Guidance

Coastal access requests: Defra privacy notice

Updated 13 November 2024

Applies to England

Who is collecting your personal data?

The controller of your personal data is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The data that we use is collected and provided to us by Natural England.

Defra is committed to the responsible handling and security of personal data. Your privacy is important to us and protected in law through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), and/or the Law Enforcement Directive.

See our Personal Information Charter.

What data are we collecting?

The personal information will be your name, contact details and the part of the proposals to which your objection or representation relates, plus any other personal information that you provide.

We do not process special category data.

Why do we need your data?

Defra’s Secretary of State decides whether to approve or decline the proposals that Natural England puts forward for stretches of England Coast Path.

The Secretary of State makes this decision after consideration of the proposals, together with any submitted representations and objections and the report by the inspector from the Planning Inspectorate. The inspector’s report gives their recommendation of whether Natural England’s proposals ‘fail to strike a fair balance’ with respect to admissible objections submitted.

Who will my data be shared with?

We share the objections and representations we receive from Natural England with the Planning Inspectorate, so that an inspector can consider them, as detailed above.

You should be aware that as part of this process the inspector may call a public hearing or inquiry during which your personal information may be made public.

The Planning Inspectorate does not routinely redact personal information.

What is our legal basis for processing your data?

Defra’s processing of personal information is necessary for the Secretary of State to make an informed decision regarding the approval of Natural England’s coastal access proposals. Processing is therefore necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.

There are also explicit statutory / legal obligations on Defra in respect of the coastal access determination process, and so processing is necessary for compliance with these legal obligations.

What will happen if I don’t provide the data?

There is no statutory obligation on interested parties to submit representations or objections. However, Natural England cannot act upon representations or objections which do not contain name and contact details and the Secretary of State would therefore not consider these without the inclusion of this personal data.

Also, as the processing of your personal data is not based on consent, you cannot withdraw it. You may at any time, before determination by the Secretary of State, withdraw any representations or objections that you have already submitted. The Secretary of State will then no longer consider these as part of the determination process.

What will we do with your data?

Defra publishes representations (with associated supplementary material) and reports which the appointed person submitted to us when we announce approval decisions.

We redact personal or identifying information before publication, except for location information relating to the part of the proposals to which your objection or representation relates.

We will share your data if we are required to do so by law - for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime. We will also only share information when necessary to meet the statutory requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will not share or disclose any other data to any other party (outside of the Planning Inspectorate) without your explicit consent. We will not:

• sell or rent your data to third parties
• share your data with third parties for marketing purposes

The data you provide will remain in the UK, and will not be transferred outside the European Economic Area.

Will my data be used for automated decision making or profiling?

The information you provide is not connected with individual decision making (making a decision solely by automated means without any human involvement) or profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual).

How long will we keep your data?

We will keep your personal data for no more than 5 years after the relevant stretch of England Coast Path is completed.

Who can you contact on data protection issues?

You can contact Defra’s Data Protection Manager with any questions about how we are using your personal data and your associated rights at:

Data Protection Manager
Data Protection Team
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Area 1E, Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

Email: data.protection@defra.gov.uk

You can contact the Data Protection Officer responsible for monitoring that Defra is meeting the requirements of the legislation at:

Defra Group Data Protection Officer
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
SW Quarter
2nd floor, Seacole Block
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Email: DefraGroupDataProtectionOfficer@defra.gsi.gov.uk

What are your rights?

View a list of your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (supervisory authority) at any time.