Renfrewshire Council

The Council and its partner organisations are working closely together to provide the services people may need during COVID-19.

Who we share information with

To do this the Council may need to share relevant information about you with other organisations so we can better support you. Those organisations may include the NHS and those in the voluntary and private sectors delivering critical services to support health and social care. We may need to tell them if you ask us for and need extra support at this time. We want to assure you that we will only do this where necessary to support you during the current health emergency.

What information we use

As we need to respond rapidly to the current pandemic, we may need to use data you have previously given us for a different purpose, such as emergency planning.

It is also possible we may need to ask you for additional personal information- such as whether you have any underlying illnesses or are vulnerable - in order to deliver services that support you.

Data protection rights

Please be assured that your data protection rights remain the same as before. Should you have concerns or want to exercise your rights, you can contact the Council's DPO at dataprotection@renfrewshire.gov.uk

The Information Commissioner's Office, the data protection regulator, have also provided specific guidance on processing of personal data during COVID-19.

How we protect your data

We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people. Our staff have a legal and contractual duty to keep personal information secure, and confidential. You can learn more about how we protect personal information on the Privacy Policy page.

Lawful basis for processing

The legal basis for the Council's processing of data under COVID-19 circumstances, is:

• it is in the public interest for us to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19
• and in some cases, it is necessary to protect vital interests.

Data protection laws also allow us to process data if it is necessary to comply with obligations set out in law. We are given many powers in different Acts which can be used in the context of emergency data processing.

Retention

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for (COVID-19), including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Test and Protect

Test and Protect was launched across Scotland on the 28 May 2020 and aims to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

We may need to gather contact information from customers and visitors at our premises which may be passed to the NHS Test and Protect Service, in the event that an incidence of COVID-19 is subsequently identified for a visitor who attended the premises. The information that you provide for Test and Protect purposes will be held securely and will be destroyed after 21 days. This information will only be used if requested by NHS Scotland or statutory partners for Test and Protect purposes. For further information on Test and Protect visit NHS Scotland.