NILGA Privacy Notice

PRIVACY NOTICE

The Northern Ireland Local Government Association is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This notice explains who we are, how we collect share and use personal information about you and how you can exercise your privacy rights.  This applies to personal information that we collect through our website or when engaging in our relationship with you (or your organisation) as an elected member, council officer, supplier, customer, business partner or stakeholder.

What do we do?

The Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) is the council led representative body for local authorities in Northern Ireland. For more information, please see the ‘about us’ section of our website: www.nilga.org/about

SCOPE OF NOTICE

This notice applies to information we collect when you:

• visit our website;
• register your details on our website;
• use our services e.g. attend conferences;
• register your details for the purpose of entering into a contractual relationship with us;
• submit your details as part of an online enquiry or competition;
• contact us for any other reason;
• apply for a job with us.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM YOU

We may collect and process the following information:

• Information you give us about you by registering or submitting your details or by corresponding with us. This may include your name, address, e-mail, phone number, credit or debit card information, and your photograph. We will request your consent before you register or submit any personal information to us when using our services or website. Please note that in respect of job applicants and employees this may also include sensitive data, such as that relating to an individual’s health. Such data is processed strictly in accordance with our Data Protection Policy.

• Information we collect about you each time you visit our website. This includes but is not limited to traffic data and journey data in order to find out the number of visitors to the various parts of our website and ensure the effective running of our website. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify you. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

• Information we receive from other sources we work with third parties to assist us in providing our services, for example we engage a website platform provider and website development agency, as well as analytics providers, security and performance maintenance assistance and online survey tools. These third-party companies are data processors for NILGA and only process personal information in line with our instructions.

From time to time, in order to fulfil our representational role, to comply with various regulations, or to conduct background checks in accordance with our internal requirements we may receive personal information about you from third party sources such as your employer or other referees, other local government or government bodies. We will only obtain this information where we have checked that these third parties either have your consent or are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose your personal information to us.

• Photography, film and television recordings at NILGA events including the annual conference. Photography and video recording is essential for a number of reasons including promotion of local government activity within the sector and to the wider public. We will always clearly display signage so that you are aware that you are in an area where photographs are being taken or filming or television recording is taking place, which provides contact and opt-out details should you require additional information.

COOKIES

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site, which may include data associated with you but on its own will not personally identify you. You can read more about how we use cookies in our Cookies Policy HERE.

WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers, or the secure servers of the third parties with whom we work. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this notice. Third parties are contractually obliged by us to take appropriate measures to keep all personal data secure.

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for one of our suppliers. These staff may be engaged in the fulfilment of your request, order, application or reservation, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this potential transfer, storing or processing. Our data processors will only process information in line with our instructions.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. We will do our best to protect your personal data once we receive it, however, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our website. Any transmission is at your own risk.

USES MADE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We use information held about you for the purposes improving our website and services and to enable us to fulfil our legal and contractual duties to you and to third parties.

From time to time we may send you details of NILGA training, events, campaigns, publications, policy information and guidance or promotions that may be of interest to you. We may also offer you the opportunity to participate in surveys which we carry out that help our research into the services we offer.

We will ensure that the content and services we offer are tailored to your needs and interests and for the purposes of developing local government in Northern Ireland. We will use email, telephone, or post to do this. If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us, please contact us at office@nilga.org

In relevant circumstances, we will use information for due diligence purposes, in accordance with applicable law, to assess financial or reputational risks arising from any relationship or prospective relationship with you/your organisation.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We will only disclose your personal information to third parties:

• if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal or regulatory obligation or request;
• in order to enforce or apply any contractual obligations or to investigate potential breaches or protect the rights, property or safety of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association, our member councils, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction; or
• if we have your consent to do so.

USERS AGED UNDER 18

If you are aged 18 or under, please get your parent/guardian's permission before you provide any personal information to us.

If you are under 13 then we will need consent from your parent/guardian before you can use some of our services.

YOUR RIGHTS

You have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you. You can read more about these rights here. You can exercise these rights at any time by contacting us at office@nilga.org.

You have the right to lodge a complaint about how your data is processed with the Information Commissioner’s Office, however, we request that you submit any complaint which you have to us in the first instance (see contact details below) so that we may try and resolve the issue.

LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING PERSONAL INFORMATION

Under European Union data protection law, our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described above will depend on the personal information concerned and the specific context in which we collect it.  

We will normally collect personal information from you only (i) where we need the personal information to perform a contract with you, (ii) where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your rights, or (iii) where we have your consent to do so.

Where we process your sensitive personal information, we do so: (i) in the context of particular legal requirements e.g. equality monitoring; (ii) on the basis of your explicit consent; or (iii) to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

You can choose not to provide personal information to us. However, unless otherwise indicated, the information that we gather and use is necessary for the purposes of entering into and performing a contract with you or your organisation and/or providing services to you or your organisation. If you request that we no longer contact you, this will e.g. impede the contracting process and/or the provision of the relevant services agreed annually with your council.

If we collect and use your personal information in reliance on our legitimate interests (or those of any third party), these interests will normally be: to provide our services to you, respond to your queries, improve our website, undertake marketing, or for the purposes of detecting or preventing illegal activities.  

Given the context in which we undertake the processing of your personal information, and the safeguards that we take to protect your personal information, our legitimate interests are not outweighed by any prejudice to your individual rights and freedoms. We may have other legitimate interests and, if appropriate, we will make clear to you at the relevant time what those legitimate interests are.

If you have questions about or need further information concerning the legal basis on which we collect and use your personal information, please contact us at office@nilga.org.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Our website and apps may contain links to other independent websites which are not provided by us. Such independent sites are not under our control, and we are not responsible for and have not checked and approved their content or their privacy policies (if any).

You will need to make your own independent judgement about whether to use any such independent sites, including whether to buy any products or services offered by them.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY NOTICE

Any changes we may make to this notice in the future will be posted on our website without further recourse or notice to you. This notice was last updated on 23rd May 2018.

CONTACT US

Questions, comments and requests regarding this notice or the information that we collect from you are welcomed and should be addressed to Head of Policy and Governance, NILGA, Bradford Court, Upper Galwally, Belfast BT8 6RB, office@nilga.org