Personal information charter

When we need to handle personal information about you, this is how we look after that information.

Nuclear Waste Services Privacy Notice

Nuclear Waste Services Limited (“NWS”) with registered office at Pelham House, Pelham Drive, Calderbridge, Seascale, Cumbria, United Kingdom, CA20 1DB, and registered in England and Wales (Company no. 13551995) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This privacy notice sets out the standards you can expect from us when we collect, hold or use your personal information.

We will ensure that we will treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and Data Protection Act 2018.

We take your privacy very seriously. It is important that you read this Privacy Notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information, how it is legal and your rights.

About us and this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice is provided by NWS (“we” or “us” or “NWS”). We are a public body responsible for the treatment and disposal of nuclear waste. You can find out more about us here.

This Privacy Notice applies to:

  • Any interactions we have with you via our websites, such as submissions of enquiries, FOI requests or technical data we may collect from you via cookies (see our cookie policy for more details)
  • Any interactions we have with you in person and electronically including via social media platforms as part of our work including the Geological Disposal Facility (“GDF”) siting process

We are a ‘controller’ for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (“Data Protection Laws”). This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. We are also registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”).

How to contact us

If you need to contact us about this Privacy Notice or would like this Privacy Notice in another format (for example, audio, large print) please use the details below:

Data Protection Officer
Nuclear Waste Services
Pelham House
Pelham Drive
Calderbridge
Cumbria
CA20 1DB

[email protected]

Changes to the Privacy Notice

We may change this Privacy Notice from time to time and any updates will be published on our website. We therefore encourage you to access this Privacy Notice periodically for the most up to date information on our privacy practices. Changes to the purposes for which we process your data will be highlighted to you.

This Privacy Notice was last updated on 28 March 2024

What information we collect

Information provided by you:

  • We collect information when you interact with us in person or electronically via email or our contact forms.
  • Website visitors – if you are just browsing our website, we will not collect personal data

The information collected may include the following categories of personal data (not exhaustive):

  • Name
  • Contact details
  • Social media handle (if you contact us via social media)
  • Information provided by you in general enquiries (and feedback if provided)
  • Job title and industry sector (if provided)
  • Place of work (if provided)
  • Information about your attendance at NWS events (if provided)
  • Nationality (if provided when visiting our buildings)
  • NI number (if provided when visiting our buildings)
  • Date of birth (if provided when visiting our buildings)
  • Images of you, your background and audio stream and personal opinions shared (if you participate in recorded video calls via O365 Teams)
  • Technical data (including IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types)

Information provided by third parties:

We proactively try to identify individuals in a position of authority or who have an interest in nuclear waste management such as politicians, key figures within local authorities, community group and business group leaders so that we can engage with them about our work and discuss key issues. To do this we may collect certain information about you from other third-party sources.

This includes information such as your name and contact details obtained from publicly available sources (e.g. organisations’ websites and social media) and from databases collated by third parties. We will only collect name, contact details and any opinion on the subject of nuclear waste management which is offered publicly. If any stakeholder does not want to receive further communications from us, they can opt out of our communications at any time.

Why we use your information:

The below table provides a summary of the types of personal information (also known as personal data) we collect direct from you, as well information about why we use it and what lawful ground we rely on to justify our use. For more information about lawful grounds for processing, please refer to the heading ‘Lawful grounds for processing’ below.

Types of personal information we collect Why we use your personal information Lawful ground for processing
  General enquiries about the work of NWS  
Name, contact details, social media handle if provided, and any additional information contained in your enquiries with us We use this information in order to respond to any general enquiries you send to us about our work, including (for example) the geological disposal facility programme, the siting process or the Repository Site and/or other related enquiries. Public task
  News and communications  
Name, email address When you complete our online registration form and sign up to receive news from us, we will send you communications by email with updates on our work, to raise awareness of what we do and generally to invite individuals to get involved and support our work. Consent
  Dialogue, meetings and public events  
Name, job title, place of work, industry sector, business contact details, details of any enquiries you have sent, feedback if provided We initiate dialogue, arrange meetings with stakeholders, update our posts on social media platforms and regularly hold public events for stakeholders and members of the public to explain our work and what we do and discuss the latest key issues. During any public events we will ask you for your feedback, which is entirely optional, on the issues that were discussed, how the events were run and any improvements that we can make and any general comments you have for us. We may also process information to safeguard the health and safety of people affected by, or working for, our projects. Public task
  GDF siting process  
Name, contact details, social media handle if provided, details of any enquiry you have sent, feedback if provided, job title, place of work, industry sector In order to develop a GDF we will need to apply for a Development Consent Order (“DCO”). As part of that process we use this information in order to evidence our engagement with stakeholders and members of the public Public task
  Freedom of information  
Name, contact details We will process this information if you submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations in order to respond to it in line with our respective procedures. We have a dedicated section on our website about making these requests Public task
  Visitors to our buildings  
Name, organisation, nationality, NI number, date of birth We will process this information for safety and security purposes, to facilitate your visit and for unique identification purposes. For example, if you visit one of our buildings or the Repository Site, we process this data because it is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, namely to ensure that the security of our buildings and their contents is maintained at all times. Legitimate interest
  Recording of meetings in Microsoft O365 Teams  
Name, images of you and your background, audio stream, personal opinions We process personal data that you choose to provide in connection with the use of Microsoft Teams for communication and collaboration purposes. We will always inform attendees if the Teams meeting is to be recorded at the start of the meeting and notify you of the purpose of recording. Public task
  Technical data  
IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, device ID, other technology on the devices you use to access our website To administer and improve our business and website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support reporting and hosting of data). Consent and Legitimate interests (if applicable).

