Guidance

Complaints privacy notice

Updated 13 November 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-privacy-notices/complaints-privacy-notice

Who collects your personal data

The data controller is Natural England at:

Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green, York, Y01 7PX

Send questions about how Natural England uses your personal data and your associated rights to the Natural England Data Protection Manager at foi@naturalengland.org.uk or:

Natural England, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP

The Data Protection Officer for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) group is responsible for checking that Natural England complies with legislation. You can contact them at DefraGroupDataProtectionOfficer@defra.gov.uk or:

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

What personal data is collected and how it’s used

Natural England collects your:

  • name
  • contact details
  • email address
  • phone number
  • details and information relating to the complaint
  • relevant application or reference numbers depending on the reason for complaint

Natural England collects your personal information in order to identify you, investigate the complaint and contact you in relation to the complaint.

There is no legal requirement for processing and retaining your personal data for Natural England complaints. The processing of your personal data is based on your consent.

You can ask for your contact details to be removed at any time by emailing customer.feedback@naturalengland.org.uk. However, if you do this, Natural England may not be able to investigate the complaint and provide you with a full and final response.

The processing of your personal data is based on consent. When you submit a complaint to Natural England, you consent to the processing and retention of your personal data in line with our data retention policy.

Who Natural England shares your personal data with

A complaint may need cross-government involvement to fully investigate the issues. In these cases, Natural England will share anonymised personal details with the relevant government organisation or body.

Natural England may be asked to share your personal details during this investigation. If so, it will contact you for authorisation before disclosing them.

If you’ve exhausted Natural England’s complaint procedure and are dissatisfied with the outcome, you may escalate your complaint to the following bodies:

  • The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
  • The Office for Environmental Protection
  • Information Commissioner’s Office

In these cases, Natural England has a legal duty to share your personal details and any relevant information it holds in relation to the complaint with these organisations when requested.

Natural England respects your personal privacy when responding to access to information requests. It only shares information when necessary to meet the statutory requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

How long Natural England holds personal data

Natural England will keep your personal data for 3 years after the closure of the complaint. If your complaint is investigated by The Office for Environmental Protection or The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, it will retain your data for 6 years.

What happens if you do not provide the data requested

If you do not provide your personal data, Natural England may not be able to investigate the complaint and provide you with a full and final response.

Use of automated decision-making or profiling

The information you provide is not used for:

  • automated decision making (making a decision by automated means without any human involvement)
  • profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual)

Transfer of data outside the UK

Natural England will only transfer your data to another country that is deemed adequate for data protection purposes.

Your rights

Find out about your individual rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

Complaints

You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time.

Natural England’s personal information charter

Natural England’s personal information charter explains more about your rights over your personal data.

Back to top