Privacy notice for the assessment of organisations and groups against the government’s definition of extremism
This privacy notice explains how DLUHC will process data for assessments against the government's definition of extremism.
Applies to England
The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.
1. The identity and contact details of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and our Data Protection Officer
DLUHC is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk
2. What personal data we are collecting and why
DLUHC is assessing organisations and groups against the government’s 2024 definition of extremism and will publish a list of organisations and groups that, in the opinion of the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (the Secretary of State) are considered to meet the government’s definition of extremism. Your personal data may be collected as part of that process. Further details about the process for assessing organisations and groups and for adding or removing them from the public list will be published on GOV.UK.
Your personal data may also be used for monitoring the impact of the process, and for research and statistical purposes.
The following personal data is being collected for these purposes: name; nature of a person’s connection with the organisation or group being assessed, potential evidence of behaviour that might relate to the extremism definition, potential exculpatory evidence, details of where the evidence was found, contact details.
Your personal data could include political opinions, ideologies, religious or philosophical beliefs and criminal convictions.
Your personal data is collected by DLUHC from publicly available material. By ‘publicly available material’ we mean material that has been made available to the public or a section of the public (whether free to access, subject to payment or requiring user registration etc). It includes publicly available material on the internet or from offline sources, such as printed publications. It can include public registers, academic papers, corporate publications, media, news articles and publicly accessible social media.
Your personal data may also be provided to DLUHC by the Home Office, other UK government departments or other bodies.
Your personal data may also be provided to DLUHC by the organisations and groups being assessed or when they request removal from the public list.
3. Lawful basis for processing the data
The data protection legislation sets out when we are lawfully allowed to process your data. The lawful basis that applies to this processing is that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. The specific public task is tackling extremism and promoting cohesive communities.
The legal basis for processing special category data is that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest to tackle extremism and promote cohesive communities, in particular to ensure government engagement does not legitimise or support dangerous, harmful narratives and behaviours from extremists, or give extremists a platform on which to share or promote these narratives and behaviours.
The legal basis for processing criminal convictions data is that the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of a Minister of the Crown or a government department. In this case that is DLUHC’s function to tackle extremism and promote cohesive communities.
4. With whom we will be sharing the data
Your personal data may be shared with the Home Office and with other UK government departments, agencies and bodies in connection with the assessment process or for the investigation, prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
Your personal data may be shared with other people involved in the process of assessing the organisations and groups, including DLUHC staff and contractors and representatives of other UK government departments, agencies and bodies.
Your personal data may be shared with DLUHC’s professional or expert advisers.
Your personal data may be shared with the organisation or group that is being assessed, so that it is informed of the evidence held by DLUHC.
If the Secretary of State decides to put the organisation or group onto the public list, or to remove it from the public list, your personal data may be published so that other government departments and the public can understand the basis for the Secretary of State’s decision.
Your personal data may also be shared with third parties to comply with our legal obligations or lawful disclosure requests.
5. For how long we will keep the personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period.
Your personal data will be held for up to 12 months, except in the following circumstances where it will be retained for longer:
- if the Secretary of State decides to put the organisation or group onto the public list, the data will be retained for up to 7 years
- if the Secretary of State decides to remove the organisation or group from the public list, the data will be retained for up to 1 year following the removal from the public list
- if the data is required for legal proceedings
- for public interest archiving, scientific or historical research or statistical purposes
6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, erasure
The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have rights that affect what happens to it.
You have the right to ask us for information about how we are using your personal data.
You have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal data.
You have the right to ask us to rectify inaccuracies in your personal data, and to ask how we check the personal data we hold is accurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete your personal data where it is incomplete.
You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances (for example, if there is no longer a justification for us holding it).
You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
To exercise your rights please contact the Data Protection Officer using the contact details below.
We will not use your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
You have the right to complain to the ICO (see below).
7. Sending data overseas
Your personal data will not be processed outside of the UK/EU/EEA.
8. Automated decision making
We will not use your personal data for any automated decision making.
9. Storage, security, and data management
Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system.
10. Complaints and more information
When we ask you for information, we will keep to the law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.
If you are unhappy with the way the Department has acted, you can make a complaint.
If you are not happy with how we are using your personal data, you should first contact dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk.
If you are still not happy, or for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, you can contact:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745