Social Media and e-newsletter privacy notice - Privacy notices

Runnymede Borough Council’s Communications Team facilitates communication and engagement with our residents using social media channels and e-newsletters to keep residents informed and up to date with the latest news that affects the borough. 

We collect and process the following information to engage with residents using social media

• Identity data [name, contact details]
• Social media handle or username [that you use to communicate on these platforms]
• Comments/images [that may contain personal or sensitive data that you choose to share with us]

In most cases this information is collected during our interactions with you when you contact us via a social media platform. The information is stored on the social media platform but may occasionally be screenshotted and emailed to council staff. If we believe a resident is abusing our social media policy, we will store their username and screenshots of relevant comments on our server, in case of further action being taken.

We collect and process the following information to send out e-newsletters to residents and interested parties

• Identity data [email address]

In most cases this information is collected during our interactions with you when you contact us about a service or sign up to our newsletter. This information is stored on our e-newsletter provider’s secure server but a backup copy of the email addresses of people who have registered to receive the Council’s e-newsletter is saved on the Council’s secure server.

Our lawful basis for the above purposes is as follows.

• Public task - we need to collect or use your information to carry out a task laid down in law, which the law intends to be performed by an organisation such as ours, specifically, to provide a good service for residents. For example, if you report a missed bin collection in consecutive months, we will be able to report the issue without needing repetition of your personal details. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure and the right to portability.
• Consent - where you have a free and informed choice to engage with us, for example if you ask to receive our e-newsletter. We will always give you the opportunity to withdraw consent at any time. All your data protection rights apply. If you follow the Council on social media, you are able to unfollow the Council using the settings in the platform you are using.
• Legitimate interests - where it is in our interests, or the interests of a third party, and the processing does not unfairly impinge on data protection rights and freedoms. For example, to monitor what is being posted online that could impact on the council and its residents. All your data protection rights may apply, except the right to data portability.
   

We process your information on one of the following grounds

• Our public task - to provide a good service for residents, for example, if you report a missed bin collection in consecutive months, we will be able to report the issue without needing repetition of your personal details
• With your consent – for example if you ask to receive our e-newsletter
• Our legitimate interests - for example, to monitor what is being posted online that could impact on the council and its residents

Our processors use your data to provide us with services necessary to meet our objectives. We ensure that there are appropriate agreements in place to protect your data and it is only processed under our instruction.

Please see the privacy policies of the relevant social media platforms and 101 Smart Messenger ltd which is the platform we use to send our e-newsletter to determine how they use your data. 

Your personal data that you supply to us may be shared with another service within Runnymede Borough Council to allow your query to be answered, for example, the Environmental Services Department, if your message relates to a missed bin collection.

All council officers are required to undertake relevant training to ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with the principles of data protection legislation.

We may share posts that you have already made public with council services or partners to ensure we meet our responsibilities where we believe the post may impact our residents or services. For example: in an instance where a social media user indicates an offence is about to be, or has been committed, or if a resident is breaching a term of contract with the Council, the Communications Team may view public profiles to identify the social media user and report to a relevant department. Equally, if you raise a question about a public service which is not run by Runnymede Borough Council, such as libraries, we may share that post with the relevant organisation or reply to you in the public area of the relevant social media platform and tag in the appropriate organisation.
 

Please see the ‘How we take care of your personal data’ section of our main Privacy Policy page. 

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary in order to help assist with your query or issue. Unless the conversation is ongoing, or the information within the conversation is relevant to a current conversation or investigation, any direct messages the Council receives via social media will be retained for six months and then deleted following the last correspondence. Messages will only be retained for the purposes of statistics, which will be anonymised.

Please note that the Council are only able to delete 'message conversations', not individual 'messages’. If you write to us through the same social media channel before the end of the retention period, older messages will be kept until the new query is deleted, six months after receipt.

Email addresses for our newsletter will be retained until you unsubscribe.

Rights available are directly related to our lawful basis for processing which is set out above. To find out more about your rights please see the Your Rights section of our main Privacy Policy.

Submit a FOI request

Submit a subject access request

Report personal data published