Privacy notice
The Government Communication Service (GCS) is the professional body for people working in communication roles across government. Our aim is to deliver world-class communications that support Ministers’ priorities, improve people’s lives and enable the effective operation of our public service. We serve both politicians and the public.
What information do we collect about you?
We collect the following non-personal data from our website visitors:
- your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and details of which version of web browser you used
- information on how you use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques
We do not collect any personal data.
How do we use this information?
This information will be used by authorised people in GCS, supplier organisations, other government departments, agencies and public bodies, in order to maintain security and improve the GCS Strategy website by monitoring how you use it.
We will share your data if we are required to do so by law – for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.
How long do we keep it?
We will only retain your data for as long as it is needed for the purposes set out in this notice or for as long as is required by law. In general, this means we will hold it for a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 7 years.
Where might it go?
Our IT infrastructure and technology has been validated from inception to delivery with supporting contracts to ensure compliance with all data sharing activities.
Your data may, throughout the course of its processing at GCS, be transferred outside of the UK. Where this is the case all appropriate technical and legal safeguards will be put in place to ensure that you are afforded the same level of protection as within the UK, including an adequacy decision or Standard Contractual Clauses.
How we protect your information and keep it secure
We are committed to doing all that we can to keep your data secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place technical and organisational procedures to secure the data we collect about you – for example, we protect your data using varying levels of encryption. We also make sure that any third parties that we deal with have an obligation to keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure.
Changes to this notice
We may modify or amend this privacy notice at our discretion at any time. When we make changes to this notice, we will amend the last modified date at the top of this page. Any modification or amendment to this privacy notice will be applied to you and your data as of that revision date. We encourage you to periodically review this privacy notice to be informed about how we are protecting your data.
Contact details
The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are: Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AS, or 0207 276 1234, or gcs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are: Stephen Jones, Data Protection Officer, dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.
Complaints
If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or 0303 123 1113, or icocasework@ico.org.uk. Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.