Lawful grounds for processing

Processing of personal data is deemed acceptable within the UK GDPR for the following reasons and legal bases:

Public task

NWS can carry out data processing activities if the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest of for official functions, which have a clear basis in law.

Data subjects have the right to object to processing of personal data on the grounds of legitimate interests. See the ‘Data Subject Rights’ to find out more.

NWS are subject to legal obligations for processing your personal data. For example, if you apply for a job with NWS, the law requires us to check that candidates are entitled to work in the UK. You may provide us with information about reasonable adjustments you require under the Equality Act 2010 and we are allowed to process your personal information in order to comply with our legal obligations under the Act. We may also process information to safeguard the health and safety of people affected by, or working for, our projects.

Sometimes NWS would like to use your personal data in a way that is entirely optional for you, such as sending you our regular news and communications and invitations to our public events and meetings. On these occasions, we will ask for your clear consent to use your personal data. If you no longer wish to receive newsletters or updates, please click the “unsubscribe” link in the emails or contact us using the details in the “How to contact us” section to withdraw your consent at any time.

Legitimate interest

NWS are permitted to process your personal data if it is based on our ‘legitimate interests’. This means we have good, sensible, practical reasons for processing your personal data which is in the interests of NWS or a third party. To do so, we have considered the necessity of the processing and the impact on your interests, rights, and freedoms and have placed appropriate safeguards to ensure that the intrusion on your privacy minimal.

Data subjects reserve the right to object to processing of personal data on the grounds of legitimate interests. See the ‘Data Subject Rights’ to find out more.

How we keep your personal data secure

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in order to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss or alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access and any other unlawful forms of processing. We aim to ensure that the level of security and the measures adopted to protect your personal data are appropriate for the risks presented by the nature and use of your personal data.

Organisations that we may share your data with

For general management and oversight purposes, we share personal information with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (“NDA”), as we are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NDA, and the relevant government department that sponsors us (please contact us if you would like further information).

As part of the DCO application process (as explained in the section “What information we collect, what we use it for and why”), we may provide the planning inspectorate with personal data processed during the course of responding to general enquiries and engaging in dialogue, meetings and public events.

Like any business or organisation, we use third party suppliers to assist with our operations such as web page hosting, customer relationship management system hosting, and other IT services. These third parties will process your personal data in order to carry out their services for us. We take steps to ensure that our service providers process your data in accordance with the Data Protection Laws, only use it in accordance with our contract with them and keep it secure.

Other than stated above, we do not pass your personal data to third parties, unless required to do so by law or unless we have your consent to do so.

We do not sell or exchange our mailing list with other companies or organisations for marketing purposes.

Transfers of your personal data outside the UK or EEA

The service providers that we share your personal data with may from time to time, transfer personal data outside the UK or EEA. Any such international transfer of your data will be carried out in accordance with the Data Protection Laws to safeguard your privacy rights and give you remedies in the unlikely event of a security breach or to any other similar approved mechanisms. If you would like more information about our processors and any international transfers of your data, please contact us using the details at the “How to contact us” section.

Retention and deletion of your personal data

We only retain your personal information for as long as we need it in order to provide you with the service you have requested from us.

Newsletters and updates

If you have subscribed to receive information from us via our news and communications or about our public events, we will keep your information until you tell us that you no longer want to receive these emails. You can unsubscribe or manage your preferences via the links in the emails. Alternatively, you can contact us via the details at the “How to contact us” section to unsubscribe.

General enquiries

If you have contacted us with a general enquiry or question about NWS, you have participated in the GDF siting process or we have processed your data as part of our routine dialogue, meetings and public events, we will keep the data for a period of up to 20 years in order to evidence our engagement with stakeholders and members of the public as part of the planning applications which will be required to develop a GDF.

Freedom of Information

In relation to freedom of information requests, we will keep the data for 2 years, after this, details of the request will remain on the log but your personal data will be deleted.

Visitors to our buildings

If you visit our buildings or the Repository Site, your information will be held for 12 months.

How to request us to remove your information

You can ask us to remove your personal information from our systems by contacting us via the details above in the section ‘How to contact us’.

Cookies

Our web page uses cookies provided by the Government Digital Services. Please see gov.uk notice on cookies for more information. You will find the link at http://www.gov.uk/help/cookies.

Your data protection rights

You have the following rights under the Data Protection Laws:

  • Right to be informed about processing your personal data
  • Right to object to processing of your personal data
  • Right of access to personal data relating to you (data subject access request)
  • Right to correct any mistakes in your personal data
  • Right to ask us to stop contacting you with direct marketing or newsletters
  • Right to prevent or limit your personal data being processed
  • Right to data portability (note this does not apply at NWS)
  • Right to withdraw your consent
  • Right to erasure
  • Rights in relation to automated decision making (note: this does not apply at NWS)

If you would like to exercise your rights, please contact us at the details set out above in the section ‘How to contact us’ section.

We will respond to any rights that you exercise within a month of receiving your request, unless the request is particularly complex, in which case we will respond within three months. We will let you know when we will respond on receipt of a valid request.

Please note that exceptions apply to some of these rights which we will apply in accordance with the law.

How to complain

When you provide us with information, we will process it in accordance with the Data Protection Laws. If you believe your information has not been handled in accordance with this Privacy Notice by NWS, please contact us using the details in the ‘How to contact us’ section.

Alternatively, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information about how to do this is available on its website at https://www.ico.org.uk.

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