This Privacy Notice should be read in conjunction with Colchester City Council’s Privacy Policy.
This privacy notice explains what personal data we collect, how we use it and why we need it when handling data protection complaints made to Colchester City Council.
Information we collect
We collect and process personal data that you provide to us. This may include:
- your name
- contact details, such as your address, telephone number and email address
- details of your data protection complaint, including any case reference number, correspondence, supporting evidence and relevant dates
- information about the council service, processing activity, request, incident or decision your complaint relates to
- copies of records needed to investigate your complaint, which may include information held in council systems, policies, emails, letters, forms, case notes and audit logs
- information about representatives, parents, carers or advocates acting on your behalf, where relevant
- special category data, safeguarding information or information about children or vulnerable adults, where this is relevant to the complaint and needed to investigate it properly
Who we may share your information with
When handling your complaint, we may share your information where it is necessary, proportionate and lawful.
We may share your information with:
- council contractors, processors or partner organisations, where they are involved in the matter complained about
- other public bodies, where this is necessary to investigate the complaint or address linked issues, such as safeguarding, data breaches or linked requests
- the Information Commissioner’s Office, if the complaint is escalated or if we need to respond to enquiries from the regulator
Why we use your personal data
The lawful basis for processing your personal data is legal obligation and public task.
Colchester City Council needs this information to receive, log, investigate and respond to data protection complaints. We also use it to learn from complaints and comply with UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 and Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
We only ask for the minimum amount of information needed and make sure it is stored securely.
How long we keep your information
We will only keep your personal data for as long as necessary to:
- manage and respond to your complaint
- meet legal and regulatory requirements
- maintain an audit trail
- monitor complaint themes
- improve our data handling practices
Retention will be in line with Colchester City Council’s retention schedules.
How we protect and store your personal data
We take the confidentiality of personal information very seriously. We use recognised security and access controls to protect your information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption.
We have procedures and processes in place to make sure your personal information is managed appropriately.
Your information may be held outside of the UK. Where this is the case, we make sure additional measures are in place to protect your data and comply with data protection requirements.
We use cloud providers and online application providers to help us run our services. This means some systems may transfer your personal data to other countries.
Your data will only be transferred to countries which have adequate provision in place to protect personal data to an equivalent level as personal data held in the UK.
Updates to this privacy notice
We will review and update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our processes and procedures, and to comply with changes in the law.
When changes are made, we will update the ‘last updated’ date on this notice.
We encourage you to review this notice regularly to stay informed about how we protect your information.