Open consultation

Privacy notice

Published 18 March 2025

© Crown copyright 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/equality-race-and-disability-bill-mandatory-ethnicity-and-disability-pay-gap-reporting/privacy-notice

This notice sets out how we will use your personal data, and your rights. It is made under Articles 13 and/or 14 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

1. Your data

1.1 Purpose

The purpose for which we are processing your personal data is to obtain the opinions of members of the public, parliamentarians and representatives of organisations and companies about departmental policies, proposals, or generally to obtain public opinion data on an issue of public interest.

To do this we will collect information on some personal characteristics of individual respondents including sex, race and disability (amongst other data). This information will aid and contextualise the analysis of the consultation, allowing us to identify if there are gaps in the response and moreover, if proposals are disproportionately supported or opposed by specific groups, amongst similar insights.

We will also collect the names of organisations, and employer and employee representative bodies or networks. This is to understand the groups participating in the consultation and who they represent.

In addition to this, we will use personal data as part of administering and supporting respondents with alternative modes of response. This includes, for example, a list of people who have requested a Braille or audio CD copy. This will ensure we reach a wide range of respondents which is vital to getting the best possible insight.

The personal data will help us to collate high-level findings and identify key themes, adding crucial detail and context to the results, but will not be used to identify individuals.

1.2 The data

We will process the following personal data to support the above purposes:

  • name
  • address
  • email address
  • mobile/phone number

  • name of respondent’s organisation, network or representative body if applicable, and country of the UK (or internationally) where the organisation or representative body is based

  • information on personal characteristics: ethnicity, conditions or illnesses that affect individuals, disability, age, sex, where an individual lives or is employed
  • opinions and comments of the consultation questions

Legal basis for processing your personal data is:

Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. In this case that is consulting with the UK public regarding legislative change proposals.

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation. 

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is:

Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department, the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment, the exercise of a function of either House of Parliament.

In this case this is consulting the UK public on issues relating to legislative change.

1.4 Recipients

Your personal data will be collected via our online consultation platform. This platform will therefore receive and hold your personal data.

Your personal data will be shared by us with our contracted external research company who will analyse the consultation responses, as instructed by the Cabinet Office.

As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, document management and storage services.

1.5 Retention

Your personal data will be kept by us for the following periods:

A list of people who have requested alternative formats will be kept during the consultation period to ensure digital and hard copies that are requested are sent to individuals during the consultation period. This list and associated personal data will be deleted at the end of the consultation period.

Responses will be retained for the duration of the consultation, and will be destroyed 3 calendar years after the consultation has concluded, or when the information is no longer required to be stored for active use on bill development, whichever is first.

2. Your rights

You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

3. International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our Corporate IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision, reliance on Standard Contractual Clauses, or reliance on a UK International Data Transfer Agreement.

As your data will be shared with our Survey Platform Supplier who provides survey hosting services to us, it may be stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision by the UK government.

As your data will be shared with Cabinet Office contracted researchers who provide analysis of the consultation response services to us, it may be stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision by the UK government.

4. Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: icocasework@ico.org.uk

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.

5. Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are: 

Cabinet Office

70 Whitehall

London SW1A 2AS

Tel: 0207 276 1234

Contact the Cabinet Office (web form)

The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are: dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

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