Press release: Privacy Notice

Data Controller Name: The Northern Ireland Office

Address: Stormont House, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3SH

Data Protection Officer Name: Jonathan McAdams

Telephone: 028 90765431

Email: foi@nio.gov.uk

The NIO is committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy notice explains how the NIO uses information about you and the ways in which we will protect your privacy.

What information we process

The information we process includes:

• personal details
• family and social circumstances
• financial details
• education and training details
• employment, absence and leave details

We also process sensitive classes of information that include:

• physical and/or mental health
• racial or ethnic origin
• religious, or other beliefs of a similar nature
• community background
• sexual orientation
• trade union membership
• criminal offences or convictions

Why are you processing my personal information?

We handle personal information in order to comply with our legal obligations and other pension, employment and statutory equality legislation. The processing of personal information is necessary for the performance of a public task or in the exercise of official authority.

Where do you get my personal information from?

We obtain personal information directly from you when you contact us about our services. We will provide reasons for collecting personal data and advise when your consent is required for a specific purpose. Your consent must be given freely and can be withdrawn at any time by contacting the department.

Do you share my personal information with anyone else?

It may on occasions be necessary to share your personal data with other government departments and agencies to meet our legal or public function requirements, or in your vital interest.

Do you transfer my personal outside the European Union?

• Your personal information will not be transferred outside the European Union.
• Your personal data will not be used for any automated decision making.
• Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system.

How long do you keep my personal information?

We will keep your personal information only for as long as it is required for the lawful purpose(s) for which it was obtained and in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedules.

How we keep your personal data secure

Clerical and electronic records that contain any personal information will be held in a secure way, and will only be made available to those who have a right to see them.

We use technical and organisational measures such as:

• Encryption of our data and IT equipment
• Regular data protection training for our staff
• Regular testing of our technology
• Restricted access controls
• Physical security measures

What rights do I have?

• You have the right to obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and access to your personal information;
• You are entitled to have personal information rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
• You have the right to have personal information erased and to prevent processing, in specific circumstances;
• You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal information, in specific circumstances;
• You have the right to data portability, in specific circumstances;
• You have the right to object to the processing, in specific circumstances;
• You have rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling;
• You have the right to withdraw any consent that you have given.

You can find out if we hold any information by making a ‘subject access request’. If we do hold information about you, we will:

• Give you a description of it;
• Tell you why we are holding it;
• Tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

To make a request to access any personal information we may hold about you, you should put the request in writing and email it to: foi@nio.gov.uk

More information can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you are unhappy with how any aspect of this privacy notice, or how personal information is being processed, please contact the NIO Data Protection Officer.

If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated in May 2018.