Our privacy notice is in separate sections, the General Information section explains who we are and how you can contact us. This section explains the way in which we (the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales) handle your personal information if you are someone we think may be able to help us during an Own Initiative investigation.
Content
- The legal basis for processing your information
- What information we hold about you and why
- Additionalinformation that we may ask you to share with us
- Sharing and receiving your information
- Protecting your information
- How long we keep your information
- Your data protection rights
1. The legal basis for processing your information
We need to comply with our statutory duties set out in legislation. The legislation we need to comply with includes:
- Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2019 and
- Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR, which allows us to process personal data when this is necessary for the performance of the Ombudsman’s public task.
We have powers to undertake ‘Own Initiative’ investigations where evidence suggests that there may be systemic service failure or maladministration. Further information about our Own Initiative investigations can be found here.
2. What information we hold about you and why
We have been provided with your information in connection with an Own Initiative investigation we are undertaking.
The information provided to us will usually include your name and contact details.
The information may include details of your whereabouts, your role in a particular situation or information about your personal circumstances.
We may also obtain your information from publicly accessible sources, such as minutes of meetings or from other individuals or public bodies. In these circumstances, we may use this information during an investigation – for example, to obtain a witness statement or seek responses to a survey/questionnaire from you.
3. Additional information that we may ask you to share with us
We may need to contact you to obtain information from you during an investigation where you may have evidence relevant to the investigation. In doing so, we will be performing our public task (the statutory function set out under our governing legislation). As such, we will generally not require your consent to use information we have obtained.
Surveys/Questionnaire
We may ask you to complete a survey/questionnaire to gain your views. We often use Survey Monkey and may use Snap Surveys to gather information on our behalf – it will be clear if we are using Survey Monkey or Snap Surveys. Any data collected by Survey Monkey for the PSOW complies with the EU – US Privacy Shield Framework. You can read their Privacy Policy. Any data collected by Snap Surveys for PSOW is stored on UK servers. You can read their Privacy Policy.
Interviews
We may ask you to attend an interview as part of our investigation. Any invitation will be made in line with the powers set out in our governing legislation. If we record the interview, we will do so for evidential and/or recollection purposes. A copy of the recording will be available to you on request.
Call recordings
We record our calls (telephone and other audio/video calls), as we find that it can be useful to listen again to conversations, to help us understand what we have been told. Calls are recorded and stored on our own systems.
Comments and statements
It may be necessary to obtain your comments or a witness statement or to provide us with documentary or electronic information. Any request will be made in line with the powers set out in our governing legislation.
4. Sharing and receiving your information
It may be necessary to include the information you provide in any final decision or report issued by this office. If you have participated in a professional capacity we may publish your job title and the name of your organisation. These details may also be used in other publications or publicity material, unless you inform us that you wish them to be removed. We may need to contact you again to discuss (if appropriate) whether you could provide additional material.
If participating in a personal capacity, we will not publish your name or contact details.
Our legislation also requires us to provide a copy of our decisions or reports to specific third parties. As a public body we are required to consider requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In some instances, we may identify or receive information in a complaint that we feel should be given to the relevant authorities, such as the Police – for example, threats of violent behaviour. In these circumstances, we will disclose any information which we feel necessary to protect an individual’s ‘vital interests’. Where we disclose your information, we will do so in line with the requirements of our governing legislation or in the interests of natural justice.
5. Protecting your information
We take steps to protect your personal information. You can read about the steps we take in the General Information section of our privacy notice.
6. How long we keep your information
We will keep the information only for as long as we need it and will depend on what it is being used for. We have published our record retention schedule on our website. If you would like us to send you a copy, please let us know.
7. Your data protection rights
The General Information section of our privacy notice tells you about your data protection rights.
If you are unhappy with the way in which we have used your information you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).