Privacy and Cookie Policy
In order to deliver services to customers and communities with the Birchen Coppice MSOA, it is necessary for Wyre Forest District Council, the officers and Neighbourhood Board to collect, gather and process personal data about residents, businesses, staff and other individuals.
We are committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services.
There are a number of legal reasons why we need to collect and use your personal information.
Our privacy notice explains for each service which legal reason is being used.
Generally we collect and use personal information where:
you, or your legal representative, have given consent
you have entered into a contract with us
it is necessary to perform our statutory duties
it is necessary to protect someone in an emergency
it is required by law
it is necessary for employment purposes
it is necessary to deliver health or social care services
you have made your information publicly available
it is necessary for legal cases
it is to the benefit of society as a whole
it is necessary to protect public health
it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes
If we have consent to use your personal information, you have the right to remove it at any time.
Where this is email or text notifications, each time we contact you, you will have the option to unsubscribe at that point.
For other data we hold by consent and for options to have this data deleted please see the individual service-related privacy notice.
Address: Wyre Forest House, Finepoint Way, Kidderminster, DY11 7WF
Tel: 01562 732928 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
Email the Data Protection Officer
We may need to use some information about you to:
deliver services and support to you;
manage those services we provide to you;
train and manage the employment of our workers who deliver those services;
help investigate any worries or complaints you have about your services;
keep track of spending on services;
check the quality of services; and
to help with the research and planning of new services.
We will not disclose personal information to third parties for marketing purposes or use personal data in a way that may cause unwarranted detriment.
However, there are circumstances where the council is legally required to disclose information, for example;
For the purpose of performing statutory enforcement duties
Disclosures required by law
For the purpose of detecting and preventing fraud
Auditing/ administering public funds
Information is processed by the council in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Data (Use and Access Act) 2025.
Privacy notice
Privacy notices are required to explain to you (the customer) precisely what personal information we are collecting from you, why we need to collect this, who we will share it with. We are required to provide you with this information at the point we collect personal information from you.
For surveys and other forms of engagement activity the information you provide will be used by the Council to understand local priorities, shape the Pride in Place Programme and improve services and places in your area. Taking part is voluntary. You do not have to answer any question you do not wish to answer. We will only ask for contact details if you choose to receive updates or get involved. If you provide contact details, they will be used only for those purposes and will be kept securely. Survey responses will normally be reported in summary form so that individuals are not identified. The usual lawful basis for using survey responses is that it is necessary for the performance of a public task or for exercising official authority. Where you ask us to contact you about updates or involvement, we will use your details for that purpose.
What you can do with your information
The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.
You can ask for access to the information we hold on you
We would normally expect to share what we record about you with you whenever we assess your needs or provide you with services.
However, you also have the right to ask for all the information we have and the services you receive from us. When we receive a request from you in writing, we must give you access to everything we’ve recorded about you.
However, we can’t let you see any parts of your record which contain:
Confidential information about other people; or
Data a professional thinks will cause serious harm to your or someone else’s physical or mental wellbeing; or
If we think that giving you the information may stop us from preventing or detecting a crime
This applies to personal information that is in both paper and electronic records.
You can ask to change information you think is inaccurate.
You should let us know if you disagree with something written on your file.
We may not always be able to change or remove that information but we’ll correct factual inaccuracies and may include your comments in the record to show that you disagree with it.
You can ask to delete information (right to be forgotten).
In some circumstances you can ask for your personal information to be deleted, for example:
Where your personal information is no longer needed for the reason why it was collected in the first place
Where you have removed your consent for us to use your information (where there is no other legal reason us to use it)
Where there is no legal reason for the use of your information
Where deleting the information is a legal requirement
Where your personal information has been shared with others, we’ll do what we can to make sure those using your personal information comply with your request for erasure.
Please note that we can’t delete your information where:
we’re required to have it by law
it is used for freedom of expression
it is used for public health purposes
it is for, scientific or historical research, or statistical purposes where it would make information unusable
it is necessary for legal claims
You can ask to limit what we use your personal data for.
