Guidance

Privacy Notice for Government Communication Service (GCS) Data Collection 2024

Published 26 April 2024

© 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.

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-for-gcs-data-collection-2024/privacy-notice-for-government-communication-service-gcs-data-collection-2024

This notice sets out how we will use your personal data, and your rights. It is made under Articles 13 and/or 14 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). 

Your data

Purpose 

The purpose for which we are processing your personal data is to understand the structure and composition of the Government Communication Service to enable us to: 

  • Improve the employment offer made to GCS members via skills and accreditation offers as well as better commute times to offices 
  • Provide statistical insights to government organisations to inform their business planning 
  • Design tailored central strategies 
  • Deliver central services such as performing capability reviews and answering Parliamentary Questions 

The data 

We will process the following personal data for each person and role in the cross-government Government Communication Service: 

  • Organisation 
  • Home Organisation 
  • Team Name 
  • Role Title 
  • Contract Type 
  • Vacancy Status 
  • Full-Time Equivalent 
  • Proportion of Time Performing Communications Activities 
  • Substantive Grade 
  • Current Grade 
  • Profession of Post 
  • Job Role 
  • Gross Salary 
  • Salary Allowance 
  • Security Clearance (required for Job Role) 
  • Job Postcode 
  • Partial Home Postcode 
  • Accreditation with a Professional Body 
  • Highest Formal Qualification Relevant to Communications 
  • Subject of Highest Formal Qualification Relevant to Communications
  • Talent Scheme 
  • Embedded Communications Role

We will also collect the email addresses of those submitting data; this information will only be used to contact people about the datasets they have submitted. Where possible we will collect shared mailbox addresses. 

The legal basis for processing your personal data is that 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. In this case that is the Cabinet Office’s responsibility for running the Government Communication Service. 

Recipients 

As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage services. 

Retention 

We will keep the data on organisational composition until the next such data collection. This is so we always possess a dataset of the most current state of the Government Communication Service. We will produce aggregate statistical products which do not allow individuals to be identified; such products will persist indefinitely. The individual level data will be deleted when a more current dataset has been collected, estimated to be September 2025. 

Where personal data have not been obtained from you 

Your personal data was obtained by us from your employer. 

Your rights

You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data. 

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay. 

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed. 

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted. 

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

International Transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision, or reliance on Standard Contractual Clauses or a UK International Data Transfer Agreement. 

Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

or 0303 123 1113, or casework@ico.org.uk. Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts. 

Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

or 0207 276 1234, or Contact the Cabinet Office 

The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are: dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

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