Find out how we use your personal information in our Privacy Notice

Personal information is any data relating to a person who can be directly or indirectly identified by that data. It's a wide definition and includes a number of things. Sensitive personal information is any information that relates directly to you. You should expect we'll keep a record of any contact you have with us.

Where a specific function or service involves collecting information the full list is provided in the related service specific privacy notices.

We may collect your information in both physical and digital formats through the following means

• Telephone
• Email
• Face to face by a member of staff
• Online forms

Once you've given us your information we're responsible for what happens to it. We take our responsibilities seriously and make sure any personal information we collect and use is done proportionately, correctly, safely and in line with the law including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We collect and use your personal information so we can provide services and administrative activities. Which of those services or activities your personal information is used for depends on how you choose to use our services but may include

• Providing a service you have asked for.
• Communicating and providing services and information appropriate to your needs.
• Delivering health or social care services and protecting public health, which may include sharing information with other services involved in providing health or social care services to you.
• Preventing fraud and the protecting public funds.
• Protecting you from harm or injury.
• For law enforcement when we're legally obliged to undertake such processing, for example licensing, planning enforcement, trading standards and food safety.
• The purpose you provided the information and monitoring our performance in responding to you and the quality of our services.
• Helping to investigate any concerns or complaints and answering enquiries.
• Improving your customer experience and the experience of visitors to our website.
• Delivering services and providing support to you by ensuring other statutory, voluntary agencies or suppliers with whom we're working, are able to deliver ‘joined up’ services to you.
• Where there is a substantial public interest and this is authorised by law. 
• When it's in our legitimate interests or the interest of a third party who could be providing a service to you.
• Making sure that the council meets all its legal duties and statutory functions and where it's necessary for exercising or defending legal rights.
• Archiving, research and statistical purposes. This helps us to prioritise activities, target and plan when to provide services. 

Your information is stored on secure servers within the European Economic Area (EEA).

We use a ‘corporate retention schedule’ outlining how long we keep certain types of information. Unless stated otherwise we only keep your personal information for as long as we needed your information for. We'll let you know in our area specific privacy notices if an aspect of our services may involve keeping your information for any other length of time and we will explain why this is necessary.

We're committed to making sure your personal information is safe and protected from accidental loss or alteration, inappropriate access, misuse or theft. As well as technical, physical and organisational measures, we make sure our staff are well-trained, informed and security aware to minimise privacy risks from human error and threats from unauthorised access to your data.

We require the people we work with to implement appropriate security measures and only allow them to process your personal information for specific purposes under our instructions. 

We're required to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 to make sure information is managed securely and we review this every year as part of our Data Protection and Security Toolkit. The toolkit ensures that we're operating at an adequate standard in relation to data protection, confidentiality and security.

The Our Rochdale website does not transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA).  This would only happen in the following scenarios

• With your consent
• To comply with a lawful and legitimate request
• If we use service providers or contractors in non EEA countries (we currently do not)

The practical arrangements and the laws governing the sharing and disclosure of personal information often differ from one service to another. Because of this, each of our service specific areas provides additional information about how we collect and use your information.

When we use or share your information more widely, we ensure that you can't be identified when it's not necessary. We do this by anonymising and de-personalising your information by removing personal details as soon as possible.  We do not share more information than is needed.

Some parts of the website may offer functions that don't involve a human being such as providing you with advice on suitable services based on information you provide. We call these automated decisions. If we need to collect, process or store any personal information as part of an automated decision then our service specific privacy notices will explain which decisions are automated and how information is used. If you wish to have an automated decision reviewed by an appropriate officer then you can contact us.

If you decide not to provide the information we ask you for, we will still do what we can to provide you with advice and support.  Most of the aspects of the Our Rochdale site will work without you needing to provide personal information.  Some parts of the site may ask you to provide information optionally but will still work fully without it.  However, if you decide you don’t want to provide your information this would mean we would be unable to provide some services such as providing a login account for the Our Rochdale website, saving your personal plans or shortlists, or arranging further support with other services

Under GDPR, you have certain rights when it comes to the use of your personal information. To make use of these rights you need to make a Personal Information Request. For more details on Personal Information Requests and to download a request form see How to Make a Personal Information Request (external link)

If you're not satisfied with how we have answered your request or have concerns about how we handled your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO). When you contact our DPO we can consider your concerns as quickly as possible.

Email: dpo@rochdale.gov.uk

Information Governance Unit

Number One Riverside

Smith Street

Rochdale OL16 1XU

You also have the right to raise a concern on Information Commissioner's Office website 

Some of our service areas may need to collect further personal information, transfer, store or use your data in other ways than are mentioned in this privacy notice. If this is the case then that service area will have its own additional service specific privacy notice listed below.

