Home » Where I stand » My privacy policy as MP for Wycombe

General Data Protection Regulations – Privacy Notice

Office of Steve Baker MP
Wycombe Constituency

In line with the Data Protection Act 2018, Steve Baker MP, Member of Parliament for Wycombe, is required to provide you with a privacy notice where you have provided personal data to him, his parliamentary office or his constituency office.

Steve Baker MP and the staff of his offices are collectively referred to as the MP’s Office.

If you would like the MP’s Office to assist with an issue, we need to take personal data about you and your situation in relation to your case or enquiry.  This Privacy Notice tells you how the MP’s Office collects and processes your personal data.  This Privacy Notice can also be found at http://www.stevebaker.info/where-i-stand/cookie-policy/

The Data Protection Officer for the MP’s Office is Mrs Susan Hynard.  She is the owner of this document and is responsible for ensuring that it is reviewed in line with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations.

Susan Hynard can be contacted directly by:

  • emailing sue.hynard@parliament.uk
  • telephoning 01494 448408 or 0207 219 3547, or
  • by writing to The Constituency Office, 150A West Wycombe Road, High Wycombe, HP12 3AE

Personal data

Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) personal data is defined as:

“any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person”.

Personal data is your personal details and contact information, and details relating to the issue you, or someone on your behalf, wishes to raise with the MP’s Office.  Personal data may come directly from you, a third party acting on your behalf, the electoral roll obtained from Buckinghamshire Council or from third parties such as those contacted by the MP’s Office in relation to your case or enquiry.

The personal data we collect from you, or third parties about you, is used by the MP’s office for the following purposes:

  • the administration of your case or enquiry
  • providing as appropriate relevant information to third parties to assist with your case or enquiry
  • recording of relevant data relating to your case or enquiry
  • any purpose required of the MP’s Office in law

Special categories of data

Certain forms of personal data are classed as special categories of personal data.

These special categories of personal data classified under the General Data Protection Regulations are:

  • racial, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health data, data concerning a natural person’s sex life and sexual orientation.

Examples of special categories of data often used by the MP’s Office for cases and enquiries are National Insurance numbers for matters such as those involving benefits, and health data in cases involving NHS Trusts.

If data classified by the General Data Protection Regulations as coming under the special categories of personal data is needed in order for the MP’s Office to assist you with your case or enquiry we will tell you why we need it and how it will be used.

Consent

By contacting the MP’s Office to request assistance, you are giving us permission to process your personal data for the purposes of making enquiries and seeking resolution for your case or enquiry, as set out in this Privacy Notice.

The MP’s Office’s legitimate purpose for the processing of personal data would usually be because the data subject (or a third person able to do so in law on their behalf e.g. under a Lasting Power of Attorney) has freely given clear consent for the MP’s Office to do so but Members of Parliament may process personal data without explicit written consent from the data subject under the Elected Representatives condition.

However, having given consent to the MP’s Office to use your personal data you may request to withdraw consent at any time by contacting the Data Protection Officer, Mrs Susan Hynard (contact details on the first page of the Privacy Notice).

Use and storage of personal data

In order to assist constituents the MP’s Office needs to collect personal data for correspondence purposes and the pursuance of casework. We are committed to ensuring the personal data we collect and use is appropriate for this purpose.

The MP’s Office will collect, process and store information you provide in a manner compatible with the General Data Protection Regulations. The information you provide will be held securely, subject to strict measures and procedures to minimise the risks of unauthorised access or disclosure and so as to not constitute an invasion of your privacy. The MP’s Office aims not to be intrusive, and we undertake not to ask irrelevant or unnecessary questions.

For the purposes of processing and storing casework the MP’s Office uses a secure case management system whose servers are based in the UK and therefore maintained in accordance with, and subject to, the General Data Protection Regulations.

The MP’s Office may use personal data for analysis for trends such as in subject matter or geographical location of correspondents.  Where such data is used it will be anonymised.  If for any reason Steve Baker MP wishes to use identifiable personal data for campaigning purposes e.g. to support a change in law, he will contact you directly to get your express consent.

