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This page explains how www.preston.gov.uk managed by Preston City Council uses any information you give to us, and the ways in which we protect your privacy.
The Data Protection Act
Under the Data Protection Act, we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you. We use leading technologies and encryption software to safeguard your data, and keep strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it. We do not pass on your details to any third party or government department unless you give us permission to do so or if required to do so by law or other regulation. The Council's Data Protection Policy and other relevant information is available on this website (selct the link below):
Data Protection Policy
If you have any queries about Data Protection and the Council not covered on the Data Protection section of the website - please email us at legal@preston.gov.uk
What information do we collect
We currently collect four kinds of information from visitors to www.preston.gov.uk:
- Feedback (through emails)
- Site usage information from session cookies and log files
- Information contained in completed on-line forms
- Information obtained through internet payments
Feedback
You can send us your feedback: by comments and questions to the Web Manager.
i) Comments and questions
If you send an email or letter to the Web Manager, asking for information, we may need to contact other departments to find that information. If your question is technical, we may need to pass it to our technology suppliers. We do not pass on any of your personal information when dealing with your enquiry, unless you have given us permission to do so.
Site usage information
i) Session cookies
Cookies are pieces of data created when you visit a website. The cookies our site uses are "session cookies", which store some of your "preferences" while you move around the site. You can set your computer not to accept cookies. However, if you do this, you will not be able to log in or change your regional preference. Session cookies are deleted when you leave the site. They do not contain any personal information about you, and do not hold any information about which sites you visited before www.preston.gov.uk.
ii) Log files
Log files allow us to record visitors' use of the site. Preston City Council puts together log file information from all our visitors, which we use to make changes to the layout of the site and to the information in it, based on the way that visitors move around it.
Log files do not contain any personal information.
On-line forms
i) If you choose to complete any of our on-line forms, Preston City Council will not use the personal information you provide us with for marketing purposes without first gaining your consent. We will only use personal information you provide for the purposes for which you provide it. We will only hold your information for as long as necessary and will not pass it on to any other parties, except where required to carry out our duties and functions as a local authority. All employees and subsidiaries who may have access to your personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of your personal data. All your communications to us are protected against unauthorised access by third parties.
ii) All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of website visitors' personal data. Personal data will not be disclosed to government institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.
Internet payments
i) Data provided during a transaction will only be used for recording your payment. Preston City Council will not use the personal information you provide us with for marketing purposes without first gaining your consent. We will only use personal information you provide for the purposes for which you provide it. We will only hold your information for as long as necessary and will not pass it on to any other parties, except where required to carry out our duties and functions as a local authority. All employees and subsidiaries who may have access to your personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of your personal data. All your communications to us are protected against unauthorised access by third parties.
ii) All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal data are obliged to respect the confidentiality of website visitors' personal data. Personal data will not be disclosed to government institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.
What happens when I link to another site?
www.preston.gov.uk contains links to other websites, both those of government and of other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our site, so you should always be aware when you are moving to another site and read the privacy statement of any site which collects personal information.
We do not pass on any personal information you have given us to any other site.
Access to your information and contacting www.preston.gov.uk
If you wish to see our records of any correspondence you have sent to us, or if you have a query or complaint about this privacy policy or about the site, you can contact us by email:
info@preston.gov.uk
You can ask us for copies of information we may hold about you by sending a written request together with the £10.00 fee to the Data Protection Officer, 3rd Floor, Town Hall, Lancaster Road, Preston. Requests for access to personal data will be dealt with in 40 days.
We will treat any personal information by which you can be identified (i.e. name, address, e-mail etc) in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. If you have any enquiry or concern regarding the processing of personal data please contact the Data Protection Officer.
SMS
Please note that the use of SMS is entirely voluntary. If you make use of these services please read through these guidelines.
The transmission of SMS messages via public networks is an unprotected medium and these messages can potentially be intercepted and tampered with by third parties. This means that third parties are able to not only intercept the contents but also to amend them and also identify the recipient and sender of the SMS message.
Preston City Council is not responsible if a SMS is unable to reach the recipient on time or at all. For technical reasons the Council is unable to guarantee the availability of the SMS service and does not accept any liability for losses resulting from SMS messages being received late or not at all.
Preston City Council is not liable for the costs charged by the mobile phone operator for the messages.
Preston City Council will only hold sufficient personal details for the sending of short messages. The personal details held will only be used for the intended lawful purpose and the Council will not disclose this information to any third party unless required to do so by law.
Changes to this privacy policy
If this privacy policy changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties.
February 2008.
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