Your data

Purpose

The purposes for which we are processing your personal data are to:

• register you as a member of Government Communications and provide access to Connect
• register you on the member directory
• send you news, updates and with your agreement, including participation in surveys
• subscribe you to the Government Communications newsletter
• enable you to book onto events and training, and to view protected content on the Government Communications website
• provide access to the Learning Hub and Advance
• provide you with access to Assist
• make audio and video recordings using Google, Microsoft and Zoom - these recordings will be used to ensure communications are available to members after events, as well as for reasonable adjustments.

The data

We will process the following personal data:

• For individuals registering, joining the member directory (previously known as ‘People Finder’): Name, email, telephone, mobile, role, job title, Civil Service grade, comms role, comms disciplines, government department, region.
• For individuals booking events, courses and training and viewing private content or requesting newsletters: Name, grade, roles, email, organisation, registration, attendance and completion record. Course registration and completion data may be shared with individual's home departments.
• For accessing other Government Communication Service owned platforms: Name, email, organisation, groups.
• For individuals using Assist: Role, job title, Civil Service grade, comms role, government department, region.
• For individuals completing surveys, we will collect the data, opinions about the training, and feedback provided.
• For individuals attending webinars and/or live calls which are being recorded: Name, email address, audio or video image and any other personal data provided as part of a recorded meeting, such as other contributions or messages

Special category data

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.

For individuals booking in-person learning events: Accessibility requirements and dietary requirements.

Legal basis of processing

The legal basis for processing your personal data is that you have freely and explicitly given your consent.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is that you have freely and explicitly given your consent.

For meetings where there is an accessibility need: It is necessary to comply with a legal obligation placed on us as the data controller. In this case that is to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees under the Equality Act 2010.

Recipients

Data which you place on the member directory will be available to other Connect users.

Data given from registration will be held on Mailchimp for purposes of sending recipients email updates and communications, including newsletters.

Any data shared with Assist may also be shared with the providers of our corporate IT and cloud data infrastructure but will not be used for third party purposes.

Name and email addresses of participants may be shared with the attendees organisation to support their own internal talent management and financial processing.

Your personal data will be shared by us with Zoom, Google (official IT platform), Microsoft (official IT platform). As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage services.

Retention

If you are solely consuming Connect products and services exclusive of Assist and Advance then your data may be deleted earlier if not accessed at least once every 90 days.

Your data (name, email and completion status) will be kept by the Advance Expert and Practitioner programme for 3 years, and 6 years for the Leader programme. However, certificates issued by the Learning Academy will be retained indefinitely. Any special category data will be kept for the duration of your participation on the programme (approximately 1 year).

Your rights

You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

You have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.

You have the right to request a copy of any personal data you have provided, and for this to be provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

You have the right to withdraw consent to the processing of your personal data at any time.

International transfers

If you sign up for events, your data will be shared with our IT suppliers and it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK and European Union. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through either Standard Contractual Clauses with UK Addendum or adequacy via the UK-US Data privacy Framework.

By registering for Connect you will be signed up to receive email communication from the Government Communication Service through GOV.UK notify and Mailchimp. In relation to Mailchimp, your data will be shared with our IT suppliers and it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK and European Union. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through either Standard Contractual Clauses with UK Addendum or adequacy via the UK-US Data privacy Framework.

As part of this processing activity, if Zoom is used, your personal data may be processed in the USA and is covered on the basis of an Adequacy Decision.

Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London, SW1A 2AS
Phone: 0207 276 1234
Email: gcs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

The contact details for the data controller's Data Protection Officer are:

Stephen Jones
Data Protection Officer
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London, SW1A 2AS
Email: dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office's use of personal information.

Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.