Data Protection Policy

Privacy Notice for Tourism

Braintree District Council is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This privacy statement explains how the Council uses information about you and the ways in which we protect your privacy. The notice is provided to clarify what information the Council collects, stores and process when you make contact with the Council in respect of their tourism service, sign up to publications or participate in publicised events.

For the purposes of data protection, Braintree District Council is the Data Controller for the personal information you provide. Braintree District Council's Data Protection Officer is Kim Cole and can be contacted at DPO@braintree.gov.uk or by calling 01376 552525

Categories of personal data

The Council will process the following personal data about you:

• Name, address and contact details such as phone number or email address
• Social media identity and other contact information
• Photographs
• Correspondence (including emails, social media posts)

How will my information be used?

Personal information you supply to us may be used in a number of ways. We collect information about you to:

• To keep you updated with news, events, seasonal promotions, competitions and activities and other relevant local information
• To support and promote campaigns and events
• To follow up a service request, complaint or other action requested by or agreed with you
• Obtain your opinion about our services, promotions and events
• In the case of photos and videos, with your consent we may use this to create communications products such as social media posts, advertising, leaflets, digital marketing and printed marketing.
• Communicate with you in formats (e.g. email newsletter, printed mail-out or magazine) you have consented to receive and about subjects that you have consented to hear about
• Communicate with you on social media in line with the terms and conditions of those social media sites.

What is the lawful basis for processing your personal data?

The lawful bases for processing your persona data are as follows:

• Consent – where you have provided your explicit consent to allow us to process your personal data. The consent will be obtained through a clear ‘opt in’ method and details of how you can ‘opt-out’ will also be provided.
• Public Task – the collection and processing of your personal information is necessary for the personal of a task carried out in the public interest, namely informing you or, and providing you with Council services
• Contract – where you have entered into a contract with us

Who will the data be shared with?

If you submit an event, the details of your event including the personal details of the submitter will be shared with VisitEssex, an affiliate tourism site for Essex operated by Essex County Council. However, your personal details will only be used by VisitEssex in connection with your event listing.

Personal information you provide with not be shared with any other third party unless consent has been given by you.

We will not disclose any information to other organisations unless we have a legal duty to release information or for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraud or crime.

Social media user names and correspondence including any additional personal information you include in your social media correspondence with us (such as your address) may be shared with our social media management system suppliers in the course of our using these systems. Any data shared in this way is bound by our contracts with suppliers which ensure information is correctly handled in accordance with data protections laws.

How do we keep information secure?

We take appropriate steps to make sure that the information we hold about you either electronically or on paper is held in a secure way. Your personal information will only be made available to those who have a right to see them. Our security measures include:

• Encryption
• Access controls on databases/systems
• Security training for all staff
• The Councils offices and facilities have appropriate physical security

If you require any further information, you may request to see a copy of our Information Security Policy.

How long do we keep your personal information?

The Council will only retain your data for as long as is necessary. Personal information provided to us in order for us to provide you with relevant information about Council services, events or publications will be kept for a period of 2 years. After this time, your information will be securely destroyed.

Data you shared with us on social media is stored on those social media sites. You are advised to check the privacy notices or terms and conditions of your social media sites for more information.

For further detailed information, please see our retention policy which explains the retention periods for all information held by the Local Authority.

Your rights and your personal data

For further details on how we maintain the security of your personal information, your rights to access the information we hold on you, including correcting or removing your information, please refer to our privacy pages on our website which can be found at www.braintree.gov.uk/privacy

Links to other websites

Our website contains links to external websites. However, this privacy notice does not cover these links and we would encourage you to read the privacy statement on the external websites you may visit.