Business Rates Privacy Notice - Privacy policy

Why we collect your data
We will protect and respect your privacy.
This privacy notice covers how we manage Business Rates, including:
billing
collection
recovery

We have created this notice to clarify how we:
collect personal data
store personal data
process personal data

We have measures in place to protect your privacy throughout this process.

We are the Data Controller for the personal information you provide.

We hold and process all personal information in line with data protection legislation.
Categories of personal data
We will process the following personal data to perform our Business Rate tasks:
titles
names
business names
addresses
phone numbers
email addresses
details of occupancy, lease or freehold interest in the property.
financial information such as bank account details for payments
information needed to process an application for rate relief
Purpose for processing
We process your data to manage:
billing Business Rates
collecting Business Rates
processing applications for Business Rate exemptions
processing applications for rate relief
Lawful basis for processing personal data
We process your data on a lawful basis.

We process your data to meet our legal obligations.

We need the information you provide to carry our duties under the Local Government Finance Acts 1988 and 1992 .

We process your data where you have given us your explicit consent.
Providing accurate information
It is important that we hold accurate and up to date information about you. This helps us assess your needs and deliver appropriate services.

You must tell us immediately if any of your details change so that we can update your records.

It is an offence to:
give false statements
withhold information
fail to disclose changes in circumstances

We will not:
make any decisions about you based on automated processing
send your data abroad
store your data abroad
Sharing information
To administer and enforce Business Rates, we may share your personal information with:
other departments within the Council
other local authorities
government departments,
the Police
the Valuation Office Agency
Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs,
magistrates courts
debt collection agencies
enforcement agencies

We will check information with other sources to make sure the data you have provided is accurate.

We will only disclose information to other organisations if we have a legal duty to release data to:
prevent or detect fraud
prevent or detect crime
protect public funds
Data retention
We only keep your data for as long as necessary.

We keep the personal information you provide for six years after:
you close your Business Rates account
we have collected all outstanding Business Rates

After this time, we destroy your information in a secure way.

You can contact us for full details of how long we keep information and data.
Your rights
You can read our privacy page to find out:
how we maintain the security of your information
what rights you have to access your information
how to correct or remove your information

If you have any questions or want to find out more information you can phone or email our Data Protection Officer.

If you are unhappy with how we have processed your personal information, contact the Information Commissioner's Office.
Contact details
Data Protection Officer
Braintree District Council
Causeway House
Bocking End
Braintree CM7 9 HB
01376 552525
DPO@braintree.gov.uk