Skip to main content

Human Resources Next of Kin and Emergency Contact - Privacy notice

Who the Council is and what the Council does

West Oxfordshire District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the Council collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide services and meet their statutory and regulatory obligations.

Although you may not be a resident, customer or employee of the Council, we hold and use your personal information as a result of your relationship to a Council employee. This privacy notice therefore applies to your personal information. This notice explains why the Council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
West Oxfordshire District Council
Council Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861194

Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it

The Council requires your personal data in order to contact an employee's Next of Kin and / or Emergency Contact in the event of an emergency. As such we have a legitimate interest in processing this information during the employment relationship to maintain accurate and up to date records of who to contact in an emergency situation.

The Council does not sell your personal information to anyone else.

What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, the lawful base we rely on for processing this information is:

  • UK GDPR Article 6 (1) (f) Legitimate Interests – we collect and lawfully process your personal data as the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of a third party, i.e. our employee.

What type of information is collected from you

Personal details, which may include:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Other contact details – email address and telephone numbers

Special categories of personal data

We will not purposely collect any special category data.

The above list is not exhaustive. The Council will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services. In some cases you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate. However, you should note that, this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.

We collect this information from employees who have directly nominated you as their Next of Kin and / or Emergency Contact.

Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

The Council may also share your personal information with the Emergency Services.

Your information will not be disclosed to any other organisations, except where the council is required and allowed to by law, to safeguard public safety and in risk of harm or emergency situations.

The Council will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. 

How long the Council keeps your information (retention period)

We will only retain your personal information for the duration of the employment or until the employee notifies us that you are no longer the Next of Kin and / or Emergency Contact.

Once your data is no longer needed it will be securely and confidentially destroyed or disposed of.

How the Council protects your Information

Your data is stored securely on our systems and accessed only by authorised officers using their own username and password created in line with pre-defined user credentials. Personal data is also held in electronic files on the council’s network drives. These are only accessible through personal logon credentials and access privileges to specific drives. Access to our council sites require a personal electronic pass to access staff only areas. 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 have 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 the following 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 have 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.

In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The Council is 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 the Council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:

Human Resources
West Oxfordshire District Council
Council Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: customer.services@westoxon.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 in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk.

For more information about data protection please visit: www.westoxon.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection/

If you are concerned about the way the Council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

The Council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our the website.