Privacy notice for work experience

1. Introduction

This notice provides additional privacy information regarding work experience at South Tyneside Council.

We will keep our privacy notice under regular review and will advise you of any updates on our website.

This Notice was last reviewed in January 2025.

2. Who we are

For the purposes of Data Protection legislation, South Tyneside Council is the Data Controller.

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

We may collect the following types of personal information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • School or College
  • Date of Birth
  • Sex
  • Religion
  • Medical information

4. How do we collect personal information?

We may collect your personal information in a number of ways, for example:

  • In person
  • In writing - for example letter or email
  • Telephone calls
  • Online forms
  • Referrals from another department
  • Family members acting on your behalf

5. Why do we collect your personal information?

We use this information to:

  • Enable you to carry out your work experience with South Tyneside Council
  • Mange absences from the workplace, such as sickness
  • Respond effectively in an emergency situation and ensure your health and safety at work
  • Ensure that our premises and systems are secure
  • Ensure the health and safety and safeguarding of our customers

6. Who might we share your personal information with?

We do not share information about our work experience students with anyone unless the law permits us to do so.

We may share your information with:

  • Third Party systems providers to help us to comply with health and safety legislation, including for trades certification and lone working.
  • Digital mail providers
  • Data processors who work on our behalf
  • People who you have identified for the purpose of an employment reference or who have been appointed by you to assist you with an employment dispute
  • Your School or College

We may share information for the purpose of fraud or crime prevention and for the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. We do not require your permission to share your information for this purpose and we may not notify you that we have done so. This may include sharing data with law enforcement bodies, such as the police or HMRC and other public bodies where they have a law enforcement role.

When we share data with other organisations:

  • We provide only the information that they need for their specific services
  • They may only use your data for the exact purposes that we specify in our contract with them
  • We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times
  • If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or anonymised

As part of our contractual arrangements with these parties, we ensure that personal information is stored and managed securely.

We will not sell your personal data onto third parties. We will not pass on your personal data to unrelated third parties unless we are allowed or required to do so by law, or we have your explicit permission to do so.

We will not share your personal information with any other third parties unless you have specifically asked us to, or if we have a legal obligation to do so.

7. How long will we keep your personal information?

We keep information in line with our retention policy, unless there are exceptional circumstances which require us to retain it for a longer period of time.

8. What is our legal basis for using your personal information?

To use your personal information there must be a lawful basis to do this, such as, through a contract, performing a public task or where there is a legal obligation. 

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

(a) Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting data.protection@southtyneside.gov.uk

Where we have collected special category data, such as health or religious information, we process this under Article 9(2)(a). This means we have only done so with your explicit consent. This data is collected to accommodate your needs during your placement with us.  

To comply with data protection legislation, we need to inform you that you have a choice about whether you provide us with information and how your data is used. However, if you chose not to share your personal data with us, this may affect our ability to provide you with a work experience place.

9. How do we keep your personal information secure?

South Tyneside Council takes your privacy, and the safety and security of your information, very seriously.

Information is held by South Tyneside Council in both paper, or non-computerised format and electronic, or computerised format:

  • Paper-based, non-computerised, information is stored securely within access-controlled storage and is only processed by staff with a need to do so.
  • Electronic, computerised, information is stored securely on servers managed by South Tyneside Council in partnership with BT South Tyneside.

South Tyneside Council has security procedures and information security policies to ensure that the data is handled appropriately and protected from accidental loss or misuse. These can be shared upon request. The Council seeks to comply and align its policies with all parts of the information security standards ISO 27001. Access to workforce information is only permitted where there is a legitimate reason.

10. Is your personal information used overseas?

No, your personal information will not be processed overseas.

11.What are your rights?

Your individual rights are set out in law. Subject to some legal exemptions, you have the following rights:

  • Right to be informed
  • Right of access
  • Right to rectification
  • Right to erasure
  • Right to restrict processing
  • Right to data portability
  • Right to object
  • Rights in relating to automated decision making and profiling

12. Contact us

If you would like to exercise your rights in relation to your personal information, or you feel that something has gone wrong with your personal information, you can contact us in either of the following ways:

  • By email: data.protection@southtyneside.gov.uk
  • By telephone: 0191 424 6539
  • In writing: South Tyneside Council, Information Governance, Town Hall and Civic Offices. South Shields, NE33 2RL

If you feel that the Council has not handled your information correctly you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO is the Government's Independent Body responsible for overseeing data protection.  In most cases the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council's internal procedures.

The ICO's contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF. More information can be found on the ICO's website at www.ico.org.uk.