Website Privacy Statement

HARTLEPOOL BOROUGH COUNCIL will use its best endeavours to safeguard the privacy of its website visitors. This policy explains the website data processing practices of HARTLEPOOL BOROUGH COUNCIL.

What information do we collect?

We will collect personal details appropriate to the service you require. In some areas, this may simply mean registering your name, address and email details. Other on-line forms will require more information so that all the appropriate elements of your service request will be dealt with in a timely manner.

What do we use personal information for?

There are various reasons that we need to collect personal data. For example, we may need to ask you for your contact details for correspondence purposes. Similarly, we may need information in order to fulfil our statutory obligations and regulatory responsibilities. Subject to your agreement we may contact you to either provide information about new services that are coming on line, or get your feedback on how well we are performing. In any event we will only ever obtain information from you that is 'fit for purpose' and does not constitute an invasion of your privacy.

We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

• Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/.
  
• Google's use of the DART cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet. Google have a ad-on that allows users to prevent google analytics tracking their use of our site, for more information see Google Analytics opt out.
   
• Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
  
• If you have not opted out of third-party ad serving, the cookies of other third-party vendors or ad networks may also be used to serve ads on your site,

Further information about cookies
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is an industry body that develops standard and guidelines to support online business processes. It has produced a series of web pages which explain how cookies work and how they can be managed.

Disabling and enabling cookies
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings on your browser. The IAB site tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. This advice currently comprises the following steps (however please check the IAB site for the latest guidance).

If you are using Microsoft Windows Explorer:

• open ‘Windows Explorer’;
• click on the ‘Search’ button on the tool bar;
• type ‘cookie’ into the search box for ‘Folders and files’;
• select ‘My computer’ in the ’Look in’ box;
• click ‘Search now’;
• double click on the folders that are found;
• select any cookie file; and then
• use the ‘Delete’ button on your keyboard.

If you are not using Microsoft Windows Explorer, then you should select ‘cookies’ in the ‘Help’ function for information on where to find your cookie folder.  

Rights

Your rights are prescribed under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Council will apply the highest level of care to safeguard your privacy and use of your information across all our services.

Email Messages

We are keen to ensure that we are providing our residents and local businesses with services that they need. Consequently, you may receive occasional e-mail messages from HARTLEPOOL BOROUGH COUNCIL on matters that we consider may be of interest to you, if you have provided your email address to us for this purpose.

Access to Information - Data Protection and You

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you can make a formal request for the following information

• clarification that your personal data is being processed by the Council
• a description and copy of such personal data
• the reasons why such data is being processed
• details of to whom they are or may be disclosed

The Council will usually comply with your request unless to do so would breach the principles set out in the Act. The costs of making a subject access request is currently £10.

For further information on making a subject access request click here.

Contact

If you have any comments or concerns regarding this policy please contact:

Freedom of Information Officer
Legal Services Division
Civic Centre
Hartlepool
TS24 8AY

Tel: (01429) 523182
Email: Freedomofinformation@hartlepool.gov.uk