The Housing Advice Service
The Housing Advice Service sits within Customer and Local Services (CLS) is registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner as a Controller and a Processor.
The Data Protection Law requires us to have a privacy policy which tells you how we process your information. This is the privacy policy for the Housing Advisory Service.
Personal information is anything that can identify you as an individual, either on its own or by reference to other information.
We are serious about looking after your personal information and protecting your privacy because we want you to have trust and confidence in our office and the work we do.
We’d like to explain how we look after your personal information and protect your privacy.
There are rules about what personal information we process. When we say “process” we mean how we collect, record, hold, use, share and ultimately dispose of your information.
You have rights relating to your personal information. Your rights here in Jersey are explained in the
Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018. They are also described below.
All personal data processing we undertake is carried out under the requirements of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.
Our records are held in electronic format.
Why we process your personal information
We process your information so that we can:
- provide you with the services you request from us
- assess your need for housing and related support services
- respond effectively to your enquiries or enquiries from other permitted bodies where we have your consent to do so
- update you with new or changed services
- investigate complaints
- investigate possible fraudulent activity
- manage safeguarding and public protection concerns
- update other Government and organisations we work with, with relevant information about you. We will only share data if we have a legal basis to do so, or failing that, we will seek your consent
Automated decision making: There is no automated decision making.
Sharing your information
We may share your data as appropriate within Customer and Local Services, for example, with
Housing Control within the CLS Service Hub.
Your information will not be disclosed to any other party, or used for any other purpose, without your prior consent.
Anonymized statistical data from the Housing Advice Service will be used to inform Strategic Policy, Planning and Performance (SPPP) on future demand.
Legal basis for sharing
R32/2021 Ministerial Response to the Jersey Homelessness Strategy presented to the States on 9 March 2021 by the Minister for Housing and Communities. (See Priority 3, page 4)
How we use information
Sometimes we may use your personal information to:
- develop policies and services
- review and plan for services
- help with audit and accounting
- develop learning and training
- improve communication and help prevent fraud and error
- provide statistical information to Government and the States Assembly
- respond to Freedom of Information Requests
- protect the public
Types of personal information we process
Information about you that we may process includes:
- personal details such as your name(s), address, date of birth, residential status, social security number, financial information, income support status, pets information
- your contact details; telephone, address or email
- records of visits or contacts you’ve had with us
- special category data including medical information and criminal record information (only if applicable)
Where we get your personal information from
We get your personal information from:
- the information you supply to us, for example when you complete our forms, speak to us on the phone, face to face or communicate with us by email or letter
- other Government of Jersey Departments,
- people or organizations where the Law allows them to share information about you with us
- supporting organisations and agencies that may be working with you and /or your family who may provide supporting documents in the form of a letter or email
Emails
We may use email to communicate with you. For security reasons we will keep any personal information to a minimum in any email we send to you.
If you email us, we may keep a copy of your email address and the email as part of your record. We suggest that you keep the amount of confidential information you send to us via email to a minimum.
We will not share your email address or your email contents unless it is:
- to provide a service to you
- comply with a legal obligation
- permitted under other legislation
- permitted because you have given your consent
How your information is protected
Protecting your privacy and looking after your personal information is important to us. We work hard to make sure that we have the right policies, training and processes in place to protect our manual and electronic information systems from loss, corruption or misuse.
We take reasonable steps to make sure that we keep your personal information safe in line with best practice, the Data Protection Law and any other relevant Laws.
Our staff:
- where appropriate in law, have a legal duty to keep your information confidential
- receive training on the Data Protection Law
We only hold your information for the periods identified in our
retention schedule. However at the current time, information is kept indefinitely on some our electronic systems.
Transferring your information to other countries
We do not transfer your data to other countries.
Publication of your information
We publish anonymized data on our website relating to housing demand.
Telephone calls
Calls to or from our office may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.
If you leave a message on our voicemail systems, your message will be kept until we are able to return your call or make a note of your message. File notes of when and why you called may be taken for record keeping purposes.We will not pass on the content of your telephone calls, unless is it necessary for us to do so; either to fulfil your request for a service; to comply with a legal obligation, or, where permitted under other legislation.
Your rights regarding the personal information we hold about you
Under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018, you have certain rights relating to the information we process about you. These rights are to:
- be told and understand what your information is being used for
- access your record and receive it in an easy-to-use format
- ask us to make amendments to information we hold about you which is incorrect. We may ask you to provide evidence of information that needs to be changed
- withdraw any consent you may have previously given us
- object to us processing your information. If you do object then we can only stop processing your information if the Law allows us to
If you want to find out more about your rights, or make a complaint about how your information is being handled, contact the Government of Jersey Data Protection Officer using the contact information below.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner.
Access to your record
Information we hold about you can be accessed by:
- you
- staff at CLS carrying out their duties
- other people (third parties) who have a legal right such as auditors, Tribunals or Courts
Your personal details will only be given to a third party with your consent, or if we have a legal basis to do so.
On rare occasions, there may be legal restrictions which mean staff may not be able to share some information with you.
You can ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you
You are legally entitled to request a copy of any information that we hold about you. You can
submit a subject access request (SAR) using our online form.
Complaints
If you have an enquiry or concern regarding the Government of Jersey processing your personal data you can:
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner about the way your information is being used by:
gov.je