You have the right to ask us to restrict what we use your personal information for where:
you have identified inaccurate information, and have told us of it
where we have no legal reason to use that information but you want us to restrict what we use it for rather than erase the information altogether.
When information is restricted it can’t be used other than to securely store the data and with your consent to handle legal claims and protect others, or where it’s for important public interests of the UK.
Where restriction of use has been granted, we’ll inform you before we carry on using your personal information.
You have the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for any council service. However, if this request is approved this may cause delays or prevent us delivering that service.
Where possible we’ll seek to comply with your request, but we may need to hold or use information because we are required to by law.
You can ask to have your information moved to another provider (data portability)
You have the right to ask for your personal information to be given back to you or another service provider of your choice in a commonly used format. This is called data portability.
However this only applies if we’re using your personal information with consent (not if we’re required to by law) and if decisions were made by a computer and not a human being.
It’s likely that data portability won’t apply to the services you receive from us, the Council.
Sharing your information
We will only share your information where it is required to do so such as where services are delivered jointly with other organisations. We will tell you who these organisations are when we gather your information. This is detailed further the Privacy Notice in the section below.
Where information is shared with other organisations or processed on our behalf we will ensure this is protected by contracts that detail these sharing agreements.
How we protect your information
We’ll do what we can to make sure we hold records about you (on paper and electronically) in a secure way, and we’ll only make them available to those who have a right to see them. Examples of our security include:
Encryption, meaning that information is hidden so that it cannot be read without special knowledge (such as a password). This is done with a secret code or what’s called a ‘cypher’. The hidden information is said to then be ‘encrypted’
Pseudonymisation, meaning that we’ll use a different name so we can hide parts of your personal information from view. This means that someone outside of the Council could work on your information for us without ever knowing it was yours
Controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people who are not allowed to view your personal information from getting access to it
Training for our staff allows us to make them aware of how to handle information and how and when to report when something goes wrong
Regular testing of our technology and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates (commonly called patches)
Where in the world is your information?
The majority of personal information is stored on local Wyre Forest systems. But there are some occasions where your information may leave the UK especially where it is stored on cloud based servers.
We have additional protections on your information if it leaves the UK ranging from secure ways of transferring data to ensuring we have a robust contract in place with that third party.
We’ll take all practical steps to make sure your personal information is not sent to a country that is not seen as ‘safe’ either by the UK or EU Governments.
If we need to send your information to an ‘unsafe’ location we’ll always seek advice from the Information Commissioner first.
How long do we keep your personal data?
There’s often a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period of time, we try to include all of these in our data retention and disposal procedure.
| Function description/type of record | Retention action/retention period | Examples of records | Notes |
Quantitative surveys | Survey results that are anonymous but collect personal data | 1 year | Surveys / questionnaire | |
Surveys, interviews focus groups etc | Community engagement information where we ask for your name and contact details alongside personal data | 10 years | Surveys, Focus group notes, qualitative interviews |
Cookies (not the edible ones!)
To make this website easier to use, we sometimes place small text files on your device (for example your iPad or laptop) called cookies. Most websites do this too.
They improve things by:
remembering the things you’ve chosen while on our website, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you visit a new page
remembering data you’ve given (for example, your address) so you don’t need to keep entering it
measuring how you use the website so we can make sure it meets your needs
By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.
We don’t use cookies on this website that collect information about what other websites you visit (often referred to as privacy intrusive cookies).
Our cookies aren’t used to identify you personally. They’re just here to make the site work better for you. You can manage and/or delete these files as you wish.
To learn more about cookies and how to manage them, visit AboutCookies.org or watch a video about cookies.
Other People's Cookies
We use videos from YouTube and feeds from other websites such as Facebook and X. These websites place cookies on your device when watching or viewing these pages.
Below are links to their cookie policies:
Turn off Cookies
You can stop cookies being downloaded on to your computer or other device by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. If you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
There is more information about how to delete or stop using cookies on AboutCookies.org. You can also opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics.
Where can I get advice?
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues you can contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)