Electoral Services and Electoral Registration Officer Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), reference: Z5809563.

We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in December 2024.

CYC is committed to ensuring that information is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This Privacy Notice explains how and why we process your information, under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for law enforcement purposes and the steps we take to keep your information safe.

CYC is the controller for the personal data we process, unless otherwise stated. You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145.

Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.

You can find more information about the role of the Data Protection Officer in our Data Protection Policy Statement.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant specific privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this privacy notice.

How we collect your information
What personal data we process and why
Automated decision-making
Collecting information automatically
Children's information
Lawful basis for processing your personal data
How long we keep your personal data
Data sharing
Data processors and/or third parties
Transfers of personal data
How we protect your information
Your rights in relation to this processing

How we collect your information

We get information about potential and actual electors, voters, citizens, candidates, agents, and staff employed for registration, canvass and elections and booking contact details from the following sources:

directly from you
from central government registration portal
from third parties such as residential and/or care home providers, Universities etc

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What personal data we process and why

We process the following personal and special categories of personal data such as :

your name, address, date of birth and nationality
unique identifiers such as your National Insurance Number
your signature for the purposes of verifying your absent vote if you have one in place
your previous address or details of your redirected address if provided
the other occupants at your property
scanned application forms and any documentary evidence provided
dates and copies of any letters of correspondence
your age category - If you are 16 or 17 years old, or over 76
whether you have chosen to opt out of the open version of the register
notes about any relevant circumstances that you have told us
if provided, your email address and contact telephone number(s)
evidence to confirm your identify, such as a copy of your passport, marriage certificate or driving licence
bank details for those employed at the canvass
car registration details for those employed at canvass
previous employment data for those employed at canvass
confirmation and proof of eligibility to work in the UK
statement regarding tax arrangements

We use your information to enable us to carry out specific functions and statutory services that we are responsible for. These are:

to undertake our statutory obligation to ensure that all eligible persons in City of York area and eligible overseas electors, are registered to vote and maintain a complete and accurate register throughout the year
to assist residents in registering to vote and ensuring they have any absent vote arrangements in place and that polling station electors are supplied with a voter authority certificate where required
to enable all registered electors to participate as voters in elections or referendums
to enable eligible persons to stand as candidates in elections in accordance with statutory requirements
in order to deliver elections and referendums and fulfil their statutory responsibilities and employ individuals for canvasser duties
to conduct an annual canvass of all household to establish all eligible persons who are entitled to be registered
to produce poll cards and postal ballot packs
the provision of a Voter Authority Certificate (VAC)

We will also collect your comments, feedback, and opinions if you choose to take part in our surveys, consultation etc. You can withdraw your consent to these at any time by contacting electoral.services@york.gov.uk

If you need a Voter Authorisation Certificate (VAC) you are required to provide the Returning Officer with personal data and special categories of personal data such as:

name
address
date of birth
national insurance number
photo
personal contact details

The law makes it compulsory to provide information to an ERO for inclusion in the full register.

With the exception of a Canvass Communication A, a person who has received a canvass communication must provide the information that it required. There is a criminal penalty of up to £1,000 for failing to provide the information to the electoral registration officer.

By law, a person who fails to return an Individual Electoral Registration (IER) form can be fined £80.

We are required by law to provide copies of the Full Register which is published once a year and is updated every month to certain organisation and individuals. They may use it for their own reasons which are different to ours but they still have to look after the data contained in the register in the same way we do. It is a crime for anyone who has a copy of the Full Register to pass information from this register on to others if they do not have a lawful reason to see it.

The organisations and individuals have restriction notices set out in law on what they can and cannot use the Full Register data for. See The Electoral Register.

In accordance with law, the Full Register has to be made available for public inspection and we do this by making it available to inspect at public libraries and by appointment at West Offices. Please contact Electoral Services on email: electoral.services@york.gov.uk if you want to make an appointment.

Please note:

inspection is done under supervision
people who inspect the register can make handwritten notes but cannot take copies or photographs of the register
information taken must not be used for direct marketing purposes, in accordance with data protection legislation, unless it has been published in the Open Register. The open version of the register is also available for inspection

Anyone who fails to observe these conditions is committing a criminal offence and will be charged a penalty of up to £5,000.

We are required by law to provide copies of the Marked Register, which details whether you have voted (but not how you have voted) to those who are entitled in law to receive it after an election.

We are required by law to provide copies of the Open Register which is published every month and can be sold to any person, organisation or company who requests it. They may use it for their own reasons that are different to ours, but they must look after your data in the same way that we do.

If you have opted to be included in the Open Register, by law your register information can be shared with anyone who requests it. You can choose whether or not to have your personal details included in the Open register.

However, they will be included unless you ask for them to be removed. Removing your details from the Open Register will not affect your right to vote.

The Open Register does not contain your telephone number and/or email address.

The process of checking citizens' personal identifiers to ensure eligibility for inclusion in the Electoral Register is controlled by the Cabinet Office via the Individual Electoral Registration Digital Service (IERDS). During the annual canvass the process of matching register data is controlled by the Cabinet Office. This includes:

The Department of Work and Pensions who use date provided to verify the identity of new applicants and match all register data during canvass. See the Department for Work and Pensions Personal information charter
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for absent vote applications and overseas electors registrations. See the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Personal information charter
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will inform the old local authority of people who have moved area. See the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Personal information charter
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government suppliers are data processors for the Register to Vote Privacy Notice

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision making in providing this service.

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Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with Article 6 and 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

Article 6(1)

(a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
(c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
(e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

Article 9(2)

(a) Explicit consent
(b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
(g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.

You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the Council retention schedule.

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We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

other council services
other local authorities
third parties such as our data processors, partner organisations, candidates, political parties and credit reference agencies.
government agencies
internal and external auditors

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

Where we have third parties providing parts or all of our services for us, we have contracts and agreements in place with them. These are

the electoral management software (EMS) supplier, Democracy Counts Privacy Notice
our printers - Civica Election Services (CES ) to produce election and registration information, but only on our instructions, for example poll cards, postal packs and forms Civica Data Privacy Notice
Zoom Pro or Business version of Zoom (version 5) to host some public facing meetings, training sessions etc across different services in the council. Where these meetings are recorded, recordings will be kept locally on our server and will not be retained by Zoom. You can find Zoom’s privacy statement and Zooms Legal Compliance certifications
Microsoft Teams, to contact you, to gather information from you, or if we are recording or transcribing our discussion or meeting with you, we will let you know. You can find more details about this in the City of York Council Microsoft Office 365 (MS365) Teams Meeting recording and transcription privacy notice
SurveyMonkey for surveys or consultation etc. You can find out how they use information in the SurveyMonkey Privacy Notice
Zimma Ltd trading as Ticket Tailor for arranging and organising events etc. You can find out how they use information in the Ticket Tailor Privacy Notice
Eventbrite for arranging and organising events etc. You can find out how they use information in the Eventbrite Privacy Policy
Granicus/Gov Delivery to send you updates, newsletters etc. You can find out how they use information in the Granicus Privacy Policy
WhatsApp to contact you. You can find out how they use information in the WhatsApp Privacy Policy

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Transfers of personal data

We don’t routinely transfer personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
training for all staff and elected councillors
policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 554145, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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