Personal information charter
Our personal information charter contains the standards you can expect from OSA when we ask for and hold your personal information.
OSA and your data
We collect personal information to enable us to carry out our legal duties and functions. We collect this information mainly from you but sometimes from other bodies such as schools or local authorities.
Read our privacy notices for information about the data we hold:
All OSA staff and all adjudicators receive training on how to handle personal information confidentially. We will only keep your information for as long as necessary after which point we will securely destroy it.
How to find out what personal information we hold about you
Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you’re entitled to ask us:
- if we’re processing your personal data
- for a description about the data we hold about you
- the reasons we’re holding it and any recipient we may disclose it to, for example another party to a case
- for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source
You’re also entitled to change the information we hold about you if it’s wrong. Please let us know as soon as possible if there are any changes to your personal information.
If you want to see your personal data, you should make a ‘subject access request’. If you want more information about how we process your personal data, contact us at [email protected].
Please be as specific as you can about the information you’re asking us about. If possible, state the case reference number relevant to your request.
Before we can consider your request, we may need to check your identity and your right to access the information you’re requesting. This means we may ask you to supply a copy of the identification pages of your current passport or photo driving licence. We may also ask proof of your current address.
We will try to respond to your request within one month of receiving it. If your request is complex, we may extend the period by a further 2 months but will let you know.
There are forms to request this data.
If you are making a request about your own data or are acting on behalf of someone else, you should use the .
If you are making a request for data about a child under the age of 13 and for whom you have parental responsibility or you are an authorised person acting on behalf of someone with parental responsibility, you should use the .
How we process your personal information
All OSA staff and all adjudicators receive training on how to handle personal information confidentially.
When we share personal information
We may get information about you from other people and certain other organisations.
We may share information we hold about you with certain organisations where the law allows it and where we need to do so in order to carry out our statutory functions.
There may be some circumstances where we’ll need to share information about you with others without your consent. For example, to carry out our duties to find a school place for children in certain circumstances. In all cases, we’ll comply with all data handling legislation including the Data Protection Act 2018.
How long we keep personal information
We will only keep your information for as long as necessary after which point we will securely destroy it.
Contact
Email [email protected] if you need to contact us or have questions for our data protection officer.