Fostering York privacy notice

City of York Council (CYC) complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), reference: Z5809563.

We regularly review this privacy notice and it was last updated in October 2023.

CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information about you. It applies to CYC Fostering Services.

CYC is the controller for the personal data we process, unless otherwise stated. You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145.

Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.

You can find more information about the role of the Data Protection Officer in our Data Protection Policy Statement.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant specific privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this privacy notice.

How we collect your information

We collect information about you from the following sources:

  • online application forms
  • paper application forms
  • face-to-face applications and queries
  • telephone applications
  • Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams
  • when you take part in surveys, campaigns or consultations
  • Disclosure Barring Services (DBS)
  • referees / references (such as personal and/or employment)

The amount and type of personal data the Fostering Service will collect from you will depend on why and how you are contacting or interacting with us, and the service or information you are requesting. We will only ask you for the information that is necessary to provide you with responses to what you are contacting us about.

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What personal data we process and why

We process your personal data such as:

  • name
  • date of birth
  • contact details
  • your opinions, comments and feedback

We may also process certain ‘special category’ data including:

  • ethnicity information
  • medical information
  • details of relationships and sexual orientation
  • religious and philosophical beliefs

Where we process data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this includes details of any past criminal convictions or offences such as Disclosure Barring Services (DBS).

We use your information:

  • to deliver the fostering service
  • for foster carer recruitment campaigns
  • to answer enquiries about becoming a foster carer
  • to confirm your identity
  • for foster placement matching
  • to ensure that children, young people and foster carers receive a high level of care and support
  • to help improve our service
  • to provide anonymised reports, such as evaluations of the fostering service
  • to send you regular updates if you have signed up to receive them

Where we use systems or apps such as Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp or Microsoft Teams, to contact you or to gather information from you, we will let you know.

We may also use your information to contact you to take part in surveys, campaigns or consultations about our foster care services. We will either ask for your consent to do this or will rely on the legitimate interests of the council as the lawful basis, to contact you for this purpose. This is because it's reasonable for us to ask you for your feedback, comments and opinions about this service as it is essential to help us meet our internal and external obligations in delivering the fostering service.

If you want to withdraw your consent please contact us on email: foster4york@york.gov.uk.

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making without any human intervention in providing this service.

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Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with Article 6, 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

The legal basis for processing your personal data is in accordance with the following:

  • Article 6(1)(a) Consent of the data subject
  • Article 6(1)(b) Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract
  • Article 6(1)(c) - Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation
  • Article 6(1)(e) 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 controller
  • Article 6(1)(f) - Necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject

The legal basis for processing your special category data is in accordance with the following:

  • Article 9(2)(a) Explicit consent of the data subject, unless reliance on consent is prohibited by EU or Member State law
  • Article 9(2)(b) - Processing is necessary for carrying out obligations under employment, social security or social protection law, or a collective agreement
  • Article 9(2)(g) - Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest on the basis of Union or Member State law which is proportionate to the aim pursued and which contains appropriate safeguards

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and our legal responsibilities are set out in various legislation and statutory requirements including but not limited to:

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, that sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as is necessary and in accordance with our applicable retention schedule requirements, detailed below, and when we no longer have a need to keep it, we will delete or destroy it confidentially and securely.

For client records relating to the provision of foster care we will retain information for 75 years from the date of birth of the child.

For records relating to the creation and management of providing foster care places we will retain information for 6 years from when process changes.

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Data sharing

In the course of performing our legal duties, we will share your information in the council and with external agencies such as:

  • social work practitioners and senior managers
  • independent reviewing officers
  • safeguarding teams
  • Ofsted
  • health agencies
  • the police
  • other local authorities
  • education providers

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information. We may also share information about you with third parties including our data processors, government agencies and external auditors.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision-making and satisfy ourselves we have a legal basis on which to share the information.

We do not pass or sell your information to third parties for marketing, sales or any other commercial purposes without your prior explicit consent.

Additionally we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

Where we have third parties providing parts or all of our services for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them.

When we use Microsoft Teams to provide secure online conversations, we may record and or transcribe these and you can find out more about this at City of York Council Microsoft Office 365 (MS365) Teams Meeting recording and transcription Privacy Notice.

Other privacy notices will be available on the other systems' or apps' we may use such as Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp.

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Transfers of personal data

We don’t routinely transfer personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 554145, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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