Privacy and Security

Fair Processing Notice

The purpose of Fair Processing Notices (FPN) is to explain how the Council uses your personal information. You can access a high level notice as well as that concerning the use of the joint customer contact database used by Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council.

Fair Processing Notice: How Somerset County Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council use your information

The Joint Customer Contact Database - Your right to know 

Publication Scheme

Freedom of Information Act 2000 all public authorities must publish a 'Publication Scheme'.  This is a guide to the specific information held by the authority. The model used by Somerset County Council is that for 'principal local authorities' as defined by the Information Commissioner's Office. 

View Somerset County Council's Publication Scheme

About cookies

Where services are online, sometimes a website will place small amounts of information on your device. These are called cookies, they are pieces of information that are usually used to improve your experience. For example they can be used to store information so that you don't have to provide it several times during one task, or they can measure how many people are using services so they can be improved.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a directive which says that UK websites should ask for a user's consent before storing any cookies on their device, unless the purpose is for 'facilitating the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network' or where it is 'strictly necessary to provide an information society service requested by the subscriber or user'. You can read more about this on the ICO website (external link).

Somerset.gov.uk only uses cookies to help us accurately estimate the number of visitors to our website and how they use it. We consider this necessary, as it provides us with information that helps us to continue to improve our website. In order to do this our site uses Google Analytics. You can find out more about how Google Analytics uses information on the Google Analytics website (external link).

Somerset.gov.uk does not use cookies to collect any personal user information. If you choose not to accept a cookie your access to services on our website will not be affected.

Most browsers accept cookies by default, but you can turn this off, or ask to be notified about cookies in your browser settings.

Our Site Uses Cookies

PHPSESSID

Each time you visit the website we start a "session" and assign a unique ID. We can track various pieces of essential data for your session which are all stored on our server. The session ID only is stored in a temporary cookie, which is automatically deleted either after an extended period of inactivity, or when you close your browser.
Example content: 7survk07rpabnehml6m71qq8r6

 

cookie_info_pane

This cookie is set when the site is first visited and stops the cookie information pane from sliding down. Without it, the pane would appear on every page. This cookie will automatically expire after 1 year, if not deleted prior to that.
Example content: 1

Requesting Information held by the Council
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you the right to request information from any public authority. It promotes openness and accountability among public sector organisations, so that everyone can understand how authorities make decisions, carry out their duties and spend public money.

View further information about the Freedom of Information Act

Request information under the Freedom of Information Act

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to access personal information that the Council holds about you.

View further information about the Data Protection Act

Request personal information under the Data Protection Act


For more information about information held by the Council or the way in which the Council uses your personal information please contact:

The Data Protection Officer,
Somerset County Council,
County Hall,
Taunton,
TA1 4DY

Email: Informationgovernance@somerset.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 3459166

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