Personal information charter

The data we hold about you, your rights and how to contact us about it.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to request copies of your, or someone else’s, personal data from organisations, including government departments. The Act gives you rights over that data, including making sure it is correct, how it should be handled and when it should be deleted.

OPG is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

MOJ is the data controller for the personal information we collect.

You can find full details of our obligations under the data protection laws in our information charter.

Ministry of Justice information charter (PDF, 210KB, 6 pages)

About personal data

Personal data is information that can be linked directly or indirectly to a living individual. This includes your:

  • name
  • telephone number
  • date of birth

It can also include information about your:

  • health
  • mental capacity
  • online identity – for example, an email address

Why we collect personal data

OPG collects and processes personal data so that it can:

  • support the Public Guardian to protect people who lack capacity
  • maintain a register of lasting powers of attorney (LPA), enduring powers of attorney (EPA), court-appointed guardians and court-appointed deputies
  • supervise court-appointed deputies
  • supervise court-appointed guardians
  • promote its services
  • maintain its accounts and annual reports
  • support and manage its staff

When we collect personal data

OPG collects and uses personal data when:

  • you apply to register a power of attorney – so we can register your power of attorney
  • you apply to register a lasting power of attorney using the LPA online service – so we can register your power of attorney
  • you’re appointed as a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act 2005
  • you’re appointed as a guardian under the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017
  • you’re visited by a Court of Protection (COP) visitor to review the clients you are responsible for – so we can support and supervise court-appointed deputies
  • you pay a fee using a credit card, debit card or by direct debit – so we can process your payment
  • you apply for a remission or exemption of fees – so we can make sure you are charged the correct fee
  • you apply for a refund under the power of attorney refunds scheme or deputyship fee refunds scheme
  • you receive any refunds from OPG under the power of attorney refunds scheme or deputyship fee refunds scheme
  • you contact us with a question by email – so we can help with your query
  • you contact us at our Contact Centre – so we can help you with carrying out your role or making an application for a power of attorney
  • you make a complaint – so we can understand and investigate your complaint
  • you volunteer to take part in our customer research – so we can improve our services
  • an investigation is triggered in your case – so we can protect people who lack mental capacity from abuse
  • someone raises a safeguarding concern – so we can protect people who lack mental capacity from abuse
  • we’re served with a copy of a witness statement – so we can comply with directions issued by COP – this occurs during legal proceedings
  • we help to facilitate a surety bond – so we can make sure there is compliance with the court order
  • we’re served with an order from COP – so we can supervise your role as a deputy appointed by COP
  • we review your deputy report – so we can support and supervise court-appointed deputies

What we promise to do

Whenever we ask for information about you, we promise to:

  • always let you know why we need it
  • ask for relevant personal information only
  • make sure we don’t keep it longer than needed
  • keep your information safe and make sure nobody can access it unless authorised
  • only share your data with other organisations for legitimate purposes
  • consider any request you make to correct, stop storing or delete your personal data

We also promise to make it easy for you to:

  • tell us at any time if you want us to stop storing your personal data
  • make a complaint with the supervisory authority

You can find more information about how we handle your personal data in OPG’s privacy notices. For example, when:

OPG has a legal basis for processing personal data when carrying out its public role to support the Public Guardian under:

Sharing personal data

Sometimes we need to share your personal information with other organisations. We will only do this when the law says we can.

We will never share your information with other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes.

The organisations we share your personal information with include:

  • the police
  • the Court of Protection
  • local authorities and social services
  • other government departments and agencies
  • the NHS
  • Court of Protection visitors

Occasionally, we may use contact information to ask customers if they would like to complete a customer service survey. We use this information to see where and how we can improve our services.

Keeping personal data

We will keep personal data for as long as we need it to:

  • support the service we have provided to you
  • comply with our legal obligations and policies

This will be done in line with the OPG’s Record Retention and Disposition Schedule.

Your rights and how to exercise them

For your personal data, you have the right to:

  • be informed about what we do with your personal information
  • request copies of your personal information we hold about you
  • rectification (correcting errors)
  • erasure
  • restrict processing
  • data portability
  • object
  • not be subjected to automated decision-making, including profiling

We’ve set out below your rights and how to contact the MOJ for each of these rights.

The process for contacting us about the first right listed, the right to request copies of your personal information, is a different process than when contacting us about all the other rights. This is because different types of information will be held in different parts of the department.

Right to request copies of your personal information

This is known as the ‘right of subject access’, and a request for a copy of your personal information is called a ‘subject access request’, or SAR.

If we do hold information about you, we will:

  • give you a description of it
  • tell you why we have it
  • tell you who it could be given to
  • provide the information in a readable format

You do this by making a ‘subject access request’ (SAR).

Any subject access request must include 2 things:

  1. A description of where your personal data may be held. Tell us where in the department your personal data may be held. It will help us to find your records. For example, tell us which court or prison you have had business with, including any relevant case reference numbers and dates. Please be as specific as possible.
  2. Valid identification.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

  • a photocopy of your passport or driving licence
  • an electricity bill (a copy of the original bill)
  • a gas bill (a copy of the original bill)
  • a council tax bill (a copy of the original bill)
  • any other bill in your full name (a copy of the original bill)

If you (or the person you’re requesting information for) are on probation and do not have any of the ID listed, we can accept a photograph or scan of a letter signed by a probation officer on Probation Service headed paper.

Any bill you send must be less than 6 months old.

Making a SAR is free.

How to request personal information

You can make a subject access request for yourself, or someone else, online. Use the online subject access request form

You can also make a request by email or post

Email: data.access@justice.gov.uk

By post:

Disclosure Team
Post point 10.25
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

OPG staff requests for personal information

Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) staff must refer to the intranet for details of how to make a subject access request.

Privacy notice for employees, workers and contractors (PDF, 185KB, 11 pages)

Definitions of your other rights

Right to rectification

If some information we hold about you is wrong or has changed, you have the right to have it corrected or updated.

Right to erasure

If the personal data we hold about you is no longer needed, you have the right to have it deleted. This is also known as the ‘right to be forgotten’.

Right to restrict processing

In certain circumstances, you have the right to restrict how your personal data is used. This may be due to the accuracy of the data, or if the data has been unlawfully processed, or MOJ no longer needs it but you would like us to keep it in.

Right to data portability

We must send your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. This right only applies when you have consented to the processing of the data.

Right to object

You have a right to object to the processing of your personal data, specifically if the data is:

  • for direct marketing purposes
  • a task carried out in the public interest
  • the exercise of official authority or legitimate interest

Automated decision-making is a decision made about you by a machine, without humans being involved. Profiling involves the use of personal data to group characteristics to try and predict future behaviour.

The MOJ can only carry out solely automated decision making if the decision is:

  • necessary for entering into or performance of a contract between you and MOJ
  • authorised by law
  • based on your explicit consent

How to exercise your other rights

To exercise any of your information access rights, that are not a request for a copy of your personal information from the Ministry of Justice, send your request:

Email: privacy@justice.gov.uk

By post:

Data Privacy Team
Ministry of Justice
3rd Floor, Post Point 3.20
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU

Questions or Complaints

Contact the MOJ Data Protection Officer if you:

  • have questions about anything in our information charter
  • think that your personal data has been misused or mishandled

Email: privacy@justice.gov.uk

By post:

The Data Protection Officer
Ministry of Justice
3rd Floor, Post Point 3.20
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU

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