Find out how Stirling Council uses personal data by checking the Council’s website at the following address:
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/privacy-statement/
Our website contains a Register of Data Processing which lists all the different ways
in which the Council uses personal data.
This Privacy Notice provides more information about just one of those processes.
The Council has a Data Protection Officer to make sure it is complying with data protection laws.
They can be contacted at:
Data Protection Officer
Stirling Council
Old Viewforth
14-20 Pitt Terrace
Stirling
FK8 2ET
Email: dataprotection@stirling.gov.uk
Telephone: 01786 404040
Personal data is processed to enable the Council to provide housing advice or to assess an application for housing via the Council’s homelessness service.
Names, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers, benefits details, rent arrears details, housing histories, personal histories, employment details, medical details, ethnic origins, support needs, next of kin, family network information, relating to any person and their household who applies to Stirling Council for advice on a housing-related issue or who applies to the Council as homeless.
“Special Category” data includes:
Data relating to children disclosed as part of applications and also criminal convictions and offences is processed.
We process personal data necessary for a statutory obligation. We are required by law to provide a homelessness service, which requires us to obtain personal details from applicants and to assess their applications – Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, as amended by subsequent legislation.
We also process personal data for a “public task” in the public interest. We are required by the Scottish Government to provide housing advice, with the aim of helping people who have housing problems to avoid becoming homeless if possible.
From the data subjects in communication by letter, form, email or phone or in person. Other information is collected by employees of the homeless service through their homelessness investigations.
Details of Housing Benefit payments from Revenues and Benefits – details collected for calculation of rental account balances and provision of advice.
Personal details from Social Work or from Housing Benefit section – details collected by employees of the homeless service through their homelessness investigations.
Some personal data may be passed from another organisation – e.g. a housing association, police, other local authority.
Paper records, and electronic records on the council network, including Northgate housing database.
Advice case records are destroyed 5 years after the date of last action on the case.
Homeless applications:
You have the following rights under data protection laws. If you have a request under any of these rights, you can make a subject access request.
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. This is known as a subject access request and is free of charge. We must respond within one month, although this can be extended to three months if the information is complex.
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Therefore you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
You have the right at any time to tell us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, profiling or research purposes.
In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information. This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information that we hold about you or we are assessing the objection you have made to our use of your information.
This right might also apply if we no longer have a basis for using your personal information - but you don't want us to delete the data. Where this right is realistically applied will mean that we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.
Where we use your personal information with your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.
If we are processing your personal information with your consent or as part of a contract with you, and it is held in an accessible and machine-readable format, you have a right to ask us to transmit it to another organisation. This is known as the right to data portability.
We make some use of automated decision-making processes but very little use of profiling. Where these techniques are used, this will be explained in the specific privacy statements relating to those functions, together with a description of the reason involved in any automated decision-making.
If you want to complain about or comment on how we have processed your personal information, you should email dataprotection@stirling.gov.uk
If you are still unhappy with how the council handled your complaint, you can contact the UK Information Commissioner's Office at:
The Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113
You can find further information on the Information Commissioners Office website.