What this privacy notice is for

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary privacy notice at www.oldham.gov.uk/DataProtection

This notice provides additional privacy information for:

• Oldham residents who are in receipt of benefits and may need support/assistance with applying for additional eligible benefits or paying their council tax

Updating our privacy notices

We may update or revise our privacy notices at any time so please refer to the version published on our website for the most up to date details.

What we use your information for

We use your personal information for the following purpose(s):

• To identify any residents that may require additional welfare support

What categories of personal information we use

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when linked with other information, allows a person to be uniquely identified. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This information consists of:

• Racial or ethnic origin
• Sexuality and sexual life
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Trade union membership
• Political opinions
• Genetic and bio-metric data
• Physical or mental health
• Criminal convictions and offences

In order to carry out these purposes we collect/obtain/process the following personal information:

Legal basis for processing

The legal basis for processing and or sharing your personal information is: 

• Public Interest/ Official Authority

We consider it in the public interest to proactively support residents who may be experiencing financial difficulty.

The legislation we rely on to support our processing is as follows:

• Section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999
• Social Security (Claims and Information) Regulations 1999
• Sections 131 (1) and (3) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012
• Social Security (Information-sharing for welfare services) Regulations 2012 (as amended)
• Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
• Section 10 Childrens Act 2004

Information sharing/recipients

We may share personal information about you with the following organisations:

• Policy In Practice – LIFT analysis tool

As well as information collected directly from you, we also obtain or receive information from:

• Other Oldham Council departments
• Department for Work and Pensions

Data Transfers beyond European Economic Area

We do not transfer any of your personal information outside the European Economic Area (‘EEA’).

Automated Decisions

The LIFT tool uses your personal data to create a profile of you on its dashboard. This is to assist specific council services in identifying where and what support may be available to you and in some cases may need. It also helps to identify if any interventions/support has made a difference to you.

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

How long we keep your data

We will only keep your personal information for as long as the law specifies or where the law does not specify this, for the length of time determined by our business requirements.

Your personal data when used for the purposes of the LIFT analysis tool will be stored for up to two years.

Where can I get advice

More information on how to seek advice in order to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal information by the council can be found in the council’s privacy notice which can be found at www.oldham.gov.uk/dataprotection