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Environment and animals

Ousewem York and North Yorkshire Catchment Flood Management Project Privacy Notice

This privacy notice was created in February 2024, and we will keep it under regular review.

It provides details about the Ousewem project, which is funded by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes (FCIP) which is managed by the Environment Agency (EA). The programmes will drive innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with the other organisations' privacy information shown below. Each of the organisations involved in this project are the controller for your information and are committed to ensuring that your information is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Specific privacy information, including details of the Data Protection Officer and ICO registration for each of the organisations in the Ousewem project can be found through the following links:

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

We get information about you from the following sources:

  • directly from you
  • from other partners in Ouswem, such as JBA Consulting, Natural England, North Yorkshire Council, University of York and Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust
  • from other organisations that refer you to Ousewem

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What personal data we process and why

We will only process your information that we need, and this may include your personal data and ‘special category’ data, such as your name, address, contact details.

We will use your information when you:

  • contact us for information
  • apply for a grant
  • subscribe to the Ousewem newsletter - as this is with your consent, you can withdraw this at any time by contacting us on email: ousewem@york.gov.uk

The information we collect may also be included in presentations, statistics, and reports. Any presentations, reports and statistics for publication or use outside of the authorised council staff, will be anonymised, and cannot be linked back to you or individuals. Reports containing anonymous information may also be shared with the public and other organisations.

Where we collect and use photos, images, or recordings, we will ask for your consent first. You can withdraw your consent by contacting us on email: ousewem@york.gov.uk.

When we collect and use photos, images, or recordings, we will process the following personal and special categories of personal data:

  • your photograph or image, and/or;
  • audio recordings and/or;
  • video recordings
  • your name and contact details

We will use your photo, image or recordings in:

  • printed publications
  • case studies
  • council and partner organisations’ social media sites, which may include boosted posts to targeted interest groups on Facebook
  • press releases
  • our website - where relevant, our website content will be accessible internationally and may be used by national media
  • news media

Where we have consent to use images of children and young people, we will not use the name of that child or young person in the accompanying text or photo caption without good reason.

We may use group images of children and young people with very general labels. We will only use images of children and young people who are suitably dressed, to reduce the risk of such images being used inappropriately. We cannot film or take photographs of any child that is at risk or under a supervision order.

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision making without any human intervention 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).

The legal basis for processing your personal data is in accordance with the following Article 6(1):

  • (a) Consent: you have given us clear consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose
  • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
  • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
  • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests

The legal basis for processing your special category data is in accordance with the following Article 9(2):

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

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing by the council.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed and then securely and confidentially dispose of it.

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Data sharing

We will only share your information with other council services and Ousewem partner organisations, which include DEFRA, FCIP, EA, Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, JBA Consulting, Natural England, North Yorkshire Council, University of York, where it appropriate to do so.

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information. We may also share information about you with third parties including our data processors, government agencies and external auditors.

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

We do not pass or sell your information to third parties for marketing, sales or any other commercial purposes without your prior explicit consent.

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

We are working with partner organisations such as JBA Consulting, Natural England, North Yorkshire Council, Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and the University of York to deliver this project, and where required we have agreements in place with them.

We are also working with DEFRA who are funding the Ousewem project as part of the £200 million FCIP, which is managed by the EA.

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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

See the contact details for our project partners:

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Also see

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