Electoral Services Privacy Notice
The Data Controller
Dr Catherine Howe, the Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer (including Acting, Deputy and Local, referred to as 'we' or 'us') is the Data Controller for Adur & Worthing Electoral Services.
To exercise your rights under GDPR the Councils' Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:
- Adur & Worthing Councils
Worthing Town Hall
Chapel Road
Worthing
West Sussex
BN11 1HA - Email: data.protection@adur-worthing.gov.uk
In relation to your personal data we are committed to collecting, using and protecting it appropriately.
What this Privacy Notice covers
- Why we collect and how we use your personal data
- The type of personal data that we collect
- How long we keep data
- Why we will share personal data with other organisations or individuals
- The rights and choices you have in relation to the personal data that we hold about you
Your rights
As the data subject you have the following rights under GDPR:
- The right to be informed
- The right of access to your personal data
- The right of rectification (to have any inaccuracies corrected)
- The right to data portability
Further information about your rights is available on the website of the Information Commissioner's Office. If you have a concern about the way that we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you contact us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office.
Why we collect and how we use your personal data
We are required by law to provide an electoral service. The Electoral Registration Officer is a data controller and collects the personal data you provide for the purpose of registering your right to vote. You need to be registered to be able to vote in any election or referendum for which you are eligible. We have a statutory duty to maintain a complete and accurate register throughout the year. We will only collect the personal data we need from you.
We will not ordinarily send your personal data outside the European Economic Area. However, if you are an overseas elector, we may write to you at your location, to send you a postal vote for example.
The type of personal data that we collect
We collect your name, address, nationality, date of birth, national insurance number and email address and/or telephone number if you have opted to be contacted in this way. Sometimes we collect other information. This might be the reason you require a postal or proxy vote. We may require further evidence from you such as copies of your passport, marriage certificate or driving licence.
How long we keep data
We will keep your elector record for as long as you are registered to vote in Adur or Worthing.
We do not keep your national insurance number, copies of your passport, marriage certificate or driving licence. We will only keep your date of birth if you have opted to vote by post or by proxy.
Retention Schedule
- Type of document - Basis of collection - Retained
- Household Enquiry Form - Legal Obligation - July to end of December
- Invitation to Register - Legal Obligation - Hard copy - 1 month (maximum)
- Data - 1 year
- Request for Evidence - Legal Obligation - 1 month (maximum)
- Applications from Anonymous Electors - Legal Obligation - 1 Year
- Absent Vote (or Personal Identifier Signature Refresh) Applications - Legal Obligation - 5 Years
- Requests for Copies of the Electoral Registers - Legal Obligation - 2 Years
- Personal e-mails - Consent - As long as an individual remains an elector within Adur & Worthing
- Nomination Papers - Legal Obligation - 1 Year
- Ballot papers and Lists - Legal Obligation - 1 Year
- Marked Registers - Legal Obligation - 1 Year
- Election Expenses - Legal Obligation - 1 Year
- Staff Details - Consent - Until deletion requested
- Polling Station Booking Forms - Consent - 1 Year
Why we will share personal data with other organisations or individuals
Our software providers will store your information, but only on our instructions. They won't use it for any other reasons, and they have to look after it in the same way we would. We use the:
We are required to provide copies of the full electoral register to certain organisations and individuals by law. They may use it for their own reasons that are different to ours, but they still have to look after it in the same way. It is a crime for anyone who has a copy of the full register to pass information from this register onto others if they do not have a lawful reason to see it. A full list of these organisations and individuals can be viewed on the Electoral Commission website:
The Department for Work and Pensions will also use your information to verify your eligibility for the electoral register. They won't use it for any other reasons and they have to look after it in the same way. You can view their privacy information:
Individual Electoral Registration Digital Services (IERDS): 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:
The voter authority certificate services at GOV.UK process your personal data provided as part of the Voter Authority Certificate application which the Electoral Registration Officer uses to validate applications.
Our specialist printing companies will also use your information, but only on our instructions, to print poll cards for example. They won't use it for any other reason, and they have to look after it in the same way we would. You can view their privacy information:
Sometimes we have to give it to other authorities, organisations or people who have a legal right to ask for it. This would be for the prevention or detection of crime, or because of legal matters. We don't need your consent to do this, but if we can, we'll let you know if we've passed your information on.
The rights and choices you have in relation to the personal data that we hold about you
You still have the right to be excluded from the open register.
You may object to us using your e-mail or telephone number if you have provided them.
You are entitled to request a copy of any information about you that we hold. Any such requests should be made in writing.
If the information we hold about you is inaccurate you have a right to have this corrected and you have the right to request completion of incomplete data.
Further information about your rights is available on the website of the Information Commissioner's Office.
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Page last updated: 16 January 2024