Closed consultation

Privacy notice for hiring staff consultation

Published 16 November 2023

© Crown copyright 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/hiring-agency-staff-to-cover-industrial-action/privacy-notice

Hiring agency staff to cover industrial action: consultation on repealing the ban on agencies supplying agency workers to replace workers engaged in industrial action.

The purpose of this document

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your information.

This privacy notice describes how we collect and use personal information about you in accordance with UK Data Protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice. It is important that you read this privacy notice, so that you are aware of how and why we are using your data.

The data we will collect

This is a voluntary survey. By taking part in the survey you are providing consent for the following information to be collected.

Mandatory information to be collected as part of the survey exercise:  

  • IP address (automated collection)

We will also be collecting data, with your consent, on the following:

  • name
  • email
  • organisation – not applicable if responding as an individual
  • organisation type or sector
  • organisation service provided

All personal data is handled under the government security handlings for official data and non-personal data may be retained according to the Publication Records Act 1958.

Why we need your data

The information you provide in responding to this survey will be processed by DBT and selected third parties.

There is a legal duty in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 (see section 12) for the Secretary of State to consult ahead of making a potential amendment to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, which is the subject of the consultation.

In carrying out this legal duty, the department will collect data (including respondents’ personal data). This is necessary so that the department can gain an accurate picture of the views of different stakeholders to the policy proposal and can (if respondents consent to being contact) follow up to seek clarification. The views and evidence we gather will inform advice to ministers who will decide how to proceed.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is:

  • to meet a legal obligation – as already mentioned, conducting the consultation is necessary to meet a legal obligation.

  • consent - as already mentioned, taking part in the consultation (whether by the survey or submitting an email response). By choosing to take part, you are providing consent for the information mentioned above to be collected.

How we share your information

Your personal data will be processed. Your data will only be shared with policy officials, analysts and departmental legal advisers who need access to it for the reasons set out above (for example, to assist with analysing responses and providing advice to Ministers).

In addition, an aggregated analysis of data collected may be shared with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) and the National Audit Office (NAO) for audit purposes.

We will also share your data if we are required to do so by law or regulation – for example, by court order or to prevent fraud or another crime.

We will not sell or rent your data to third parties, or share your data with third parties detailed in this privacy notice unless legally obliged to do so.

To facilitate the consultation, the data you provide will be shared with the following third parties with whom anonymised information will be shared are:

  • Qualtrics – this is the platform we are using to conduct the survey. They are the data processor. Only a limited number of officials who need access will be able to see the full data set
  • other government departments – we may share high-level aggregated summaries, but not individual responses, with officials in other departments

How long we keep your data

We will only retain your personal information for as long as it is needed to fulfil the purpose for which we are collecting it. This means, with respect to the processing outline in this privacy notice, we will keep your data for the duration of the consultation process and for 12 months thereafter.

How we protect your data and keep it secure

We are committed to doing all that we can to keep your data secure. We have set up systems and processes to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of your data - for example, we protect your data using password protection, limiting staff access to specifically “Security Cleared” individuals. We also make sure that any third parties that we deal with keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure and in line with data protection legislation.

Your rights

You are the data subject and the following data subject rights are available to you. You have the right to:

  • object to processing
  • access copies of your personal information
  • request that we rectify your personal information if you think it is inaccurate
  • request that we erase your personal information
  • request that we restrict processing
  • data portability

You can exercise your data subject rights by contacting the department using the details below.

Contacting us

You have a right to complain to the department if you think we have not complied with our obligation for handling your personal information. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, you can contact the data protection officer:

Data Protection Officer

Department for Business and Trade
Old Admiralty Building
Admiralty Place
London
SW1A 2DY

Contacting the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

If you are not satisfied with DBT’s response, you can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator.

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Email casework@ico.org.uk

Telephone 0303 123 1113

Textphone 01625 545860

Monday to Friday 9am to 4:30pm

Changes to this privacy notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time and we will provide you with a new privacy notice if we make any substantial updates.

Identity and contact details

DBT is registered as a Data Controller under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

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