Data Protection

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The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates how personal information relating to individuals is dealt with. The main concept behind the Act is that although the data controller (in this case, the Council) can hold your personal information, it still belongs to you. Everyone has right of access to a legible copy of any information that relates to them held by a public body, such as ourselves, under this Act.

Requests must be made in writing. Applications for personal information from us should be made on a special subject access request form, which is available for download below.

subject access request form (pdf - 42Kb)

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This is designed to make sure that the correct details are given so that we can find your information as quickly as possible. Along with the form, you must provide the originals of two types of identification:

• Something that identifies you such as a passport or driving licence
• Something that identifies where you live and where we will be sending the information such as an up to date utility bill or rent book

We ask you for this identification to protect your interests and to make sure that no personal details go astray.

There is a £10 fee for the provision of information under the Data Protection Act so you should include a cheque or postal order payable to ‘Renfrewshire Council’ in with your form.

Your application for information will be dealt with promptly and processed within 40 days upon receipt. We reserve the right to ask you to clarify your request if it is too vague or general, and may contact you in order to do this. If you have a complaint about the way in which your enquiry has been handled, you have the right to apply to the UK Information Commissioner for him to review the case.

Please note that requests for information relating to individuals other than you are not dealt with under the Data Protection Act. The Act only gives you the right to your own information; even details relating to a close family member would not be provided were you to request them under this Act.

People do have other rights to information. If you wanted information relating to your child’s school records, you have the right to this under the Pupils’ Educational Records Regulations, 2003. Ask at your child’s school about this in the first instance. We are under an obligation to allow you access to these records within 15 school days of the receipt of your application. If you are looking for any other information that you believe we hold, it may be best to apply for this under Freedom of Information legislation. Please use the links on the left hand menu for more information on Freedom of Information.

If you have any comments or enquiries please contact:

The Archivist
Renfrewshire House
Cotton Street
Paisley, PA1 1TR

email: cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
phone: 0141 840 3703