Personal information charter

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

This information page was withdrawn on 4 September 2020

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was replaced by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in September 2020. This FCO page is no longer current. Instead, see the FCDO personal information charter.

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Foreign &
Commonwealth
Office

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) continues to apply in the UK until the transition period ends on 31 December 2020. As an EU Regulation, in principle the GDPR will no longer apply to the UK after the transition period. From 1 January 2021, the government intends to incorporate the GDPR into UK data protection law.

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

Your rights

When the FCO 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 Parliamentary, Ministerial and Central Services at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Parliamentary, Ministerial and Central Services,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

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:

Visiting the FCO and our embassies, high commissions and consulates

• if you are a visitor to one of the FCO buildings in the UK, see our privacy notice for visitors to UK estates
• If you visit one of our embassies, high commissions, consulates, or other buildings abroad, see our privacy notice for visitors to diplomatic missions and residences during coronavirus (COVID-19)

Working for the FCO

• if you have applied for a job with the FCO, see our job applicants and recruitment privacy notice
• if you are a contracted member of the FCO’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 share your details to return to the UK on a special chartered flight, or to get an emergency loan during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see our privacy notice on repatriation support
• if you share you details to apply for an emergency loan to return to the UK or for living costs during the coronavirus pandemic, see our privacy notice on emergency loans for British nationals abroad
• 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 overseas, 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 and additional payments for legalisation privacy notice
• if you consent to sharing your data for research, see our consular services research privacy notice

Other FCO services

• 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

Using special category and criminal conviction personal data

The Appropriate Policy Document sets out how the FCO 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 FCO’s use of personal information. They can be contacted at the following postal and email addresses:

Eleanor Stewart
Data Protection Officer
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Email: data.protection@fco.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7008 1500