Privacy Policy - Office for National Statistics (2024)

The information that follows sets out how we use your personal data when we provide research services under the research strand of the Digital Economy Act (DEA), the Statistics and Registration Service Act or any other legislation. This applies to the accreditation of Researchers, their projects, and Processors and when you use the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS). If you have any queries about how your personal data are used by us, please contact srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.

The data controller is the person or organisation who decides which personal data shall be processed, and for what purpose. The UK Statistics Authority is the data controller who makes those decisions. In practice the work is mostly performed by ONS, the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority.

You can contact ONS either by telephone, email or post:

0845 601 3034

info@ons.gov.uk

Office for National Statistics, Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales, NP10 8XG

Our Data Protection Officer is the person charged with providing UK Statistics Authority and ONS with advice and guidance on the ways we can best protect the information we collect and use, and they are involved in all the major decisions we make in relation to personal data.

If you have any queries or concerns regarding your data, or wish to exercise any of your rights (see the section “Data subject rights”), then please contact:

0845 601 3034

DPO@statistics.gov.uk

Data Protection Officer, Office for National Statistics, 1, Drummond Gate, London, SW1V 2QQ

Your personal data will be used to process applications for accreditation under the research strand of the Digital Economy Act 2017 and to allow us to monitor our compliance with the public sector equality duty.

We may need to contact you from time to time to let you know about upcoming events, news, and service alerts. We may do this using a third-party, but your details will never be retained by them. If you don't want to receive these communications, email us at srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.

As a government organisation, it’s important we are open and transparent about who has access to the data we provide. We publish a list of all Accredited Researchers, Peer Reviewers and Processors who have been accredited under the DEA, on the UK Statistics Authority website. We also publish a list of all researchers approved under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. If you feel you should not be included on these lists, please let us know by emailing us at srs.customer.support@ons.gov.uk.

As a government organisation, we have statutory functions to promote and assist statistical research, and to accredit researchers and peer reviewers. These provide us with a lawful basis to process your personal data.

At ONS we treat the data we hold with respect, keeping it secure and confidential.

The personal data the applicant provides will be shared with the relevant Accredited Processors, data owners and other researchers as necessary to allow us to process your application and facilitate your access to data.

We share anonymised data with research data owners, so they can monitor the use of their data. This will generally be limited to organisation sector and project theme.

In the event of a suspected breach of the terms of access, your personal data may also be disclosed to other persons or organisations involved in any investigation or sanction, including other Accredited Processors.

Data protection law requires that personal data is kept for no longer than is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was originally collected. We will use your data for as long as the applicant has access to research data. Once the applicant no longer requires access, or the accreditation expires, we will de-identify or anonymise data without compromising its utility or our duty of transparency under legislation.

As a data subject (someone whose personal data we hold) you have rights available to you under data protection law. If you wish to exercise any of these rights then please contact our data protection officer, but please be aware that some exemptions apply if the data is being held for statistical purposes only. Compliance requirements are set out in the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You have the right to request, from any controller that holds your personal data: access to the information they hold about you and to amend any wrong or inaccurate information they hold about you. You have the right to object to your personal data being processed.

You have the right, in some circ*mstances, to request any controller to erase any personal data they may hold about you, stop processing your personal data, or pass any information they hold about you to another controller. Further information on the rights available to you, and the circ*mstances under which you can exercise them, is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the independent body tasked with regulating data protection within the UK. They can provide you with additional information regarding data protection and your rights, and will deal with any complaints you may have regarding our use of your data:

0303 123 1113

casework@ico.org.uk

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