Health and Wellbeing Planner

About this service

The Health and Wellbeing Planner enables citizens to plan goals toward improved lifestyles and suggests relevant sources of locally available support.

What personal information we collect

The planner needs the user to supply their post code so that it can offer locally available services.   Other than the post code all the information collected by the Health and Wellbeing Planner is optional and the planner is fully functional without it.   The information collected is:

• Required information:
  • Post Code
  • Optional information
    • Forename and Surname
    • Age band
    • Ethnicity
    • Gender
    • As part of your plan
      • The health and wellbeing categories and goals that you choose to include in your plan
      • Any text based information that you include to support your goals

Who we collect personal information about

The planner requests the above information from people who first choose to complete a plan and then choose to provide the optional information.

How we use personal information

Your name would be included in your plan for cosmetic reasons.  If you choose to save your plan then it will be saved onto the website server so that you can access it later using your site profile.

Why we use your personal information

We use your postcode so that we can provide you with information about services close to you.

We include your name in your plan for cosmetic purposes.

We use your age, ethnicity and gender in statistical reports so we can understand the groups of people that use our services.  This helps us to make sure that the service meets the borough’s health and wellbeing needs.  These reports don’t include your name. 

Who we share your personal information with

We don’t share anything that could identify you from the information collected by the planner with anyone.  We share reports on the type of people who use our site with Council and NHS managers.  These reports provide information on the types of people who use the plan, including age, ethnicity, gender, and the categories of health care that site users choose.  Those reports are based on collections of statistics from lots of different people and they do not identify anyone individually or any detailed text from plans.

When we make an automated decision about your personal information

The Health and Wellbeing planner doesn’t make any automated decisions.

How long we keep your personal information

If you choose to save your plan into your login profile, it will be set with an expiry date of 10 years from the date you created it.  Once this expiry date expires, your plan will be deleted.  You can choose to delete your plan at any time you wish before it reaches the expiry date.

Where we transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA)

We don’t transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area

Our Rochdale website profiles and user operations

About this service

Website users can create their own profile on the site and can selectively share content to their own email address or mobile phone.  These services require the user to enter some personal details.

What personal information we collect

The site registration process records basic information provided by the site user.  The information collected is:

• Required information:
  • Forename and Surname
  • Contact email address
  • Optional information
    • Mobile phone number

Selectively sharing content to either your email address or mobile phone requires you to enter your email address or mobile phone number accordingly.

Who we collect personal information about

The planner requests the above information from

• Anyone who registers a login account on the website
• Anyone who uses the inbuilt share options to send content to their email address or mobile phone.

How we use personal information

The information provided enables the site user to be contacted when necessary.

Why we use your personal information

Your contact information is used for the following reasons:

• At your request when you choose to share content
• In response to a query or request for support made by you
• If we need to contact you because of any issues relating to:
  • the website or your profile
  • any records you may have submitted for inclusion into the directory
  • your entry in the Disabled Childrens’ Register, if you have one
  • any booking requests you make within the Course Booking System

Who we share your personal information with

We don’t share any of the personal information you provided with anyone else unless you are a childcare provider that has requested us to publicise your service to the public.

When we make an automated decision about your personal information

We don’t make any automated decisions based on the personal information provided.

How long we keep your personal information

Contact information relating to your user account will remain active indefinitely unless you change it or remove it by deleting your site profile.

Where we transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA)

We don’t transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area.

Google Analytics

About this service

Data that is automatically collected as people use the website.

What personal information we collect

Google Analytics is a 3rd party piece of software and we don’t collect any personal information. Google, however, does collect information and then uses it to present us with statistics about how users interact with our site. There is no way for us to identify individual users as the information is not presented to us with any identifiable information. Google is the data controller and we are data processors.

The information we see about users includes:

• Country
• Referring site
• Time spent on page
• Device type such as mobile or desktop
• Browser
• Operating system

The information Google collects includes:

• Internet Protocol address – a unique number for each device on the internet
• A unique ID number given to you by Google
• Device ID

We don’t have access to this information so we recommend you read Google’s privacy policy to see what they do with your personal information.

Who we collect personal information about

We use the anonymised reports generated from your personal information about:

• Website visitors

How we use personal information

We use the anonymised reports generated from your personal information to:

• Better understand how content is being used
• Improve engagement
• Understand trends
• Improve the website

Why we use your personal information

We process the reports generated by your personal and sensitive data for the following reasons under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Articles and the Data Protection Act:

• To save money by providing services online
• To allow customers to have quicker and easier access to services

Who we share your personal information with

We collect information from and disclose information to individuals and organisations that can support our work including:

• Google

When we make an automated decision about your personal information

This service doesn't make any decisions using computers or programmes that don't involve a human being when using your personal information.

