Guidance

Privacy notice for personal data processed for consultations

Updated 14 November 2024

This privacy notice will help you to understand what personal data the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) collects about you, how the IPO uses this personal data, and what rights you have regarding your personal data.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice that is provided to you on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing your personal data, so that you are aware of how and why we are using it.

This notice applies to individual persons who are external to the IPO. This notice does not form part of any contract. This notice can be updated at any time

Personal data is any information that can be used to identify a living individual, either on its own, or in combination with other pieces of data. Examples of personal data includes your name and address.

Data processing includes the collection, use, and storage of data.

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of our consultation. We want to contact you regarding aspects of our work that are of interest to you and hear your response. We may also use it to contact you about related matters. This only refers to your personal data and not the content of your response.

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) requires us to identify a data controller. In this instance it is the IPO.

1. The purpose of processing your data

The IPO processes your personal data for the purposes of consultation, so that we can contact you regarding aspects of our work of interest to you, your response and for statistical purposes. We may also use it to contact you about related matters

2. The lawful basis for processing your data

The IPO processes your personal data and the lawful basis we are relying on to process your personal data is article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR, which allows us to process personal data when this is necessary for the performance of our public tasks.

3. Your rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information
• right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete
• right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances
• right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances

If you make a request to exercise any of these rights, you should contact the Data Protection Team at the IPO; details of which are at the bottom of this notice.  If you contact us, we have one month to respond to you. You do not have to pay anything for exercising your rights.

These are not absolute rights, and the IPO can use its discretion to refuse to comply with these rights if there are legitimate grounds for the processing your personal data which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the individual, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

4. If you do not provide your personal data

If you do not provide all the requested personal data, then the IPO may not be able to use your comments in response to our consultation and engagement processes.

5. Data Transfers

Your personal data may be shared with other government departments, agencies or bodies, to reach a wider audience for the stated purpose.

All data sharing will be with organisations based in the UK, and data storage will also be inside the UK.

Your personal data is shared using secure transfer methods and will not be transferred to any additional third parties. The IPO has assured the data safeguarding measures of all organisations with which your personal data is shared.

6. How long we keep your personal data

Your personal data will be retained in accordance with the IPO’s data retention and disposal policies. A copy of the data retention and disposal policy can be obtained from kim@ipo.gov.uk.

7. The use of automated decision making

Your personal data is not used in any automated decision making (a decision made solely by automated means without any human involvement) or profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain conditions about an individual).

8. Change of purpose

We will process your personal data for the purpose for which we collected it. We may also process your personal data for another purpose that we reasonably consider to be compatible with the original purpose.

Please note that we might process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules where this is required or permitted by law.

9. Changes to this privacy notice

We may change this privacy notice. In that case, the ‘last updated’ date at the top of this page will also change. Any changes to this privacy policy will apply to you and your data immediately.

10. Contact us or make a complaint

You can contact the IPO’s Data Protection Officer if you:

• have a question about anything in this privacy notice
• think that your personal data has been misused or mishandled

Email: dpo@ipo.gov.uk

FAO:  Data protection Officer Intellectual Property Office

Concept House

Cardiff Road

Newport

South Wales

NP10 8QQ

The DPO provides independent advice and monitoring of our use of personal information.

You can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator

Information Commissioner
Email: icocasework@ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Textphone: 01625 545860
Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Find out about call charges

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF