Data Protection Policy

We collect the following kinds of information from people visiting this website:

• feedback (through visitors e-mailing the council or completing online forms) 
• enquiries, queries and customer satisfaction survey results 
• site use information, using cookies. 
• cookies

Cookies can be used:

• to see how many people are looking at different web pages, which can help the site's owners make the content more useful 
• to remember certain settings or information you have used on the website on previous visits, so your experience of the website can be tailored to your interests. For example, your geographical location on a weather page 
• to enable you to complete a task without re-entering information you've previously given

Information collected by our website is used to:

• improve the content of the website and the way it works 
• contact visitors (with their permission) 

How we use your information

We take your privacy seriously and will only keep and use your personal information for reasons the law requires or allows.

We are a 'data controller' for the personal information we hold. This means we are an organisation making decisions about how data is used.

To comply with data protection laws we must be sure you understand how we use any information we have about you. You can find more detailed information about the way our service areas use the information they hold on the following pages.

We only keep information for as long as necessary, as shown in our retention schedule.

Some information we collect is subject to anti-fraud measures. 

The personal information we collect from you will be shared with fraud prevention agencies who will use it to prevent fraud and money-laundering and to verify your identity.

If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment.

Further details of how your information will be used by us and these fraud prevention agencies, and your data protection rights, can be found on the CIFAS website.

Data protection law gives you certain rights, but not all these rights will be available to you in all situations.

Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose, you will not have the right to prevent it from being used that way.

These rights mean under certain circumstances:

• you can ask to see the information we hold about you
• you can ask what's being done with the information we hold about you
• you can ask to have some of the data we hold about you deleted
• you can ask us to review a decision made about you by a computer and ask for a new decision to be made by a person
• you can ask us to stop processing the data we hold about you
• you can ask us to make changes to the data about you that you believe is inaccurate
• in some circumstances you can ask us to help you to move your information to another organisation
• you can ask us to restrict or limit what we do with your data, for example if you believe the information we hold is inaccurate or if you believe the processing is unlawful

If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights, for example to request a copy of the information we hold about you, to bring something to the attention of our data protection officer or to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act, please use the contact details at the bottom of this page

If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by the city council, contact the information rights team in the first instance using the details below. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, details of which are on this page. 

Our website contains links to other organisations and departments. This privacy policy only applies to the city council's Event Stoke website.

Under the Data Protection Act, the city council must protect any information collected from you. Stoke-on-Trent City Council uses leading technologies and encryption software to protect your data, and keeps strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it.

If this privacy policy changes, Stoke-on-Trent City Council will update this page. You should visit this page regularly so you know:

Other websites

When you go to another website, read the privacy policy on that website, if you want to know what it does with your information.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council does not pass on any of your personal information to other websites.

When you come to the city council's Event Stoke website, it may get personal information about you from the other website. You should read the privacy policy of that website and any other websites you visit which link to the city council's Event Stoke site if you want to know about their privacy policy.

Our website has links on it which enable you to connect to social networking sites, such as Facebook. The city council does not control these websites. By using the links to these sites, you accept the privacy policy of these websites.

Users should read the privacy policies of these sites to find out what happens to any data these services collect when you use them.

The Facebook privacy policy can be found here.

Access to your information

All personal information received is treated confidentially. By submitting personal information you agree to Stoke-on-Trent City Council's processing of your personal information, including sensitive personal information, for the purposes outlined below.

All personal information you submit may be passed on to the appropriate department to help to resolve any query raised. The city council may also give personal information to law enforcement authorities as part of a criminal investigation.

Personal data will be available to selected employees, contractors and service providers who are associated with the city council for them to complete their responsibilities for the authority.

If you submit personal information through one of the following features of our website it may be collected and stored by the city council:

• Enquiries submitted via online forms, including participation in the online consultation forms
• Signing up to the Event Stoke Newsletter.

For a copy of information collected about you through any of the above methods, e-mail foi@stoke.gov.uk