Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme Consultation - Privacy Notice

Data Controller:

Department for Infrastructure
James House
2 - 4 Cromac Avenue
Belfast
BT7 2JA

• Telephone: 028 9054 0540
• Email: info@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

This Privacy Notice sets out how the Department for Infrastructure (the Department) uses and protects any information that you give when you respond to the consultation on free and discounted fares on public transport (concessionary fares). This Privacy Notice explains your rights and gives you information you are entitled to under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). It only refers to your personal data (your name, address and anything that could be used to identify you personally) and not the content of your response to this consultation.

The consultation:

• The Department is consulting with the public on the NI Concessionary Fares Scheme as part of its open policy making process.
• The Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme is provided for under Article 5 of the Transport (Northern Ireland) Order 1977, to allow travel concessions on public transport throughout Northern Ireland.
• We are seeking views on a range of proposals which aim to make sure the Scheme is affordable and targeted at those groups of people it is intended to reach.

Your Data:

• The Department is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

We collect your personal data as part of the consultation process:

• for statistical data, for example the types of individuals and groups participating.
• to inform the public policy on Concessionary Fares and the Department’s equality impact assessment.
• so that we can contact you regarding your response or related matters.

For information you submit online via the Consultation Hub:

• The Department for Infrastructure is the data controller.
• The Department of Finance, operating as Citizen Space, is the data processor.

Citizen Space provides and operates the platform for online responses, and their privacy policy explains how they collect, safeguard and process your data on behalf of the Department.

What categories of data are we processing?

The information we may collect as part of our consultation includes:

• Name (your response can be anonymous if you are responding as an individual)
• Email address
• Postcode
• Sex
• Age
• Disability status
• Employment status
• SmartPass details and usage if applicable (Senior 65+, 60+, War Disablement, Registered Blind, Disability (half-fare))
• Any personal data you volunteer by way of evidence or example in your response to the consultation

If you respond online, we will also collect:

• your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and details of which version of web browser you used
• information on how you used the site, provided by cookies and page tagging techniques

We will process your personal data lawfully under Article 6 (1) (e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Article 6 (1) (e) relates to the lawful processing of personal data 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.

The personal information you provide such as gender, age range and geographical location will be used to provide the Department with a better understanding of the responses to the consultation.

What will you do with my personal data?

• We will use the information you provide to inform the Concessionary Fares Consultation. The Data Controller for the information you provide in this survey is the Department for Infrastructure.
• Following closure of the consultation, responses will be analysed, and a Consultation Outcomes Document drafted and published. Where permission has been given, we will make all responses available to the public on the Department for Infrastructure’s website.
• If you are an individual responding in a private capacity, you need to provide your name but you can choose for it not to be published. You will need to indicate whether you wish your name to be withheld or disclosed when responding.
• Where we ask you to supply personal data, we will only make access to this data available to authorised members of staff who are required to process it for the purposes outlined in this privacy notice.
• We will publish a summary of the consultation responses and in some cases, the responses themselves but these will not contain any personal data. We will not publish the names or contact details of respondents but will include the names of organisations responding.
• We may however share your response internally with other divisions within the Department for Infrastructure or NI Civil Service who may be addressing the issues you discuss. They may wish to contact you again in the future, but we require your permission to allow them do so. You will need to indicate whether you wish to be contacted when responding.

We will not:

• sell or rent your data to third parties
• share your data with third parties for marketing purposes

We will share your data if we are required to do so by law, for example by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime. Any requests from a third party for us to share your personal data with them, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 for instance, will be dealt with in accordance with data protection law, to protect your identity.

How long do you keep my personal data?

• Once the survey has closed, your data will be held within the Department’s secure network and premises in line with the Department’s retention and disposal schedule.
• We will only retain your data for as long as necessary. After this period your personal data will be archived and then deleted.
• We keep our retention periods under review and will update this section of the Privacy Notice should we make changes.

What are your rights with respect to your personal information?

You have the right to:

• obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and access to your personal data;
• have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
• have your personal data erased and prevent processing in specific circumstances;
• to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data, in specific circumstances;
• You have the right to object to the processing, in specific circumstances.

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal information is being processed, please contact the Departmental Data Protection Officer at:

DfI Data Protection Officer
James House
2 - 4 Cromac Avenue
Belfast
BT7 2JA

• Telephone: 028 9054 0806
• Email: dfigdpr@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

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

• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Email: casework@ico.org.uk
• Website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

Last updated June 2024