Guidance

Privacy notice for the Equality Data Programme

Published 2 July 2021

© Crown copyright 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-for-the-equality-data-programme/privacy-notice-for-the-equality-data-programme

Purpose

The purpose for which we are processing your personal data is to inform the outputs for the Equality Data Programme. The Equality Data Programme is an analytical programme that will:

  • meet the government’s manifesto commitments to improve the evidence on equality and to support levelling up across the country
  • improve the quality of equality data and improve equality analysis
  • produce outputs to inform government policy around equality

The data

While we do not generally collect obvious identifiers such as names and National Insurance numbers, we do collect substantial datasets. It may be possible in some cases for individuals to be identified through a combination of data, or through data we hold plus other data that is reasonably accessible (such as in the public domain).

We therefore treat all of the data that we use for analysis as personal data, and protect it accordingly.

We will be processing personal data from a range of sources, which are outlined as follows.

Annual Population Survey

Data on pay, occupational representation, employment status.

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability
  • pay
  • occupation
  • industry
  • education level
  • country of birth
  • full or part-time employment
  • job tenure
  • organisation size

National pupil database

Data on early educational attainment, key stage 2 attainment, key stage 4 attainment, exclusion rates, children in need of protection.

Personal data type:

  • geography (school and pupil, as granular as available)
  • socio-economic background (eligibility for free school meals, Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index score)
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability (special educational needs)
  • year and month of birth
  • English as additional language

Life expectancy at birth

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Access to GP services

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

All causes of mortality

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Crime Survey for England and Wales

Data on likelihood of being a victim of crime, experience of reporting crime.

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability
  • nature of crime
  • repeat victimisation
  • date of survey completion
  • urban or rural
  • education level
  • trust in police

English Housing Survey

Data on housing tenure, housing concentration, barriers to homeownership.

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability
  • household composition
  • dwelling type
  • income
  • economic activity
  • country of birth
  • area type

Homelessness

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability
  • household composition
  • dwelling type
  • income
  • economic activity
  • country of birth
  • support needs of household
  • sexuality

Wealth

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Absolute low income

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Life satisfaction

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Digital inclusion

Personal data type:

  • geography
  • socio-economic background
  • ethnicity (as granular as sample sizes allow but at minimum the 5 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Mixed, White, Other)
  • age
  • sex
  • disability

Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller – for example, the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department, or the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment. In this case that is our role in understanding and promoting equality through improved data and analysis.

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data is as follows:

  • processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department (paragraph 6, schedule 1, Data Protection Act 2018)
  • processing is of data concerning ethnicity, religious or philosophical belief, health including disability or sexual orientation, and it is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained (paragraph 8, schedule 1, Data Protection Act 2018)

Recipients

As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage services.

Retention

Your personal data will be kept by us for 2 years. Anonymised data or statistics may be kept indefinitely.

Source of data

We obtain data from other public authorities. These include datasets owned by:

  • Office for National Statistics
  • Department for Education
  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
  • Ministry of Justice
  • NHS (England, Scotland)
  • Welsh Government
  • Scottish Government
  • Northern Ireland Office
  • NR Scotland
  • NISRA
  • ARK

Your rights

You have a number of rights. Because we do not collect obvious identifiers, it may not be possible to identify your data within the data we hold. If that is the case, these rights do not apply. We may alternatively need further data from you in order to identify your data.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

You have the right to request information about how your personal data is processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data is completed, including by means of a supplementary statement.

You may have the right to request that your personal data is erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed.

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.

International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision or the use of model contract clauses.

Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London SW1A 2AS
0207 276 1234
[email protected]

The email address for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer is [email protected].

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of the Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113
[email protected]

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.

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