Concessionary Transport Unit - Freedom Pass and Blue Badge applications privacy notice
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when the Council collects your personal information, it covers your contact with the Council and its officers via face to face conversations, telephone, email and written communication. This privacy notice applies to services provided by Concessionary Transport Unit and relates to Blue Badge and Freedom Pass Applications and their processing.
The London Borough of Hounslow, as a Data Controller, is responsible for collecting and processing the majority of the information and its disclosure to other agencies
We require this data for statutory reasons under the primary legislation governing the scheme, section 21 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (the 1970 Act); and sections 115 and 117 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (the 1984 Act). The Blue Badge Scheme Local Authority Guidance (England) and the Transport Act 2000
Processing in this context means the organisation, retrieval, consultation, use and deletion or destruction of information and its disclosure to other necessary agencies.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or any concerns about how we process your data, please contact the Concessionary Transport Unit at bluebadge@hounslow.gov.uk
Please note this privacy notice will continue to be monitored and updated. You are advised to check this page from time to time
Information we collect
The types of information we require from you will include at a minimum the following personal information, such as:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- national Insurance number
- phone number
- email address
As well as personal information, we may collect special categories of personal data, where applicable, and share additional information in relation to your application including:
- professional’s referrals
- medical assessments
- medical information
- Allowance / benefit information
- Supporting application information
What do we use your information for?
The information is collected to assess the eligibility for the Concessionary Travel Schemes
Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)
To meet our statutory obligations, we may need to share the information you provide us with other professionals such as
- Our Mobility Assessors
- Internal departments within the London Borough of Hounslow
- Law enforcement agencies in connection with any investigation to help prevent unlawful activity
- Other Local Authorities
- London Councils
- Liberata (Pendle)
- DfT
- APS Group
- Valtech Ltd
We will only share your information with internal departments and other service providers, contractors and/or partner bodies where it is necessary:
- to comply with a legal obligation
- to provide you with a service you have requested
- where permitted under the Data Protection Law
- where the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of the prevention and/or detection of crime
- where it is necessary to allow a third party working with for or on behalf of the Council
We will strive to ensure that any personal data in our care will be kept safe and that where your information is disclosed to a third party, we will seek to ensure that the third party has sufficient systems and procedures in place to prevent the loss or damage of personal data.
We will not use your personal data for third party marketing purposes without your prior express consent.
How long will we keep your information?
Unless there is a legal requirement for us to do so we will keep your information for the following periods
- Blue Badges - 4 years
- Freedom Pass - 6 years
- Taxicard - 11 years
Website and Online forms
When someone visits the Council’s website we use third-party services to collect standard internet usage log information. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We collect information volunteered by members of the public via the online forms hosted by the Council.
My Hounslow Account
The My Hounslow Account provides you with a safe and flexible way to access Council services including online forms that may be of interest to you. We are continuing to develop the functionality of our website and its capacity to deliver personalised services. We will send you communications to alert you to new developments only if you have opted in to receive these. You will always have the option to opt out at any stage.
Data Matching and Auditing
We are required by law to protect the public funds we administer. We may use the information you provide to us for the prevention and detection of crime. We may also share this information with other bodies that are responsible for auditing or administering public funds including the Department for Work and Pensions, other local authorities, HM Revenue and Customers and the Police.
The council uses data matching as a way of processing large volumes of information. While this can be a useful way of detecting fraud, it also enables us to identify information that is inaccurate or out of date, helping us comply with Data Protection law, while improving service provision.
As part of the council’s fraud prevention and detection activities, the council participates in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). The data matching exercise is run by the Cabinet Office.
Find out more about the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) scheme
Information Security
We recognise that the information you provide may be sensitive and we will respect your confidentiality. We keep information about you confidential. This means we store it securely and control who has access to it. We will not store any information where we are not legally required to do so.
Find out more about Information Security
Use of IP addresses
The Council’s website does not automatically capture or store personal information, other than logging the user’s IP Address or the location of your computer or network on the Internet, for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes. If you are connected to the Internet, you have an IP address.
Use of Cookies
You can read more about how we use cookies on our Legal Notices page
Links to Other Websites
You can read more about links to other websites on our Legal Notices page.
Data Transfers
All the information you provide us is held within the European Economic Area (EEA).
Your Rights
The Council tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information.
You can make a request to the Council for any personal information we may hold about you by:
Making a Subject Access Request.
Emailing the Customer Relations team
The information will be provided to you free of charge. The data protection law also gives you the following rights:
- The right to be informed
- The right to rectification
- The right to erasure
- The right to restrict processing
- The right to data portability
- The right to object
- Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
Depending on the lawful basis on which the Council relies on for processing your personal data you may not always be able to exercise some of these rights. For more information about your rights please visit the ICO's website.
Your right to make a complaint
The Council tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate.
If you want to make a complaint you can contact us on:
Complaints Team
London Borough of Hounslow
Hounslow House
7 Bath Road
Hounslow
Middlesex
TW3 3EB
Find out more on how to make a complaint.
Data Protection Officer
The Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at
Information Governance Team
Hounslow House
7 Bath Road
Hounslow
Middlesex
TW3 3EB
or
Email the Information Governance team
Information Commissioner’s Office
The Information Commissioner is the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights.
If you would like to know more about your rights under the Data Protection law, and what you should expect from us, visit the Information Commissioner’s website.
If you have any concerns regarding our privacy practices or about exercising your Data Protection rights, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
A full list of what information we control and process and for what purposes is set out in our notification with the Information Commissioner's Register of Data Controllers.
Our registration number is Z5761176.
You can view our registration on the Information Commissioner's website.
