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Public Health Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) - reference Z5809563. We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in July 2026.

CYC is 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 (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we process your information.

You can find information about Public Health services on our website: What we do in Public Health.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 555719.

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

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other CYC privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice and/or CYC policies and procedures.

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 third parties acting on your behalf such as family members, advocates, councillors, MPs
  • from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf
  • from other organisations, external agencies and government departments such as other councils; the NHS; Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the police
  • from local pharmacies and hybrid providers
  • from Primary Care Mortality Database (PCMD)
  • from birth files
  • from death data

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What personal data we process and why

To deliver CYC’s public health services, we need to process your personal data and ‘special category’ data such as:

  • name
  • address
  • age
  • sex
  • sexual orientation
  • race
  • religion or belief
  • disability

Where it is appropriate to, we may also process:

  • information relating to criminal convictions and offences, this includes details of any past criminal convictions or offences
  • disease
  • use of hospital services
  • NHS Number
  • mortality data as provided at the time of registration of the death for example, age, sex, area; cause of death; GP details; geographical indexing
  • coroner details where applicable
  • birth data as provided at the time of registration for example, date of birth; sex; birth weight; address; postcode; place of birth; stillbirth indicators; age of mother

We will ask for your consent:

You can withdraw your consent to the above at any time by contacting us on:

When we ask for equalities, diversity and inclusion (EDI) information sometimes called “About you” information, this may include some or all of the following:

  • age
  • gender
  • if the gender you identify with is the same as your sex registered at birth
  • how you think of yourself
  • religion or belief
  • ethnic group
  • if you consider yourself disabled
  • if you are a carer
  • if you have experience of being in care

EDI information is only used to help us understand the EDI makeup of our customers and will be anonymised which means it cannot be linked back to you or individuals.

We process your information because since April 2013 the Health and Social Care Act 2012 has given local authorities the power to perform public health functions. This means that we have "a duty to improve the health of the people and responsibility for commissioning appropriate public health services" for:

  • residents of York
  • people receiving health and care services in York
  • people who work or attend schools, early years provision and settings in York
  • people who attend our public health training, such as frontline workers and volunteers

You can find information about Public Health services on our website: What we do in Public Health.

The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA), in partnership with North Yorkshire Council, City of York Council, and other delivery partners, delivers employment and skills programmes funded through the Mayoral Development Fund and/or by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Education (DfE).

These programmes are designed to help people overcome barriers to employment, re-engage with education, training or skills development, and access support to find, return to, or remain in work. Support may be provided to individuals with disabilities, health conditions, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that affect their participation in the labour market.

Where your information is processed as part of these programmes, you should read any other relevant programme specific Privacy Notice for further details about how your information is used, such as :

When you complete an online form on the council’s website and you have provided your email address, we will send you a copy of your completed online form.

If you choose to subscribe to our newsletters/email updates etc You can find out more in the City of York Council Email Updates Privacy Notice, and you can see how to unsubscribe on our website: Subscribe to email updates.

If attending an event at a council venue that is covered by our public space CCTV you can find details in our CCTV Privacy Notice.

Artificial Intelligence

We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to support or enhance council services. Where AI is involved in a process that directly affects your interaction with us, we will inform you before your user journey begins. This ensures transparency and helps maintain trust in how we use AI.

Our use of AI complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), including the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, accountability, and accuracy. We conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) where AI systems are likely to result in high risks to individuals’ rights and freedoms, such as automated decision-making or profiling.

If generative AI tools are used, we do not use personal or end-user data to train AI models. This helps ensure compliance with the purpose limitation and data minimisation principles under UK GDPR.

AI for Staff Productivity and Accessibility

Where AI tools are used solely by staff to assist with drafting, research, or accessibility - for example, to improve writing efficiency or summarise information - these uses do not form part of a business process that affects service delivery or decision-making. As such, no specific notification will be provided for these internal productivity uses.

These uses are considered low risk and do not involve automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. They are also subject to internal governance and safeguards to ensure responsible use.

Examples include:

  • drafting internal reports or meeting notes
  • summarising lengthy documents for quicker review
  • assisting with spelling, grammar, or formatting tasks

We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you or individuals such as:  

  • for statistical analysis
  • for statutory returns
  • for audit frameworks
  • to see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
  • to help design better services
  • to inform funding decisions

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making in Public Health.

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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 and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with Article 6, 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

The legal basis for processing your personal data and special categories of personal data is in accordance with one or more of the following:

  • Article 6(1)
    • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
    • (b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract the council has with the individual, or because they have asked the council to take specific steps before entering a contract.
    • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
    • (d) Vital interests: the processing is necessary to protect someone’s life.
    • (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.
    • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for the council’s 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. (This cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks.)
  • Article 9(2)
    • (a) Explicit consent of the data subject, unless reliance on consent is prohibited by EU or Member State law
    • (b) carrying out obligations under employment, social security or social protection law, or a collective agreement
    • (c) to protect the vital interests of a data subject or another individual where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent
    • (g) substantial public interest (with a basis in which is proportionate to the aim pursued and which contains appropriate safeguards
    • (h) Health or social care (with a basis in law)
    • (i) Public health (with a basis in law)

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

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence 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.

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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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Data sharing

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

  • other CYC services
  • other councils, government departments and agencies
  • other organisations such as NHS and the police
  • third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
  • internal and external auditors

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

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps) etc for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:

Where we use:

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Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data, outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that it 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 555719, or write to:

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

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Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 555719

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