Governance and Administration

Data Protection & Privacy Statement

Who we are and why do we require your information?

Cork County Council seeks to promote the economic, social and cultural development of Cork County and in doing so contribute significantly to improving the quality of life of the people of County Cork.

The delivery of high quality services, tailored to meet the needs of all our citizens, remains one of Cork County Council’s core objectives and is included in our Corporate Plan. These quality services include not only the level and quality of service given to our customers, but also the quality of our decision-making processes, the efficiency and effectiveness of our business operations, standard of our facilities and our ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment.

In order to provide the most effective and targeted range of services to meet the needs of the citizens, communities and businesses of County Cork we will be required to collect, process and use certain types of information about people and organisations. Depending on the service being sought or provided the information sought may include ‘personal data’ as defined by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) and may relate to current, past and future service users; past, current and prospective employees; suppliers; and members of the public who may engage in communications with our staff.  In addition, Cork County Council may need, from time to time, to collect, process and use certain types of personal data to comply with regulatory or legislative requirements or as otherwise reasonably required for the performance of our functions.

Why do we have a privacy statement?

This privacy statement, together with our cookie policy is designed to help you to understand why we capture the personal information we do and how we process it.

Cork County Council has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and to assure you that in all your dealings with the Council that we will endeavour to ensure the security of the data you provide to us.

Cork County Council creates, collects and processes a significant amount of personal data in various formats on a daily basis. This data may be submitted by you through application forms or our website or through correspondence with you. We may also obtain information about you from other sources such as government departments or other statutory bodies and also from other third parties (including members of the public) and from public sources where required.  Cork County Council’s commitment is that the personal data you may be required to supply to us is:

  • Obtained lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
  • Obtained for only specified, explicit and legitimate purposes
  • Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for purpose for which it was obtained
  • Recorded, stored accurately and securely and where necessary kept up to date
  • Kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was obtained
  • Kept in a form which permits identification of the data subject
  • Processed only in a manner that ensures the appropriate security of the personal data including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing.

Occasionally we may be required to contact you.  When you provide personal data to one Directorate within Cork County Council, it may be shared with other Directorates within the Council as long as such internal sharing is relevant, proportionate and reasonably necessary for the performance of our statutory functions. 

Cork County Council may also share your information with other organisations where necessary and permitted or required by applicable law, including other public authorities and bodies.  Personal data may also be shared with third party data processors responsible for supporting the Council’s operations.

The main legal basis for processing your personal data is that such processing is (i) necessary for us to comply with our legal obligations and/or (ii) necessary for us to carry out our tasks in the public interest and/or in the exercise of official authority vested in us. Additionally we may process data to the extent it is necessary in the performance of a contract with you. In limited circumstances we may process personal data based on your consent.

We will retain your personal data only for as long as we require it for the performance of our functions, after which time it will be deleted by appropriate and secure methods.  In the unlikely event that we are required to transfer your data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) we will only do so where we can secure the transfer with appropriate safeguards and where we have a legal right to do so. 

For further details of the specific purposes for which we collect and process personal information (including any internal sharing of such data) and our legal basis for such collection and processing, please contact our Data Protection Officer, contact details are provided at the bottom of this Privacy Statement.

Data Protection Policy

Cork County Council has a detailed Data Protection Policy which outlines in greater detail how we as a public authority are committed to ensuring that we comply in full with our data protection obligations in respect of our processing of any personal data which we receive and that we only use such data to the extent reasonably required for the performance of our functions.

What personal data do we need?

The types of personal data you may be asked to supply to us can be categorised as follows:

  • Your contact details to allow for efficient communication;
  • Details of your personal circumstances which you may need to provide to us as part of your application for a service offered by Cork County Council;
  • Your own financial details which you may need to provide to us as part of your application for a service offered by Cork County Council.

Contact Details

In order to communicate with you, you will be asked for contact details. You do not have to provide all contact details but providing more, such as email, phone, address, makes it easier to communicate.

Details of Personal Circumstances

If you wish to apply for a particular service from the Council you will be asked for a varying amount of personal details specific to you and your family, in order to support your application. Cork County Council have set out the information we require in a series of separate and distinct application forms relevant to each service.

Financial Details

If you wish to apply for a particular service from the local authority you may be asked for a varying amount of personal financial details specific to you and your family, in order to support your application. Cork County Council will set out the information we require in a series of separate and distinct application forms relevant to each service.

Record Retention

For further details of the specific retention periods of the personal data we collect please contact our Data Protection Officer. Contact details are provided at the bottom of this Privacy Statement.

How We Keep Your Information Safe

To protect your information we use appropriate security measures which include computer safeguards, secure files and buildings. We have established a range of cyber security and data privacy controls and our staff our provided with training in data protection. All of the third parties with who we share personal data are expected to adhere to the same standards that we hold ourselves to. We will use our reasonable endeavours to ensure that personal information is kept as secure as possible.

Your Rights

You have the following rights, in certain circumstances and subject to applicable exemptions, in relation to your personal data:

  • the right to access the personal data that we hold about you, together with other information about our processing of that personal data:
  • the right to require us to rectify any inaccuracies in your personal data;
  • the right to require us to erase your personal data;
  • the right to request that we no longer process your personal data for particular purposes;
  • the right to object to our use of your personal data or the way in which we process it; and
  • the right to receive your personal data, which you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to require us to transmit that data to another controller.

Please note that to help protect your privacy, we take steps to verify your identity before granting access to personal data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please submit a request to our Data Protection Officer outlining the specific details of the request:

Email: dpo@corkcoco.ie

All valid requests will be processed without undue delay and in any event within one month of receipt of the request.  This period may be extended by up to two further months where necessary, taking into account the complexity of the request or the number of other requests we may have received at the same time.  If this is the case, we will inform you of any time extensions.

In circumstances where a request appears to be manifestly unfounded or excessive, we will inform you of this in which case we will either decide not to fulfil the request and the reasons why or we will propose administrative fees in accordance with the GDPR if you wish to progress the request.

Right of Complaint to the Data Protection Commission

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the response you received from Cork County Council in relation to your request, then you are entitled to make a complaint to the Data Protection Commission which may investigate the matter for you.

The Data Protection Commission’s website is www.dataprotection.ie or you can contact their Office at:

Lo Call Number: Tel: 1800 437 737

E-mail: info@dataprotection.ie

Postal Address:

Data Protection Commission,

Canal House,

Station Road,

Portarlington, Co. Laois. R32 AP23.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This information is used to track visitor use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity.

For further information see our Cookie Policy. You can set your browser not to accept cookies and also remove cookies from your browser. However in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.

Other websites

Our website contains links to other websites. This privacy statement only applies to this website and the services operated by the Council. When you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies.

Changes to our privacy statement

We keep our privacy statement under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 14th  May 2018.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This privacy statement and all issues regarding this website are governed exclusively by Irish law and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish courts.

How to contact us

For any queries relating to the Cork County Council privacy statement or Data Protection policies, please contact our designated Data Protection Officer.

Data Protection Officer 

Email: dpo@corkcoco.ie

Address:

Data Protection Officer,

Cork County Council Headquarters,

County Hall,

Carrigrohane Road,

Cork, Ireland.

Eircode: T12 R2NC