Housing Benefits and Council Tax Support Privacy Notice - Privacy policy

Why we collect your data: We will protect and respect your privacy.
This privacy notice covers the information you need to give us when you apply for Housing Benefit or Council Tax support.

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 process your data to assess your application Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support.

The data we hold about you will include:
titles
names
aliases
photographs
addresses
phone numbers
email addresses
gender
date of birth
age
marital status
nationality
immigration status
current employment status
national insurance number
family make up and dependants
income
benefits
savings
investments
valuable assets
bank account numbers including those of your partner or persons living with you
other relevant information needed to assess your situation, such as your landlord details

We will also keep sensitive or other special categories of personal data such as:
mental health
physical health
medication
treatment received
Purpose for processing: We process your data to assess your application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support.
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 Act 1992
the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006

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: We may get information from third parties to assess and process your claim for:
Housing Benefit
Council Tax support
both Housing Benefit and Council Tax support

We may share information with third parties to assess and process your claim for:
Housing Benefit
Council Tax support
both Housing Benefit and Council Tax support

We share information with:
other departments within the Council
other local authorities
the Police
the NHS
landlords
voluntary services or organisations that provide you with help or support,
government departments
the Department for Work and Pensions
Her Majestys Revenue and Customs.

We will check your information with other sources to make sure it is accurate.

If we need to disclose sensitive information, we will only do so
once we have got your explicit consent
where we have a legal obligation

We may disclose information when necessary to prevent the risk of harm to an individual.

We will enter information on statutory registers including making it available to the public.

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

If you fall behind with your rent or council tax payments our housing or council tax staff may need to read your application so that they can help you.
Data retention: We only keep your data for as long as necessary.

We keep your personal information for six years after all action on your claim has finished.

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