without confirmation that a compatible telecare solution is in place
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
Why we need your information and how we use it
FODDC will consider it in the best interests of social care clients to do so, and part of the council's duties under the Care Act 2014 for the wellbeing of social care clients. For communication providers, it is considered in their legitimate interests to protect clients.
Depending on the size of the organisation, the number of community alarm users, and the likely number of clients per communication provider, a council has several options to balance proportionality with a practical approach. There is justification for each option depending on your council’s circumstances and risk tolerance.
Option 1:
- Council sends a full list of telephone numbers of community alarm clients to a major communication provider.
- Communication provider responds by providing a list of the numbers it controls.
- Council documents which numbers are claimed by that communication provider and reduces the list to the unclaimed numbers.
- Council sends the reduced list to the next communication provider.
- Council repeats the process with each communication provider.
Option 2:
- Council sends a full list of telephone numbers of telecare clients to the major communication providers listed in this guidance.
- Each communication provider responds individually by providing a list of the numbers it controls.
- Council documents which numbers are claimed by each communication provider and reduces the list to the unclaimed numbers.
- Council sends the reduced list to the remaining communication providers.
Option 3:
- Council sends a full list of telephone numbers of community alarm clients to all communication providers covering their area.
- Each communication provider responds by providing a list of the numbers they control.
- Council documents which numbers are claimed.
The Lawful basis for processing:
To maintain and monitor Community Alarm services as part of our Social Care function, in line with the Care Act 2014
- UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligation to which the Council is subject (this is limited activities on our Council website (cookies)
- 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
- Special category data (Article 9 GDPR) - Processing is necessary for the provision and/or management of health and/or social care systems.
The processing of special categories of personal data may be necessary for reasons of public interest in the areas of public health without consent of the data subject
What type of information is collected from you
In order to administer our service your personal information will be processed internally by relevant staff at FODDC:
- Name
- Contact address
- email address
- Next of kin
- Other contact details including: the emergency services, your General Practitioner or other health professional, tradespeople (where your need relates to maintenance of household appliances or other household matters) and UK phone companies for the purpose of the rollout of digital landlines.
Who your information may be shared with (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.
FODDC 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.
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 we 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 Policy
How we 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.
If you use your credit or debit card to make payments, the Council passes your card details securely to our payment processing partner as part of the payment process. The Council does this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard, and doesn’t store the details on its website. The information you give to the Council when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment.
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:
Community Alarm Service (Forest Linkline / Cotswold Careline)
Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices
Coleford GL16 8HG
Email: forestlinkline@fdean.gov.uk
Further information
If you would like to know more about how the Council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described here, please tell us. Contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@fdean.gov.uk
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner: https://ico.org.uk
The Council reserves the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.