How long we keep your personal information

Google keeps personal information collected as part of this process for a minimum of 14 months up to 50 months from the date of collection.

Where we transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA)

The information is stored by Google on servers in the USA.

Disabled Children’s Register

About this service

This enables parents and carers to register their child (ren) as having Special Educational Needs and/ or a Disability (SEND) with Rochdale’s Children and Young People with Additional Needs Service. This will enable ongoing support for the child (ren) and their families to access services, advice and guidance, local family events and short breaks for children with SEND.

What personal information we collect

The personal information we collect for the purpose of passing to the Children and Young People with Additional Needs Team are:

• Required information:
  • Child’s forename and surname
  • Child’s date of birth
  • Child’s primary disability
  • Main carer's / parent's forename and surname
  • Main carer’s / parent’s registration email address
  • Consent - By submitting this record you agree to the consent terms tick box

• Optional information
  • Main carer’s / parent’s full postal address
  • Child’s ethnic origin
  • Child’s first language
  • Child’s religion
  • Main carer’s / parent’s ethnic origin
  • Main carer’s / parent’s first language
  • Child’s diagnosis date
  • Any other individual needs (free text box)
  • How you would be preferred to be contacted (email/tel/post)

Who we collect personal information about

The parent/carer of the child (ren) they are registering as having SEND. We also collect personal information about the child (ren) for the purposes of giving to the relevant team. This information is not stored within the Our Rochdale database.

How we use personal information

The personal information we collect is for the purpose of passing to the Children and Young People with Additional Needs Team. Once this has been passed on, we will only hold your account detail information which includes the carer’s/parent’s forename, surname, email address and mobile number (optional). We do not store personal information about your child (ren).

Why we use your personal information

We use your personal information for the purpose of registering your child with disabilities with the Children and Young People with Additional Needs Team.

Who we share your personal information with

The personal information is used by the Children and Young People with Additional Needs Team to enable them to send details of short breaks for children with SEND, local family events, Local Offer newsletters and offer a bespoke advice and guidance service.

When we make an automated decision about your personal information

This service doesn't make any decisions using computers or programmes that don't involve a human being when using your personal information.

How long we keep your personal information

We only hold your account details of your registration to the Our Rochdale directory which include forename, surname, email address and mobile number (optional) for the period of time you wish to have your account. You can delete your account at any time. Your details will no longer be held by the Our Rochdale directory upon deletion.

Where we transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA)

We don’t transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area.

Childcare provider records and Childcare Provider Course Booking System

About this service

When you register with Ofsted as a childcare provider The Family Information Service receive a feed directly from Ofsted to alert us that you have set up a new provision within the area. This personal information is for the purpose of retaining and analysing:

• Geographical coverage of childcare services
• Childcare sufficiency and place planning
• Average childcare costs
• Holding registered childcare provision within our local authority
• Childcare training requirements

You do not need to register on the Our Rochdale directory until we have processed the Ofsted feed and sent you an email explaining what to do next. Should you decide to register you will be able to publicise your childcare provision for free on the directory and use the Childcare Provider Course Booking System.

The Childcare Provider Course Booking system allows for a childcare provider to search and book on a course to assist them in meeting statutory childcare training requirements and for delivering a better childcare provision. Examples of these courses are paediatric first aid and safeguarding children.

What personal information we collect

The personal information we collect are:

• Required information:
  • Childminder and childcare provision registration details as supplied by Ofsted
  • Childminder and childcare provision details as provided by you should you choose to register and publicise on the directory
  • Childcare provision staff member forename and surname on course bookings
  • Childcare provision managers email address and telephone number
  • Business and personal cheques for payment of childcare training membership and/or sessions

•             Optional information

• Any additional requirements (such as accessibility)

Who we collect personal information about

We collect personal information about the childminder, childcare provision staff member and manager of the provision.

How we use personal information

We use personal information to publicise childcare provision, book staff on childcare training, contact staff and childcare provision managers.

Why we use your personal information

We use your personal information for the purpose of publicising your childcare provision, booking childcare training sessions, contacting staff members and contacting the childcare provision manager, to retrieve course and/or training membership payments via cheque, to provide payments receipts and to print off certificates of completed courses.

Who we share your personal information with

We may share your personal information with the public and practitioners should you wish to publicise your childcare provision on our directory. We may also share with 3^rd party training organisations for the purpose of providing a list of staff names only called a training register.

When we make an automated decision about your personal information

This service doesn't make any decisions using computers or programmes that don't involve a human being when using your personal information.

How long we keep your personal information

We will keep your personal information for as long as you are a childcare provider within our local authority and 10 years thereafter.

Where we transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA)

We don’t transfer your information beyond the European Economic Area.

Find out how Rochdale Council use your personal information in our privacy notice