Personal information charter

This information charter sets out the standards you can expect from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) when we ask for, or hold, your personal information.

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Foreign, Commonwealth
& Development Office

On 1 January 2021, the government incorporated the EU General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) into UK data protection law.

On 28 June 2021, the European Union formally adopted adequacy decisions for the UK under the General Data Protection Regulation and Law Enforcement Directive. These allow personal data to continue to flow freely from the European Union (EU) and wider European Economic Area (EEA) to the UK.

We will ensure that we treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Your rights

When the FCDO or its agencies collects, holds, uses or processes in any way your personal data, you are entitled to be told:

• the purpose for which the data is being used, and our lawful basis for processing it

• 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 safeguards are in place to protect it

• about any rights you may 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

• about the identity of our Data Protection Officer (an independent advisor on data protection matters)

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)

How to access your personal information

If you would like a copy of any personal information that we hold about you, please contact the Information Rights Unit at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Information Rights Unit
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Email: information.rights@fcdo.gov.uk

Privacy notices

Our data controller privacy notice explains how will process your data in accordance with data protection legislation.

These privacy notices explain in more detail how we will handle your data in specific circumstances:

Events and visiting FCDO buildings in the UK and abroad

• if you register for, are invited to, or attend an event organised by the FCDO, see our privacy notice for events in the UK and overseas

• if you are a visitor to one of the FCDO buildings in the UK, see our privacy notice for visitors to UK estates

Working for the FCDO

• if you have applied for a job with the FCDO, see our job applicants and recruitment privacy notice

• if you are a contracted member of the FCDO’s catering staff, see our catering staff privacy notice

Foreign diplomatic staff

• if you are a member of diplomatic and consular staff in foreign diplomatic missions and consular posts in the UK, see our privacy notice for foreign diplomatic staff in the UK

Consular services

• if you have had any form of consular assistance, including in times of crisis, or accessed notarial or documentary services, including births, births and marriages or applied for an emergency travel document, at any of our embassies, high commissions or consulates abroad, see our consular services privacy notice

• if you have had support as a victim or potential victim of forced marriage, view our Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) privacy notice

• if you have used our document legalisation service, view our get a document legalised privacy notice

• if you consent to sharing your data for research, see our consular services research privacy notice

Other FCDO services and occasions when we handle your data

• if you contact our Growth Gateway team for advice, see our privacy notice for Business Advisory Support from Growth Gateway

• if you have a funding programme agreement with us through a memorandum of understanding or an accountable grant agreement, see our privacy notice for central assurance and due diligence assessments

• if we investigate reports of fraud or safeguarding concerns about you, see our fraud and safeguarding investigations privacy notice

• if you express interest in or enquire about Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), see our ACRS Pathway 3 privacy notice

• if you are an international student applying for an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate, see our ATAS privacy notice for postgraduate study in certain sensitive subjects

• if you apply for a permit for an expedition, vessel, aircraft or specialist activity in the Antarctic, see our Antarctic permits privacy notice

• if you export rough diamonds, see our Government Diamond Office privacy notice

• if you apply to join the UK Domestic Advisory Group or the Civil Society Forum, see our privacy notice relating to these UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement meetings

Using special category and criminal conviction personal data

The Appropriate Policy Document sets out how the FCDO will protect special category and criminal convictions personal data.

Data Protection Officer

If you have any concerns about how the department is handling your personal data, you may contact the department’s Data Protection Officer (DPO).

The DPO provides independent advice and monitoring of FCDO’s use of personal information. They can be contacted at the following postal and email addresses:

Information Management Department
Information and Digital Directorate
Room K4.02
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Email: data.protection@fcdo.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7008 5000