Privacy statement for the compilation and maintenance of the electoral registers

Who am I?

As the Electoral Registration Officer for the Fife Council area, I have been appointed by Fife Council in accordance with the Representation of the People Act 1983. My office is located at Fife House, North Street, Glenrothes KY7 5LT. The Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@fife.gov.uk.

Why do I need your personal information and what do I do with it?

You are giving me your personal information to allow me to compile, publish and maintain the Electoral Registers as required by law. I may also use your information to contact you by post, email, or telephone to maintain my records. If you do not wish me to contact, you by email or by telephone please let me know. You can do this by phoning the Electoral Registration Office on 03451 55 55 11 or by email at: voters.roll@fife.gov.uk.

Legal basis for using your information

You can find more details of my role on our website at www.fife.gov.uk. Processing your personal information is necessary for the performance of my public task to compile, publish and maintain the Electoral Registers in accordance with the Representation of The People Act 1983 and associated regulations.

Some of the information that I collect is classified as special category personal data. This is processed by reason of the substantial public interest as set out in the Representation of the People Act 1983 and associated regulations.

I may also collect information on Criminal Convictions to check that you are still eligible to remain as a registered elector, this is necessary for the performance of my public task to compile, publish and maintain the Electoral Registers in accordance with the Representation of The People Act 1983 and associated regulations.

Failure to provide information

If you do not complete and Invitation to Register (ITR), when required to do so you could face a fine of £80. This fine does not apply to 14- & 15-year-olds. If you do not complete a Household Enquiry Form (HEF), if convicted you may be fined £1000. If you knowingly supply false information on either a HEF or and ITR, if convicted, you may be imprisoned for up to six months and /or fined up to £5000.

Who do I share your information with?

To verify your identity, the data you provide will be processed by the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service managed by the Cabinet Office. As part of this process your data will be shared with the Department of Work and Pensions and the Cabinet Office suppliers that are data processors for the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service. You can find more information about this here: www.registertovote.service.gov.uk/register-to-vote/privacy.

I am legally obliged to safeguard public funds, so I am required to verify and check your details internally for fraud prevention. I may share this information with other public bodies for the same purpose. I am also legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as HMRC and will do so where the law requires this. I will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate. Your information is also analysed internally to help us improve our services. This

data sharing is in accordance with our Data Protection Policy. It also forms part of our requirements in line with our Records Management Plan in terms of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011 which has been submitted for approval.

In addition to publishing the Electoral Registers I sometimes need to share the personal information with other organisations. Where this is necessary, I am required to comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act 2018. What follows is a description of the types of organisation I may need to share some of the information I process for one or more reasons.

Where necessary or required I may share information with:

• Other Electoral Registration Officers.
• The Cabinet Office
• Organisations who buy the Open Register
• Organisations who take part in the National Fraud Initiative
• Other occupants of your address
• Permitted recipients of the full Electoral Register. The Electoral Commission provide further details on their website. www.electoralcommission.org.uk
• Returning Officer(s) or Counting Officers to enable them to conduct elections and referendums.
• Organisations who process your personal data on my behalf, for example, delivery organisations, mailing houses and contractors or consultants. These organisations are carefully selected, and measures are put in place to protect your information.

Transferring information overseas

Other than corresponding with you, I will not transfer your information overseas.

How long do we keep your information for?

I only keep your personal information for the minimum amount of time necessary. Sometimes this is set out in law, but in most cases, it is based on the business need. I maintain a Records Retention and Disposal Schedule which sets out how long I hold different types of information for. You can view this on [insert link] or you can request a hard copy from the contact address stated above.

Your rights under data protection law

• Access to your information – you have the right to request a copy of the personal information that I hold about you.
• Correcting your information – I want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete, and up to date. Therefore, you may ask me to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
• Deletion of your information – you have the right to ask me to delete personal information about you where:
  • you think that I no longer need to hold the information for the purposes for which it was originally obtained
  • you have a genuine objection to my use of your personal information
  • my use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations

Please contact me as stated above if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Information you have given me about other people

If you have provided me with anyone else’s details, please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to me. I will only use this information to compile, publish, and maintain the Electoral Register.

If they want any more information on how I will use their information they can visit my website at www.fife.gov.uk or email dataprotection@fife.gov.uk.

Automated decision making

Where I receive information that you may be eligible to register to vote I may make automated decisions during the determination of your eligibility to vote or to issue you with an Invitation to Register.

Complaints

I aim to directly resolve all complaints about how I handle personal information. However, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office, who can be contacted by post at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. By phone on 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745. Visit their website for more information at- https://ico.org.uk/concerns

More information

For more details on your information rights, visit https://ico.org.uk/

If you do not have access to the internet, you can contact me via telephone or write to me requesting paper copies of my documents.