Guidance

Social research 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/social-research-privacy-notice

This privacy notice covers most of the social research that Natural England carries out.

Natural England may sometimes carry out social research not covered by this privacy notice. When this happens, Natural England will provide details when it invites you to take part in the research.

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’s collected and how it’s used

Natural England collects your:

  • name and contact details
  • views and experiences of a topic

It may sometimes ask for more sensitive personal information such as your:

  • level of income
  • race and ethnicity
  • location

Your personal data will be used as part of the social research that Natural England carries out. For example, it may use it to:

  • understand the benefits people get from the environment and how they want to engage with it
  • understand how Natural England can best engage with people on decisions relating to the environment
  • develop an evidence base on the values, understanding, behaviours and attitudes of society towards the natural environment

Natural England will give details of what personal data is collected and how it’s used when it invites you to take part in the research.

In most cases the legal basis for processing your data is your consent.

Where the processing of your data is based on consent, you can normally withdraw your consent at any time. You do this using the contact details provided by Natural England when you take part in the research.

However, you may not be able to withdraw your data once Natural England has incorporated it into its analysis. If this is the case, Natural England will tell you when you take part in the research.

Who Natural England shares your personal data with

If you’ve taken part in a recorded interview, Natural England may share audio recordings of your interview with an external transcription service. If it does this, it will not remove any personal data shared during the interview.

Apart from for the purpose of transcription, Natural England does not normally share your personal data with third parties. If it intends to do so, it will tell you when it invites you to take part in the research.

Data that has been made anonymous

Normally Natural England makes any data it shares with third parties anonymous. This may involve removing your personal data or combining it with other survey data.

Your information may be shared in the form of:

  • processed data
  • reports
  • presentations
  • academic publications

Natural England may archive data that it has made anonymous for future reuse. Natural England will tell you if your data will be archived and with which archive when it invites you to take part in the research.

Natural England respects your personal privacy when responding to access to information requests. It will only share 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 end of the research project. Data that has been made anonymous may be kept for longer. Natural England will tell you if this is the case when it invites you to take part in the research.

What happens if you do not provide the data

Natural England will not be able to gather your views. You will not be able to contribute to the specific goals of the research.

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 of 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.

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.

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