You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
![Councillor Peter Gould](/image-library/peter-gould-ws-hr-1.xb6cb8b20.jpg?width=470&height=256&fit=crop&quality=75&format=webp)
You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
This privacy notice explains how Suffolk Trading Standards uses information about you when carrying out its range of business activities and how we protect your privacy.
The processing of personal data is governed by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), collectively referred to as data protection law.
Suffolk Trading Standards is responsible for ensuring businesses understand their legal obligations and trade in a fair and safe manner. Our work includes licencing, prevention of fraudulent trading, detection and prosecution in line with our enforcement policy, and advice to businesses.
Suffolk Trading Standards is a competent authority for the purposes of Part 3 of the DPA 2018 because we have legal powers to prosecute trading standards offences. This means that we can process personal data for law enforcement purposes.
We deliver services, regulate, or contribute in some way to a number of priority areas including, but not limited to the following:
Personal data is information that is about living individuals who can be identified from it. The personal data that is collected by Suffolk Trading Standards is:
The following types of information are classed as “special category data” under the UK GDPR.
We also collect information concerning criminal convictions and offences.
The UK GDPR and DPA include extra safeguards to protect the use of your special category data and criminal conviction data i.e. offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences.
Information is used to receive and investigate consumer complaints, and to monitor, research, analyse and report intelligence requirements.
We respond to service requests from businesses and individuals to facilitate enforcement of consumer protection legislation and prevent unfair trading, and to ensure service delivery, planning and improvement.
We may also use information in other ways compatible with the above purposes to enable us to deliver Trading Standards services to the residents of Suffolk.
Our lawful basis under the UK GDPR for holding and general processing of your personal information is because it is necessary for us to perform a task that is carried out in the public interest. A list of the different pieces of legislation that govern Trading Standards functions can be accessed on our website here: Legislation Enforced List
Our lawful bases under the UK GDPR for processing special category data are where processing is necessary for:
Because we also process personal information for law enforcement purposes, our lawful bases for processing special category data for law enforcement purposes under Schedule 8 of the DPA 2018, are where processing is necessary for:
The UK GDPR gives extra protection to the processing of criminal offence data. In respect of the use of information about criminal offences and convictions, our lawful bases for processing criminal offence data under Schedule 1, Part 3 of the DPA 2018 are where processing is necessary for:
As well as information that you provide to us, we also collect information from:
We share your personal information with:
Any information which is shared will be shared securely, with appropriate individuals and only the minimum information needed will be shared.
Your information is securely stored electronically on the County Council’s network. Information is also securely stored in other mediums, including email accounts, in paper files and our intelligence database.
We do not store or process your information outside of the European Economic Area.
We will stop using your data after 7 years from the conclusion of the matter for which it was collected, or where is it necessary and permitted for a longer specified period in accordance with our retention policy. Your data will be securely and permanently deleted one year after we stop using it.
Suffolk Trading Standards does not make automated decisions about you.
You have a number of rights under data protection law. To find out more, please visit Suffolk County Council’s corporate privacy notice.
If you have a question about the ways in which we are collecting or using your personal data please contact:
Marc Titford, Principal Trading Standards Officer, via email: marc.titford@suffolk.gov.uk
If you would like independent advice on this privacy notice or other matters about personal information, including complaints, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk