Privacy notice
This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you. We are required to give you this information under data protection law.
news.kent.gov.uk contains links to other websites. This privacy notice only applies to news.kent.gov.uk and doesn’t cover other services and websites that we link to. These services will have their own terms and conditions and privacy policies. If you go to another website from this one, read the privacy policy on that website to find out what it does with your information.
Who we are
Kent County Council (KCC) collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.
Personal information we collect and use
Information collected by us
To help understand how people use our website we use cookies to provide us with data about visits to our site (“web analytics”). From time to time we may also take a deeper look at how people use and interact with our site. We also use a product called ImageKit which logs your IP address anonymously in its server log.
How we use your personal information
Cookies are small text files that may be placed on your computer when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work and to make them more efficient. We use cookies, with your consent (the legal basis we use for using cookies), to help us understand how you use the website so we can make it better.
We use Google Analytics and Hotjar to understand how people use our website so we can improve it. These technologies use a unique identifier to work and process data about the type of device and browser you use to access our website. We also use YouTube and Vimeo (as “embedded video players”) to show video content on our website.
For more information on the cookies and related technologies we use on this site and how to disable them read our cookie policy.
ImageKit is used to for real-time image and video optimizations, transformations, and digital asset management. In order to help secure and monitor its services it logs user’s IP address. This cannot be used to identify individuals. The legal basis for this processing is Legitimate Interests.
How long your personal data will be kept
The cookies will remain on your device for the amount of time shown our cookie policy. You can find out how to manage cookies on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
IP Server Logs are retained for as long as ImageKit need them to provide the services or for as long as we have a service provision contract with them.
Reasons we can collect and use your personal information
The data we collect can be viewed by authorised people in Kent County Council as well as our software suppliers, to:
- provide analytics
- play videos on our website
- improve the site by monitoring how you use it
- improve the site by optimising the way we handle images
We only use non-essential cookies with your consent (the legal basis for processing). We have a cookie management solution which allows you to accept or reject our use of non-essential cookies. When you visit www.kent.gov.uk you will be asked to accept our use of cookies, reject our use of cookies or you can choose to set your own cookie preferences. If you do not want our website to use non-essential cookies when you visit, you can use our cookie management solution to change your preferences by selecting the “use” or “don’t use” options.
Who we share your personal information with
Data collected by Google (for Google Analytics and YouTube) is transferred out of the UK and EEA to a country (USA) that may not have equivalent privacy regulations. However, data processed by Google Analytics and YouTube is done so in accordance with the Google Data Protection Addendum. You can read Google’s overview of privacy and safeguarding data for more information.
Data collected by ImageKit (anonymous IP addresses) are stored and processed in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany).
Your rights
Under GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which allow you to:
- know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
- ask to see what information we hold about you (subject access request)
- ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
- object to direct marketing
- make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office
Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:
- ask us to delete information we hold about you
- have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
- object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
- object to how we are using your information
- stop us using your information in certain ways
We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note, your request may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you.
For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under GDPR.
Keeping your personal information secure
Sending information over the internet is generally not completely secure, and we can’t guarantee the security of your data while it’s in transit. Any data you send is at your own risk.
We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
Contact
Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk, or write to: Data Protection Officer, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ.
GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted on 03031 231113.