Personal information charter
This sets out the standards you can expect from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) when we collect, hold or use your personal information.
DESNZ is the data controller for the personal data described in our privacy notices. A data controller determines how and why personal data is processed.
We will follow all applicable data protection laws in how we treat your personal information.
Your rights
When DESNZ collects, holds, uses or processes your personal information, you have a right to be told:
- what the data is being used for
- why we’re legally able to process your data (also called the ‘lawful basis for processing’)
- how long we will keep your data
- who we will share it with
- whether it will be transferred or accessed outside the UK or EU, and what legal protection it will have
- who our Data Protection Officer is
- about any rights you have, including the right to access your information or to object to its being used
- about your right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel that your personal information has been mishandled
You are also entitled to have your personal information:
- protected and kept secure
- kept accurate and up to date
- not used for purposes which are incompatible with those for which it was collected
- kept only for as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was collected (unless it must be kept as part of the historic record)
DESNZ privacy notices
These privacy notices explain in more detail how we will handle your data in specific circumstances:
- IPCC UK expert nomination
- Regional Skills Pilot
- user research
- stakeholder lists
- writing to the department
- responding to a consultation
- finding ways to save energy in your home
- checking if a heat pump could be suitable for your home
- applying for energy bill support if you do not get it automatically (Great Britain)
- applying for energy bill support if you do not get it automatically (Northern Ireland)
- applying for support for alternative fuels if you do not get it automatically (Great Britain)
- applying for a discount as an Energy and Trade Intensive Industry or a heat supplier
- adding a product to the Energy Technology List
- registering as a supplier on the Biomass Suppliers List (BSL)
- participating in the Energy Company Obligation / Great British Insulation Scheme
- registering as a Green Deal business
- reporting a breach under the Green Deal Framework
- participating in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
- applying to the Heroes of Net Zero Competition
- using electricity meter and gas meter data collected through the Energy Price Guarantee scheme
- using electricity meter and gas meter data collected through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme
- establishing eligibility under the Warm Home Discount
- contacting the Warm Home Discount helpline
- using the energy portal
- participating in the heat network sector survey
How to request your personal data
You can contact us to get a copy of any personal information we hold about you. This is called a subject access request (SAR).
Make a subject access request:
DESNZ Data Protection Officer
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
3-8 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2EG
Please provide as much information as possible about the data you want to access.
We aim to respond to requests within 1 month, although more complex requests may take longer.
How to contact the Data Protection Officer
Contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) with any concerns about how we or our services handle your personal information.
The DPO is responsible for independent advice and monitoring how DESNZ uses personal information.
Contact the DESNZ DPO:
DESNZ Data Protection Officer
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
3-8 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2EG
Independent advice on data protection and privacy
Contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues.
Contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):