The MP’s Office may also be required to retain personal data where the law requires it such as in criminal law.

Sharing of personal data with third parties

The MP’s office may pass your personal data on to a third-party or parties only where it/they are relevant to the case or enquiry you have raised with the MP’s Office.  Such third parties could include local authorities, government agencies, public bodies, health trusts, charities, regulators and companies with whom you do business.

We will make it known to any third parties that we share your data with that we require them to keep your details securely and in line with the General Data Protection Regulations.  If we wish to pass your special categories of personal data to a third party we will not do so without your consent, unless we are legally required to do so by law.

If the MP’s Office needs to pass on your personal data electronically by computer to third parties because it is relevant to your case or enquiry, we will use equipment and Microsoft Office software supplied by the parliamentary authorities.  The Microsoft servers used are based in the European Union and are therefore bound by the General Data Protection Regulations.

Your rights

At any point while the MP’s Office is in possession of your personal data you, as the data subject, have the following rights:

  • Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information the MP’s Office holds about you. This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR) and more details can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/principle-6-rights/subject-access-request/
  • Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.  Please note that this right is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances.  More details about this can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-erasure/
  • Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing of data.
  • Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
  • Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
  • Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.

All of the above requests will be forwarded on should there be a third party involved as stated above in the processing of your personal data.

In the event that the MP’s Office refuses your request, we will provide you with a reason why.  You have the right to complain as outlined in the Complaints section (in the final section of this Privacy Notice).

How can I find out about the personal data the MP’s Office holds about me?

At your request, the MP’s Office can confirm what information we hold about you and how it is processed.  If the MP’s Office does hold personal data about you, you can request the following information:

  • The MP’s identity and contact details.
  • Contact details of the Data Protection Officer.
  • The purpose of the processing as well as the legal basis for processing.
  • If the processing is based on the legitimate interests of the MP’s Office or a third party, information about those interests.
  • The categories of personal data collected, stored and processed.
  • Recipient(s) or categories of recipients that the data will be/has been disclosed to.
  • If the MP’s Office intends to transfer the personal data to a third country or international organisation, we will ensure this is done securely.  The UK has approved sending personal data to some countries because they meet a minimum standard of data protection.  In other cases, we will ensure there are specific measures in place to secure your information.
  • How long the data will be stored.
  • Details of your rights to correct, erase, restrict or object to such processing.
  • Information about your right to withdraw consent at any time,
  • How to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority.
  • Whether the provision of the personal data is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter in to a contract, as well as whether you are obliged to provide the personal data and the possible consequences of failing to provide such data.
  • The source of personal data if it wasn’t collected directly from you.
  • Any details and information of automated decision making, such as profiling and any meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and expected consequences of such processing.

What forms of identification will I need to provide in order to access my personal data?

The MP’s Office will need at least one form of current photographic evidence and one form of proof of address from the data subject when information on their personal data is requested.

Current photographic identification will usually be a passport or photographic driving licence, and proof of address an original utility bill or similar issued within the last three months.

Retention policy

The MP’s Office will process your personal data until such time as the case or enquiry is concluded.  It is the MP’s Office’s policy generally to then retain the personal data for a retention period of up to five years, depending on the nature of the case.  This provides for situations such as data subjects bringing new information to the attention of the MP’s Office on which the retained data may have a bearing.  However if it is clear at the conclusion of the case or enquiry that no legitimate reason to retain the personal data exists, the personal data will be deleted.

If the MP’s Office still holds the personal data after five years from the conclusion of the case or enquiry and there is legitimate purpose under the General Data Protection Regulations to continue doing so, the decision to continue retaining this personal data will then be reviewed annually.

The MP’s Office would not usually hold any original hard-copy documents on behalf of the data subject but should any have been supplied by the data subject and retained by the MP’s Office, these will be returned to the data subject at the conclusion of the case or enquiry, or, where this is not possible, securely destroyed as confidential waste.  Electronic copies of data pertinent to the case or enquiry will be held securely on the MP’s Office’s case management system.

