Some of the language used in privacy notices can be specialised. The Information Commissioner's website provides a useful introduction to key terms and concepts.
The purpose of the processing
The Scottish Parliament and its committees are working towards hearing from a more diverse range of people who are broadly representative of Scotland’s society. Collecting monitoring information about the characteristics of committee witnesses enables us to measure progress towards ensuring that committees hear from a wide range of voices.
Categories of information provided
The survey does not ask for your name, but it includes the committee you attended. It asks for information about your gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnic group, religion and trans status. Some of this information, including your race or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religion and whether you are disabled, may be considered as *special category personal data.
*Special category personal data includes information revealing an individual’s race; ethnic origin; political or religious views; sex life or sexual orientation; trade union membership; physical or mental health; genetic or biometric data.
Source of the information
Information is provided directly by individuals who choose to participate in the Survey.
Legal basis for processing
Data protection law states that we must have a legal basis for handling your personal data.
As participation in the survey is voluntary, the legal basis for the processing of personal data is that it is carried out with the consent of the data subject in terms of Article 6(1)(a) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and (for special category data) explicit consent in terms of Article 9(1)(a) UK GDPR. The survey software program will ask you to indicate your consent and explain your right to withdraw your consent.
If the person completing the survey is 12 or under, we will ask the parent or guardian to confirm that they are happy for the young person to complete the survey.
You are not required to complete the survey and you can decline to answer any individual question in the survey.
We use the data received from the survey to create statistics which only show anonymised data.
Smart Survey
The data will be collected via Smart Survey which is a third-party online survey system enabling the Scottish Parliament to collect and analyse survey information. Smart Survey is based in the UK and is subject to the requirements of data protection legislation.
Further information on the Smart Survey privacy policy
Data sharing and data processing
Data collected by the online survey may be shared internally with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe). Personal data is anonymised so any reports or outputs compiled from the survey will not identify any individual.
Retention of data
Survey responses will be collected and retained in anonymised form.
Children and young people safeguarding and child protection
Sometimes consultation responses can raise child protection concerns. If we believe that you, or someone else, may be at risk of harm, we may report these concerns to the relevant authorities to keep the child safe.
Your rights
Data protection legislation sets out the rights which individuals have in relation to personal data held about them by data controllers. Applicable rights are listed below. You can exercise your data subject rights in particular circumstances depending on the purpose for which the data controller is processing the data and the legal basis upon which the processing takes place.
The following rights may apply:
Access to your information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold.
Further information on how to make a data protection subject access request.
Correcting your information
You have the right to ask us to correct the personal data we hold about you. We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
Deletion of your information
You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
- you consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained
- we are using that information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent – see Withdrawing consent to using your information below
- you have validly objected to our use of your personal information – see Objecting to how we may use your information above
- our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations
- please note that the right allowing for deletion or erasure of personal data (right to be forgotten) does not apply in cases where personal data is processed for the purposes of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
- the right of erasure and the right to object to processing of personal data do not apply where personal data is processed for the performance of a legal obligation. This will be considered on a case by case basis and depends on what personal data is involved and the risks further processing of that data could pose to you
Restricting how we may use your information
In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information. This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information about you that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information. The right might also apply where there is no longer a basis for using your personal information, but you don't want us to delete the data. Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.
Withdrawing consent to using your information
Where we use your personal information with your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purposes for which consent was given.
Please contact us in any of the ways set out below if you wish to exercise any of these rights.
Changes to our privacy statement
We keep this privacy statement under regular review and will place any updates on this website. Paper copies of the privacy statement may also be obtained using the contact information below.
This privacy statement was last updated on 5 May 2022 and will be reviewed within 12 months.
Contact information and further advice
If you have any further questions about the way in which we process personal data, or
about how to exercise your rights, please contact the Head of Information Governance
at:
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Telephone: 0131 348 5281
(Calls are welcome through the Text Relay service or in British Sign Language through contactSCOTLAND-BSL.)
Email: [email protected]
Please contact us if you require information in another language or format
Complaints
We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle personal information but you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office online at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Or by phone at: 0303 123 1113