Electoral Registration Office Privacy Statement

Who am I?

I am the Electoral Registration Officer for Glasgow and I have been appointed by Glasgow City Council in accordance with the Representation of the People Act 1983. My head office is located at City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow and you can contact my Data Protection Officer by post at City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow, G2 1DU, by email at: dataprotection@glasgow.gov.uk, and by telephone on 0141 287 1055. 

Why do I need your personal information and what do I do with it?

You are giving me your personal information to allow me to compile, publish and maintain the Electoral Register as required by law. I may also use your information to contact you by post, email or telephone to maintain my records.  If you do not wish me to contact you by email or by telephone please let me know. You can do this by phoning the Electoral Registration Office on 0141 287 4444, or by emailing erounsubscribe@glasgow.gov.uk  

Legal basis for using your information

Processing your personal information is necessary for the performance of my public task to compile and maintain an Electoral Register in accordance with the Representation of The People Act 1983.  You can find more details of my role on my website at www.glasgow.gov.uk/elections.   

I may also need to process more sensitive personal information about you for reasons of substantial public interest as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018. It is necessary for me to process this type of information in order to carry out key functions as set out in law. 

I may need to process data about any criminal convictions you may have. This is because I may need to check that you are still eligible to remain as a registered elector.

If you do not provide me with the information I have asked for, then I will not be able to fulfil my statutory function.  Under Electoral Registration law, you may be liable for financial penalties for non-compliance.  

Who do I share your information with?

To verify your identity, the data you provide may be processed by the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service (IERDS) managed by the Cabinet Office. As part of this process your data may be shared with the Department of Work and Pensions and Cabinet Office suppliers who are data processors for the IERDS. You can find more information about this here: https://www.registertovote.service.gov.uk/register-to-vote/privacy.

I am legally obliged to safeguard public funds so I am required to verify and check your details internally for fraud prevention. I may share this information with other public bodies for the same purpose. I am also legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as HMRC and will do so where the law requires this. I will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate. Your information is also analysed internally to help me improve my services. This data sharing is in accordance with Glasgow City Councils' Information Use and Privacy Policy. It also forms part of their requirements in line with their Records Management Plan approved in terms of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

In addition to publishing the Electoral Register I sometimes need to share your personal information with other organisations. Where this is necessary I am required to comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act 2018. What follows is a description of the types of organisation I may need to share some of the information I process for one or more reasons.

Where necessary or required I may share information with:-

•    The Cabinet Office
•    Other Electoral Registration Officers.
•    Organisations who buy the Open Register
•    Organisations who take part in the national fraud initiative
•    Other occupants of your address
•    Permitted recipients of the full Electoral Register.  The Electoral Commission provide further details on their website.  www.electoralcommission.org.uk   
•    Returning Officer(s) or Counting Officers to enable them to conduct elections and referendums.
•    Organisations who process your personal data on my behalf, for example, delivery organisations, mailing houses and contractors or consultants. These organisations are carefully selected and measures are put in place to protect your information. 

Transferring information overseas

Other than corresponding with you I will not transfer your information overseas.

How long do we keep your information for?

I only keep your personal information for the minimum amount of time necessary.  Sometimes this is set out in law, but in most cases it is based on the business need.  I maintain a Records Retention and Disposal Schedule which sets out how long I hold different types of information for.   You can view this on www.glasgow.gov.uk/rrds or you can request a hard copy from the contact address stated above.

Your rights under data protection law

•    Access to your information - you have the right to request a copy of the personal information that I hold about you. 
•    Correcting your information - I want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Therefore you may ask me to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
•    Deletion of your information - you have the right to ask me to delete personal information about you where:
I.    you think that I no longer need to hold the information for the purposes for which it was originally obtained
II.    you have a genuine objection to my use of your personal information - 
III.    my use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations

Please contact me as stated above if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Information you have given me about other people

If you have provided me with anyone else's details, please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to me.  I will only use this information to compile, publish and maintain the Electoral Register. If they want any more information on how I will use their information they can visit my web site at www.glasgow.gov.uk/EROprivacy or email dataprotection@glasgow.gov.uk. 

Automated Decision Making

Where I receive information that you may be eligible to register to vote I may make automated decisions to issue you with an Invitation to Register.

Complaints

I aim to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. If your complaint is about how I have handled your personal information, you can contact the Council's Data Protection Officer by email at dataprotection@glasgow.gov.uk or by telephone on 0141 287 1055.

However, you also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection matters with the Information Commissioner's Office, who can be contacted by post at:  Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. By phone on 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745. Visit their website for more information at- https://ico.org.uk/concerns