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Trading Standards privacy notice

What this document is for

This privacy notice provides information on how Norfolk County Council’s Trading Standards Service uses your personal information.  

By ‘use’ we mean the various ways it may be processed, including storing and sharing the information.

This privacy notice serves as a privacy notice:

  • Under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA) for the County Council’s statutory functions relating to trading standards’ law enforcement activities 
  • Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the County Council’s statutory functions relating to trading standards’ non-law enforcement activities 

Further details

We also provide the following details in our general privacy notice:

  • Who we are
  • How long we use your information for
  • Your rights under the GDPR and Part 3 of the DPA
  • How to exercise them 

You can also ask us for a copy of this information.

What we use your information for

We use your personal information to provide advice and guidance, conduct investigations and ensure compliance with the relevant laws. 

This includes:

  • Receiving and investigating consumer complaints
  • Responding to service requests from businesses and individuals
  • Monitoring, researching, analysing and reporting intelligence requirements
  • Ensuring compliance with legislation through a range of enforcement activities including visits, inspections and testing
  • Conducting investigations and enquiries into criminal offences and civil law breaches
  • Operating assurance schemes for businesses and referral agencies
  • Managing registration, certification and licensing

We also use this information to assess the quality of our services and evaluate and improve our policies and procedures.  

We may also use information in other ways compatible with the above.  

What personal data we collect and use about you

The information we collect and use includes: 

  • Name
  • Date of birth/age
  • Gender
  • Marital status
  • Children
  • Place of birth
  • Contact details and preferred contact method
  • National Insurance Number and other identifiers 
  • Job/profession and other information about employment history and current employment 
  • Professional qualifications
  • Photographs, audio and video records
  • Income and other financial information
  • Services or products provided to individuals and information about the services or products
  • Devices and technology used
  • Passport and information contained in other documents
  • Information from the Electoral Register
  • Social relationships and emergency contacts
  • Personal and social history 

We may also collect and use information about your:

  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Political opinions
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs
  • Trade union membership
  • Genetic and bio-metric data
  • Sexual orientation
  • Health including disabilities

This information is classed as “special category data” under the GDPR and sensitive data under the DPA. 

We also collect information concerning criminal convictions and offences under the GDPR and DPA. 

The GDPR includes safeguards to protect the use of your special category data and criminal conviction data. Further details can be found in our special category data and criminal offences data policy, which sets out our procedures for compliance with the principles of the GDPR and the retention and erasure of this information 

The DPA includes safeguards to protect the use of your data for law enforcement functions. Further details can be found in our law enforcement processing safeguards policy, which sets out our procedures for compliance with the principles of the GDPR and the retention and erasure of this information 

Who provides this information

We collect and use information you have provided to us. 

We also receive information from:

  • Other members of the public
  • Police
  • Other enforcers or regulators, including HMRC, Health and Safety Executive
  • Other businesses or employers 
  • Judicial agencies – courts, bailiffs, lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service
  • Government Departments/agencies 
  • Other local authorities, including Trading Standards Services
  • Voluntary organisations and charities
  • Witnesses, including expert witnesses 
  • Trade and/or sector associations
  • Food Standards Agency 

Who we share your information with

We may share your personal information with:

  • Your family – in respect of under-age sales volunteers
  • Other residents in your area – in respect of No Cold Calling Zones
  • Other enforcers or regulators, including HMRC, Health and Safety Executive
  • Other local authorities, including Trading Standards Services
  • Government Departments/agencies – Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Food Standards Agency
  • Police 
  • Judicial agencies – courts, bailiffs, lawyers and the Crown Prosecution Service
  • Voluntary organisations and charities 
  • Witnesses, including expert witnesses 
  • Other businesses – Referenceline Ltd, Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution for the Trusted Trader Scheme 

Any information which is shared will only be shared on a need to know basis, with appropriate individuals. Only the minimum information for the purpose will be shared.

Your personal information will also be given to third parties contracted by the County Council to provide a service to the County Council. These service providers are known as data processors and have a legal obligation under GDPR and to the County Council to look after your personal information and only use it for providing that service. 

How the law protects you and the legal basis for processing your information

We have legal grounds to process this information:

  • Under the GDPR because it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and the task or function has a clear basis in law. 
  • Under the DPA for law enforcement purposes 

The tasks, functions and purposes include:

We have legal grounds to process (including share) special category data, sensitive data and criminal convictions data because it is necessary for reasons in the substantial public interest and in the exercise of a statutory function. (The statutory functions are under the legislation list above)

How long will we keep your personal information for

When the information is no longer needed for the above purposes, it will be securely deleted.

How we keep your information

The information is securely stored electronically, on the County Council’s Network and our APP and Cx databases both provided by Civica. Information is also securely stored in other mediums, including email accounts, in paper files and our intelligence database.  

We do not process your information outside of the European Economic Area.  

Automated decision making

We do not make automated decisions about you.

Changes to this notice

We may amend this privacy notice at any time so please review it frequently. The date below will be amended each time this notice is updated.

This notice was updated in April 2023.