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 the personal data it gathers for the purposes of administering and managing your response to the Local Development Plan – Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) public consultation.

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, as defined in Section 84 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

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 survey responses and produce summarised findings from the 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 the Planning Committee; these reports will also be available online. If we do this, no personal data will be shared or disclosed.

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 for a period of three years 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 contact the Planning Office by writing to Planning and Building Control, 9-21 Adelaide Street, Belfast BT2 8DJ, via telephone on 028 9050 0510 or by emailing localdevelopmentplan@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