Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (the Council) is responsible for handling your personal information. Our address is Town Hall, Crossley Street, Halifax. HX1 1UJ. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and follow UK Data Protection laws to keep your information safe.
This privacy notice explains how we process your personal information. This is for when you contact us or make a request via our Customer First or Customer Access Teams.
How you contact us
- Online (Webchat) via our digital assistant 'Vira' or with a Customer First Advisor;
- phone;
- email;
- in person.
From these, we record the details you give us in our Customer Relationship Management system (CRM), called RightNow.
If you contact us and use a shared email address
If several people use the same email address, the CRM record will be based on the first person who contacts us. Later enquiries from that email address will not change the main record.
Information we collect
Contact details:
- Name.
- Address.
- Email.
- Phone number.
We also record live chat transcripts, phone call recordings (paused during payments) and the number you call from.
Depending on your request, we may need other details, such as:
- Date of births.
- Dependents names.
- Financial information.
- National Insurance Numbers.
- Vehicle Registration Numbers.
- Council Tax Reference Numbers.
- Previous addresses.
- DBS details.
Some services will need to collect more information from you. If they do, they will provide their own privacy notice.
Why we collect your information
We use it to:
- Provide the service or answer the enquiry you contacted us about.
- Process applications and update our systems.
- Record interactions so we understand and manage your enquiry.
- Handle complaints, compliments or feedback.
- Arrange appointments and follow-up.
- Send reminders or service updates (such as, by text).
We support enquiries about:
- Council Tax and Benefits;
- housing;
- parking;
- highways;
- waste and recycling;
- environmental health;
- land charges;
- markets;
- freedom of information;
- and early intervention support.
How long we keep your information
Contact records
- 12 months from your last contact.
Live chat in CRM
- 12 months.
Chat transcripts
- 6 months.
Phone call recordings
- 30 days.
Subscription waste services
- Until you end the service. Then they are held according to the relevant retention schedule.
Please note: If your enquiry is passed to another Council service, their retention rules also apply.
Who we share your information with
Within the Council
- IT and Web Teams. To maintain the CRM.
- Electoral Services. Access names, numbers and addresses as required by law.
- Parking Services. Only for enquiries about parking. (Staff permit checks need HR approval.)
External organisations
- System providers (Maximus and Oracle). Access the system only when necessary and under supervision.
- Waste contractor (Suez). Only when needed to look in to enquiries about waste.
- GOV.UK Notify. Sends texts, emails and letters. (Data is deleted after 7 days.)
Please note: We do not share your information for marketing.
Our legal bases
We use your information under one or more of these UK GDPR bases:
- Consent.
- Legal obligation.
- Public task/official authority.
- Legitimate interests.
For special category data, we rely on:
- Explicit consent.
- Employment, social security or social protection law.
- Substantial public interest.
- Health or social care purposes.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- Know how we use your data.
- Access your personal data.
- Correct any inaccurate information.
- Ask us to delete your data.
- Restrict how we use your data.
- Get a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Object to how we use your data.
- Challenge automated decisions made about you.
Some rights only apply in certain circumstances.
You do not pay for these requests and we will respond within one month.
Contact us
To make a request or withdraw your consent, please email customer.first@calderdale.gov.uk
If you believe we have not handled your data properly, email our Data Protection Officer: information.management@calderdale.gov.uk.
You can also report concerns to the ICO.