Please note that deletion of personal data means where the personal data has been held electronically the MP’s Office will delete it from the office case management system.  Where the personal data has been held in hard copy i.e. paper form this would be destroyed irretrievably as confidential waste.

Complaints

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how your personal data is being processed or has been handled by the MP‘s Office, you have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the supervisory authority the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

For more details please go to:  https://ico.org.uk/

Contact details for the MP’s Office’s Data Protection Officer Mrs Susan Hynard can be found on the first page of this Privacy Notice.

Last reviewed 1 April 2022

This website

This website aims to avoid collecting personal data. It is therefore no longer possible to comment or to register as a user. All subscriber accounts were deleted on 10 April 2018.

The site uses a minimum of cookies. Cookies used include standard WordPress plus those for embedded YouTube and Amazon elements of pages. Further cookies of a similar character may be placed by other social media included in the site.

In so far as it is the responsibility of this site, user data is anonymous. I do not want personal data about you unless you provide it by explicitly contacting me, in which case the privacy policy above applies.

Please contact me if you would like your previous comments removed.

Social media guidelines & reports – enjoy freedom responsibly

Political debate should be constructive, respectful, supportive and engaging online for everyone, even as we debate important subjects with passion. People’s voices should be heard without threats and abuse.

Outlined below are the rules that we ask you to follow wherever I am online – including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We have a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination, abuse or bullying of any kind, and will take appropriate action on any comments or posts that do not meet our guidelines – from deleting comments to blocking or reporting people

What we encourage:

  • Respectful and healthy debate and discussion, however robust.
  • A constructive, inclusive, and supportive environment for everyone
  • Relevant, topical conversations

What we will not tolerate:

  • Discrimination of any kind – including racism, homophobia, sexism etc.
  • Use of swear words
  • Insulting, threatening, defamatory or obscene posts or comments
  • Unlawful posts or comments
  • Spam, links to unrelated content or self-promotion
  • Targeted bullying or abuse towards an individual or group

Monitoring:

Our team moderates our online presence across all digital platforms, and we also utilise Arwen – a leading provider of community management AI tools – to help ensure the interaction and engagement on Twitter is in line with our guidelines. You may read more about Arwen here.

According to Insider Intelligence, only 3-5% of social media content is toxic, yet it drives 38% of people out of the conversation. They don’t post for fear of being jumped on by trolls and other negative users. By making these channels safe for everyone to participate, we want to foster an open and honest debate, restore freedom of speech and create an environment where everyone is free to participate without fear.

Reporting Abuse

Social media has the power to unite and connect people from all over the world, but it can also be an outlet for people to share negativity and disrespectful comments. Discrimination of any kind has no place in our society and every single one of us has the power to report and stop it on social media.

If you see something and want to report it, please find some advice below on how to do so.

Instagram:

Swipe left or hold down on the comment (depending on the device) and press on the report icon – which is a box with an exclamation mark.

A menu will appear. Choose the option you feel best represents the comment you are reporting. Click on the option and hit ‘Submit Report.’

More information and help on how to report on Instagram can be found with this link here.

Facebook:

Press down on the comment (or hover over it and hit the three dots, if on desktop) and the menu will appear. Hitting ‘Hide Comment’ will mean you no longer see that comment on that post.

Click on ‘Find support or report comment’ and select the options from the menu, that you feel best represents the comment. More menus appear depending on what you choose. Click ‘submit’ to send the report.

More information and help on reporting comments on Facebook can be found with this link here.

Twitter:

Click the three dots on the right-hand corner. Hit ‘Block’ to stop the user seeing your posts, ‘Mute’ to stop seeing the user’s posts or ‘Report Tweet’ to flag the comment to the platform. The detailed ‘Report an Issue’ menu will appear, navigate this menu, and select what you feel is the most relevant option for the comment or post.

For more assistance and information on reporting tweets, visit this link here.

 

Comments & Responses

Comments are closed.