Privacy Notice - Homelessness
Who we are
London Borough of Newham (LBN) is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a ‘Data Controller’ This privacy notice applies to you (‘the service user’) and LBN (‘the Council’). The Council takes the privacy of your information very seriously.
This privacy notice relates to our functions relating to Homelessness applications, It provides additional information that specifically relates to this service, and should be read together with our general privacy notice, which provides more detail.
What data do we collect and process
We collect your name and contact details as well as your National Insurance number, current and previous addresses, family makeup, medical information and remand status, if relevant to your application. We may collect and process other personal sensitive data if you choose to give it to us. This may include your ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, immigration status.
Why we collect your data
We collect your data so that we can:
- help resolve your housing problem which may mean you are at risk of becoming/remaining homeless
- assess any application for housing and any possible application for homeless assistance under the Housing Act 1996 and any support needs (including health, financial and employment needs)
- Assess any possible duty under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 where a decision might be reached on any application that a housing accommodation duty is not owned or has been owed but has come to an end, or if you are a single person any assessment under adult social care legislation
- To protect the public funds administered by the Council for the prevention and detection of fraud
- To safeguard any individual if the information received indicates any matters that may suggest you, or a family member, are at risk of harm.
The lawful basis for processing your data
The lawful bases we use to process your data as set out in UK GDPR are:
Article 6 GDPR
- Legal obligation: processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (duties under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and provisions under the Children Act 1989 outlined above) to which the controller is subject;
- Vital Interests: processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
- Public Task: processing is necessary to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
Article 9 GDPR
- Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest
Article 10 GDPR
- The DPA 2018 will provide a lawful basis to process criminal offence data.
The lawful basis we use to process any special category data you choose to give us is:
Article 9 GDPR
- Explicit Consent: you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
How we use your data
We will use your data when you contact the service for advice and/or assistance as a person who is homeless, threatened with homelessness, or otherwise facing housing difficulties.
Who we will share your data with
We may share your data with landlords, with other Council services, including Benefits, government agencies, Police, voluntary sector bodies including bodies providing debt advice and support. If you complete a medical questionnaire, we will share this with our third-party provider Now Medical – who will use it to assess your application and may contact your health care providers if appropriate and necessary to do so. This list is not exhaustive, but we will only seek and/or share information when it is appropriate, proportionate and lawful to do so.
How long we will keep your data
We will keep your data safe and secure in line with our retention Schedule. When our duty has been discharged and we no longer have a relationship with you, it will be securely destroyed.
How do we protect your data
We comply with all laws concerning the protection of personal information and have security measures in place to reduce the risk of theft, loss, destruction, misuse or inappropriate disclosure of information. Staff access to information is provided on a need-to-know basis and we have access controls in place to help with this.
Know your rights
We process your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Find out about your rights at Your rights – Processing personal data privacy notice – Newham Council or at https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/.
If you have any queries or concerns relating to data protection matters, please email: dpo@newham.gov.uk.
