Guidance

Data sharing with the Office for National Statistics

Updated 18 May 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-hmrc-shares-data-with-the-office-for-national-statistics/data-sharing-with-the-office-for-national-statistics

The purpose of this document

This privacy notice explains how HMRC shares personal data with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and how they use the data. You should read the main HMRC Privacy Notice and the ONS’ Privacy information alongside this privacy notice.

Why we share this data

The ONS has a statutory objective to promote and safeguard the production of official statistics that serve the public good. HMRC shares personal data with the ONS for research and statistical purposes, and to support and inform decisions on the 2021 Census in England and Wales. We will only share your data where the law allows us to do so, and the ONS will only ever use it to produce statistics or undertake statistical research.

What data we share with the ONS

Where the law allows we will share the following information with the ONS:

  • Income Tax and National Insurance information that you or your agent has submitted to HMRC
  • Income Tax and National Insurance information that your employer has provided to HMRC
  • VAT and customs information submitted to HMRC
  • Council Tax information that the Valuation Office Agency holds

This information may include the following personal data:

  • your name and address
  • date of birth
  • gender
  • country
  • National Insurance Number
  • VAT Number
  • age
  • income
  • VAT turnover
  • trade names

We may also share some types of Special Category data with the ONS including health disability indicators, and Trade Union membership when fees are deducted by employers.

Data is exchanged at regular intervals to ensure that the ONS have the latest information to perform their statistical functions.

How the ONS use your information

The ONS collects and publishes statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels and conducts the Census in England and Wales every ten years. The ONS has made a commitment to Government and the public to make better use of data held by public authorities, including HMRC, to improve the quality of national statistics and to reduce survey costs.

This has been enabled by Parliament through the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 which clearly sets out that personal information can only be used by the ONS for the purposes of its statistical functions and not for wider operational purposes, and includes strict criminal penalties for unlawful disclosure.

The ONS will also allow authorised third parties to access your data in controlled limited circumstances. For example, the ONS may give access to approved researchers but only once the data has been de-identified.

You can see more detailed information about how the ONS use your information in the ONS’ Privacy information.

HMRC processes your personal data for the purposes set out in this privacy notice under Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) i.e. the ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’.

The sharing of your personal data with the ONS is allowed by UK law including section 45 of Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (as amended by the Digital Economy Act 2017).

When processing special categories of personal data HMRC relies on the additional GDPR condition which allows for processing that is ‘necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes’. You can find out more about special category data processing in HMRC’s appropriate policy document.

How your personal data is processed and shared

We’ll only send your personal data to the ONS when the law allows us to. HMRC only shares the data that the ONS requires and, depending on the requirement, takes steps to either remove or limit the ability to identify specific individuals.

How long the ONS keep your data

The ONS will only continue to hold personal data where it is still needed to produce statistics. In addition, the ONS will also de-identify or anonymise data at the earliest opportunity it can without compromising its statistical functions. All statistical outputs produced by the ONS will be anonymised and when retaining personal data the ONS will follow robust processes that have been agreed with HMRC which ensure such information is properly protected.

Data security

We have put in place measures to protect the security of your information.

We treat the security of your data very seriously. We have strict security standards, and all our staff and other people who process personal data on our behalf get regular training about how to keep information safe.

We also put agreements in place with the ONS on the expectations of the security of your data and have reviews in place to assure this. The ONS have strict security standards, and all their staff who process personal data have mandatory training and processes that need to be adhered to.

Your rights in relation to your personal data

You can read about your rights in the HMRC Privacy Notice.

Contact HMRC or make a complaint

You can contact us if you have questions about this privacy notice or want to make a complaint.

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notices under regular review. If we make changes to this notice, we’ll amend the date at the top of this page.

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