Open Council Data UK provides a free-to-access online resource and archive which includes the names and political parties of UK councillors between 2016 and the present. All personal data has been collected in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (UK-GDPR), incorporating measures for transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality, and accountability.
What personal data is collected and how?
The names and political parties of elected UK councillors are collected, only where this information has been made publicly available on a council webpage for the purpose of enabling the general public to view the information.
What personal data is presented on the website?
The names and political parties of elected UK councillors from 2016 onwards are presented. Contact details such as email addresses are not presented on the Open Council Data UK website.
How is personal data processed?
Data is presented without processing or data matching.
What is the Purpose of Use?
The website presents the names and parties of UK councillors as a public service to assist the public in learning about their local representatives, and to create a historical data resource for researchers and interested parties. The data is presented and archived for historical and research purposes as a legitimate interest.
Council Data UK also offers commercial datasets which may also include official email addresses, official telephone numbers, official correspondence addresses and official council roles.
How do you justify the collection, storage and distribution of personal data?
As an company involved in enabling relevant organisations to make contact with councillors, Council Data UK has a legitimate interest in the collection, storage and distribution of this data. Further, as all personal data is gathered directly from pages on council websites on which subjects have consented to publish their official contact details, we consider subjects to be informed about this use of their personal data.
What personal data is collected and how?
The names, political parties and official contact details of current elected UK councillors are collected, only where this information has been made publicly available on a council webpage with the purpose of enabling the general public to view the information and make contact. No additional data is collected from secondary sources. If any such information is removed from a council webpage, we endeavour to remove it from our live and backup datasets as soon as practicably possible.
How is personal data processed?
Data is presented without processing or data matching.
What is the Purpose of Use?
Our commercial datasets are to be used to enable interested parties such as charities, political parties, academic researchers and campaign groups to make contact with elected representatives. As such, they are provided to organisations which, in our professional opinion, have a legitimate interest in making contact with subjects, and with purposes which align with subjects’ reasons for providing said contact details.
Transparency
All personal data collected is provided publicly by the subjects via their local authority website for the purpose of enabling interested parties to learn the names and political parties of local representatives and to make contact with them. These purposes align with the purposes of the Council Data UK website described above, and subjects are therefore considered to be informed about this use of their personal data.
Purpose Limitation
The use of personal data is limited to the purposes of use described above. When personal data is provided to a third party, a Terms of Use document is used to limit the purpose of use by said third party to the same extent.
Data Minimisation
No personal data beyond the data points described above is collected, no processing is carried out, and personal data is not matched with any supplementary source of data.
Accuracy
Substantial efforts are made to ensure personal data is accurate and up-to-date, including periodic checks, daily updates to councillor details, monthly updates to councillor roles, and annual updates relating to local elections and local government reforms.
Storage Limitation
The names and political parties of councillors are archived for historical and research purposes. Contact details are only retained for as long as each councillor is a current representative, and are thereafter deleted from live and backup databases.
Integrity and Confidentiality
Contact details are stored in a secure database and only provided to third parties once a Terms of Use document has been agreed.
Accountability
Subjects may contact Council Data UK at any time via the email address on the website, and enquire about their personal data. If requested by the subject, Council Data UK will provide all personal data held, or amend or erase such data.
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About This Site
Provided by Lawson Data Services Ltd. (Company No. 15322169)