Peer Support Groups - Privacy Notice

Personal data is not routinely collected for the purposes of facilitating and hosting Peer Support Groups i.e. we do not ask for specific data to be provided. However, in the process of holding, recording and providing advice and assistance in relation to these meetings, you may provide information to us voluntarily. For the processing to which this notice relates to be carried out we may use the following information:

• personal information – such as: your name, email address, electronic identifying information such as your IP address, your personal views and experiences.
• special category personal information – such as: information about your physical and mental health

We collect your information from you directly, e.g. when you sign it to one of our groups and set up a user name, if you contact us for advice and support, from the views you provide as part of the group meeting.

• To convert into anonymous statistics which will be used to log how many participants attended each group session
• When attending the live versions of the group you may choose to set up a user name, this will be used to allow you access and identify you from other participants
• If you choose to comment via the chat function of the live sessions, it will be used to respond to you
• We record the audio of group sessions to be made available to those not able to attend using an online platform – YouTube, these may contain your personal data
• It will be used to correspond with you if you contact us following a group to discuss any matter arising out of the session
• We will also use it to discuss any concerns you may have both during the live sessions and if you contact us after the session has ended
• If appropriate we may use it to provide you with contact information to refer you on to other medical professionals

The tables below set out the legal basis for each of the activities that this Privacy Notice covers:

Personal Data Activity	Legal basis - GDPR Article 6	S8 Data Protection Act 2018	UK Legislation
To facilitate and host Peer Support Meetings   Correspond with you if you contact us before, during and/or after one of our sessions   To make recordings available to those unable to attend the live event.	(1)(e) to do so is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official authority	(c) the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment or rule of law,	National Health Service Act 2006 as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2008

Special Category Data Activity	Legal basis - GDPR Article 9	DPA 2018 condition	Other considerations
To facilitate and host Peer Support Meetings   Correspond with you if you contact us before, during and/or after one of our sessions   To make recordings available to those unable to attend the live event	(2)(g) processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.	Part 2 of schedule 1	National Health Service Act 2006 as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2008

We sometimes need to share your information within the Council or with other organisations. We will only share your information when necessary and when the law allows us to, and we will only share the minimum information we need to. In general we will not share your information with any other organisation however, the audio of each session is recorded and posted to YouTube. From here the uploaded version can be listened to by anyone with access to the internet.

To host the sessions we use software provided by Microsoft – Microsoft Teams. As data is stored in their data centre, which is in the Cloud, to provide this service they act as a data processor on our behalf. If you wish to see more information regarding the processing of personal data by Microsoft, please access their Privacy Statement here.

In certain cases we may also share your information with other individuals and organisations. For example, if you make a complaint to your Councillor, or if the sharing would help with a safeguarding issue, or help prevent a crime. Sometimes, we might share your information without your knowledge.

The Council will never sell your information to anyone else.

In order to provide this service the Council will upload sessions, which may include your information, to YouTube. This is an online platform, which means the recordings will be accessible to anyone throughout the world with an internet connection. Some countries or territories will have appropriate safeguards or will have an adequacy decision, however others will not and will not be bound by the same data protection laws as the United Kingdom. This transfer will only occur if you have given us your explicit consent.

We will keep your information for different periods of time, depending on what we are using it for. We only keep your information for as long as we need to, after which we will securely delete the information.

We will keep your information for only so long as is necessary – the table below sets out typical timescales for each activity:

Activity	Time information kept for
To facilitate and host the Meetings & To make recordings available to those unable to attend the live event:         - Audio recordings	The recordings are edited and uploaded to YouTube, these are stored for 5 years.  Once this has been completed the original recording is deleted.
To facilitate and host the meetings:         - Setting up a user name to access the live sessions	User name data will be retained for a maximum period of one year.
To facilitate and host the meetings:          - Comments/conversations held during the live sessions, using the chat function.	Chats are deleted after one week
Correspond with you if you contact us before, during and after one of our sessions:          - Email – contacting the team to ask for advice or guidance and information.	General correspondence with the team will be retained for 1 Year.  Depending on the content of your email it may be retained longer, for example if it needs to be processed for another purpose, we will let you know if this occurs.

The law gives you specific rights over your information. These rights are:

• to be informed of our use of information about you;
• of access to information about you;
• rectify information about you that is inaccurate;
• to have your information erased (the ‘right to be forgotten’);
• to restrict how we use information about you;
• to move your information to a new service provider;
• to object to how we use information about you;
• not to have decisions made about you on the basis of automated decision making;
• to object to direct marketing; and,
• to complain about anything the Council does with your information (please see the ‘Complaints’ section below).

Some of the rights listed above apply only in certain situations, and some have a limited effect. Your rights are explained further in the Individuals’ Rights Procedure on our website, as is how to make a request under one or more of them.

You can request information about yourself by making a subject access request on this page of the Council’s website.

This notice is kept under regular review to make sure it is up to date and accurate.

The Council is required by law to have a DPO. The DPO has a number of duties, including:

• monitoring the Council’s compliance with data protection law;
• providing expert advice and guidance on data protection;
• acting as the point of contact for data subjects; and,
• co-operating and consulting with the Information Commissioner’s Office (see ‘Complaints’ below).

The Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at [email protected] 

If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled you should contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer so that we can try and put things right.

Alternatively, and if we have been unable to resolve your complaint, you can also refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights, and they can investigate and adjudicate on any data protection related concerns you raise with them. They can be contacted via the methods below:

Website: www.ico.org.uk 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

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