Monthly Matters – Privacy Notice

This document describes how we work within the law to protect all the information you share with us through our Monthly Matters work. It also explains how we’ll keep it safe and what we’ll do with the information.

What we’re trying to achieve with Monthly Matters

Monthly matter is a new scheme of work available to our Ambassadors. The scheme provides children and young people with the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on a different topic each month. By taking part in the ‘Monthly Matter’ session, children and young people will be helping to shape the work of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales. We also want to shine a light on what children and young people think about matters affecting their lives.

Important information about ‘Monthly Matters’ and the information we collect from you

This work is voluntary. You do not have to take part. You may withdraw from the work at any time, without giving a reason. We won’t be collecting any personal information about you. We do not collect more information than we need to, and we will not keep it for longer than we need to.

How we’ll use and store the information from ‘Monthly Matter’

When you give us your information, there are rules we have to follow called Data Protection laws. These laws tell us we, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, have to keep your information safe. We are the data controller, which means that it’s up to us to make sure your information is kept safe. To help us collect information, we use a company called Snap Surveys. They are the data processors, which means they help us collect the information and help keep information you share safe. You can read Snap Surveys’ privacy notice on their website which says how they help keep people’s information safe. By law, we have to have a good reason (known as ‘legal basis’) to collect and use your information. Our lawful basis for doing this work is: The public task basis (Article 6 (1) (e) of the GDPR, which allows us to process personal data when this is necessary for the performance of our public tasks. It means that we will process your views, opinion or the information you provide to inform our work and to shine a light on what children and young people think about matters affecting their lives. In practice, this means that we may use some of the information to try and influence others, like the Welsh Government or local authorities, to change things to make children’s lives better in Wales. When we do this, we will never share information that could identify you. We may publish the information you share with us but we will never publish information that could identify you. When we publish information, we don’t publish names, so no-one will know that the information is about you.

Who will have access to the information?

Staff working for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales will have acess to the information. When we use the information outside our organisation, we will never share information that could identify you.

Where will the information be stored?

We’re using a company called Snap Surveys to help us collect the information. This means that the information you / your teacher / support worker will put into the form will be collected for us by Snap Surveys and stored in the UK. You can read more about where the information will be safely stored on Snap Survey’s Privacy Notice. We’ll then be able to read the information you’ve put into Snap Survey. We will store the information on our secure server.

How long will we keep your information?

Snap Survey’s privacy notice includes details of how long they’ll keep your information. We will keep the information people share with us for 7 years on our secure IT systems, in line with our document retention policy.

Your safety

If we’re worried about your safety: If someone makes an identifying disclosure in any response (they write about their current situation and details of how we could make contact with them), then one of our experienced Investigations and Advice Officers will look at the information and decide whether we should make contact with the individual, in line with our Safeguarding Policy. The office will make contact where possible and only if we are worried about the safety of a child/children.

Our contact details

Name: Children’s Commissioner for Wales
Telephone number: 01792 765600
Email: post@childcomwales.org.uk

Your Rights

You have the following rights over the information we hold about you:

The right to be told about how your personal information is used
The right to see copies of your personal information
The right to change your information if it’s inaccurate
The right to delete your personal information
The right to restrict our use of your personal information
The right to get an accessible electronic version of your personal data
The right to stop using your personal information.

If you would like to use any of these rights, ask a question or make a complaint about how your information is used, then please contact our Data Protection Officer, by emailing: post@childcomwales.org.uk or calling 01792 765600.

How to complain

You can complain to our Data Protection Officer if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. They’ll try to resolve any issues or concerns you may have. If after your complaint you’re still unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, also known as the ICO. Here’s how you can contact the ICO: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF // helpline – 0303 123 1113 // https://www.ico.org.uk