Privacy Notice

What we do with your information

Belfast City Council is the data controller under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) for any personal data gathered from this survey.  

You are not asked to provide any personal data, but if you do, the Council’s lawful basis for processing personal data for this purpose is for the performance a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority in line with section 84 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 and in accordance with our duty to consult under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

If any special category data is provided as part of your survey response, the Council’s lawful basis for processing special category data for this purpose is Article 9(2)(g) of the UK GDPR - reasons of substantial public interest, in connection with Schedule 1, Part 2, paragraph 6(1)(a) and 6(2)(a) of the Data Protection Act 2018.  

You have the right to object to processing undertaken for the performance a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority at any time.  This is not an absolute right and only applies in certain circumstances.

There may be instances where Microsoft Co-pilot, an Artificial Intelligence tool, may be used to analyse open text survey responses and produce summarised findings of the open text responses. Where any personal data has been produced as part of the findings, it will be manually removed to ensure the summarised findings are anonymous.

Sharing your information with others

Your personal data may be shared internally within the Council with staff who are involved in providing this service and where necessary, between internal departments with the purpose of supporting an effective delivery of service.

Your personal data will not be disclosed to any other organisation without your consent unless the law permits or places an obligation on the Council to do so.  

As part of the analysis and reporting, the Council may share written comments and aggregated results with partner agencies and consultants, Festivals and Events International (FEI) who are helping us develop the Belfast Events Action Plan. We may also publish summarised results (which may include your comments) in the public domain. If we do this, no personal data will be shared or disclosed.  If you are responding on behalf of a group or organisation, we may ask that you include the name of the group or organisation.  If applicable, we will seek your permission to disclose your organisation name (and any written comments) in our analysis and feedback reports.     

International transfers

Your personal data is not transferred outside of the United Kingdom.

How long we hold your information for

Your personal data is held and stored by the Council in a safe and secure manner and in compliance with data protection legislation and in line with the Council’s Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Your rights

When your personal data is processed under the lawful basis of public task, the UK GDPR provides you with the following rights in relation to the processing of your personal data, which are:

• The right of access – You have the right to access and receive a copy of our personal data and other supplementary information, however, there are exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process.
• The right to rectification – You have the right to have inaccurate personal data rectified or completed if incomplete.  
• The right to restrict processing – You can request the restriction or suppression of your personal data.  This right is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances.  
• The right to object – You have the right to object to processing we undertake as part of our public task.  This is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances.  
• Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling – You have the right, in certain circumstances, not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which significantly affects you. You also have the right to understand the reasons behind decisions made by automated processing and the possible consequences of the decisions.

Further information

If you have any queries regarding the processing of your personal data, please email policy@belfastcity.gov.uk  

If you wish to contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer or have any questions about this privacy notice, please write to Belfast City Council, City Hall Belfast, BT1 5GS or send an email to dataprotection@belfastcity.gov.uk 

For further information on how Belfast City Council processes personal data, you can view our privacy statement at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/privacy 

If you are not satisfied with how the Council are processing your personal data, please contact the Council in the first instance to make a complaint. If you are still not satisfied with the Council’s response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: casework@ico.org.uk