Housing Options Service privacy notice
Who is the data controller for the information I provide?
Liverpool City Council is the data controller for the information that you provide. Liverpool City Council's Housing Options Service is committed to protecting your personal information. Please also refer to the Adult Services and Health privacy notice, which is also applicable to Housing Options customers.
Why we collect your data
Housing Options provide a wide range of preventative and advisory services and each will rely on a legal basis for us to collect, share and retain your information.
It is very important that we are able to plan and realign its delivery of services to meet the needs of Liverpool's vulnerable adults. To do this, we carefully use the information we collect about how services are delivered and who is using these services.
What is the legal basis for collecting and processing this data?
All organisations must provide a legal basis for processing your information. In most cases this is found in the new data laws of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The Housing Options Service will process your information to comply with its legal obligations under the Housing Act and under a public task duty as per GDPR Articles 6 and 9. If we require consent for additional services we will ensure it is both informed and explicit.
Who will your information be shared with?
We are required to share your information with authorised partner organisations and we will ensure this is done in a secure manner, and the information is proportionate in order for them deliver your services.
These partners will also include organisations that we commission to provide appropriate services. As they are delivering this on our behalf these organisations must keep your details safe and secure, and as the data controller we will make sure that they comply with our required information sharing standards and protocols.
This may include any of the following:
- family and friends
- registered social landlords
- health professionals
- support agencies
- social services
- legal representatives
- government departments (see statement below)
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 allows us to share identifiable data with government departments, such as the Ministry for Housing and Communities and Local Government, in order to ensure our services are effective and meet the needs of our service users. Where this occurs, we will ensure the data shared is minimal, proportionate and governed by a data sharing agreement. If you have told us not to share your data for this purpose it will be registered on our Housing Options system.
In certain cases, such as safeguarding enquiries and criminal investigations, we are legally obliged to provide information to the police. However, we have procedures in place that allows this to be carried out in a secure and confidential manner.
How long will you keep this information for?
We will only keep your information for as long as it is required to deliver the services that we provide, after which it will be securely destroyed.
Please see What we do with your data for the council's full retention schedule.
How will my information be stored?
Liverpool Housing Options Services makes every effort to keep all the personal data it holds secure, whether held electronically or as paper copies. We also ensure that only members of staff with a legitimate reason to access your information have permission to do so.
Will my data be transferred abroad?
No.
What rights do I have when it comes to my data?
You have a number of rights that are set out on the How to access your data page of this section.
Where can I get advice?
View our Help and advice page for more information.
National Fraud Initiative
We participate in the Cabinet Office's National Fraud Initiative (NFI) which is an exercise that matches electronic data within and between public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud. We are required by law to provide particular sets of data, including personal data, to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching.
The use of data for the NFI exercise is carried out with statutory authority under part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under Data Protection legislation and General Data Protection Regulations 2018.
Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice.
You can view information on what data we share and the Cabinet Office's legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information.