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Privacy Policy

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Introduction

Our Privacy Policy sets out Woking Borough Council's commitment to your privacy, and explains the ways in which Window on Woking collects, stores and uses your personal and non-personal information when you visit the website.

In order to access some services on Window on Woking, you are required to register with it to open an account. For example, personal accounts are required to add an organisation, register with an organisation, or become a publisher on behalf of an organisation. An account may also be required for new services as we develop these. You are required to submit personal information about yourself (your name, address and email address) in order to open an account. You may also choose to provide additional information or comments when registering for an account. This additional information can be of assistance when a member of the Support team or the Editor of an organisation is responding to your request. This information will be held against your account. You may also be asked to provide additional information in order to receive particular services via the community website. Whenever you provide additional information we will treat it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Data Protection Act

Window on Woking community website is administered by Woking Borough Council. The Council as data controller is required to notify (register) under the Data Protection Act 1998. Our registration number is Z5956782, and you can view a copy of our register entry at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk. Any information you provide will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. It will only be used for the reasons specified and will not be shared with any third party without your consent (unless the law provides otherwise).

Editors are required to comply with eight principles of good information handling (the Data Protection Principles). These principles mean that personal information provided to them:

  • must be fairly and lawfully processed,

  • must be processed for specific purposes,

  • must be adequate, relevant and not excessive,

  • must be accurate and kept up to date,

  • must not be kept for longer than is necessary,

  • must be processed in line with the rights of the individual,

  • must be kept secure

  • must not be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area unless there is adequate protection for the information

Collecting Information

Window on Woking does not collect personal information about you when you visit the website, unless you have chosen to provide such information by registering to open an account with the community website (or an organisation on the community website), or filling in an online form or registering for an online service via the website.

Access to Personal Information by an organisation's Editor(s)

If you register with an organisation, the personal information you submit at the time of registration will be available to the Editor(s) of that organisation. Editors are also required to abide by this Privacy Policy and the Data Protection Principles. Editors may use your details to contact you in respect of that organisation's web pages or its activities.

Non-Personal Information

Window on Woking collects some information made available by your browser every time you visit the community web site. This information includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address (a unique number that is assigned to every computer connected to the Internet), browser type, the date and time of your visit to the site, and the web pages opened. We use this information to provide logs of the use of the site, to perform statistical analyses of user behaviour (for example, to measure relative interest in the various features and content of the site), and to help us develop and improve the services we provide.

This information does not include personal information about you.

Storing and Using Personal Information

We use, or may use personal information you have provided to the site in the following ways:

  • To verify the identity of a person who applies to register an organisation with Window on Woking

  • To verify the identity of a person who wishes to register a personal account with the community website, or with an organisation that is registered with the community website

  • To provide online services to you via the community website

  • To enable Woking Borough Council and/or Window on Woking Support staff to contact you in connection with the operation and development of the community website

We will not sell or pass on your personal information to other services within the Council or third parties except where this is essential in order to provide the service you have requested through the community website, or you have given us your permission to do so. We will always make it clear to you if we propose to share your personal information with others and seek your agreement to do so.

Information Security

We take reasonable steps to protect against unauthorised access to, alteration, disclosure or deletion of personal information. Our servers are provided by a third party hosting service whose security measures are independently audited and certified. Our servers are protected by firewalls and have an active monitoring system that provides an alert of deliberate attempts to disrupt or hack into the service.

Access to personal information held on the community website is restricted to Woking Borough Council's employees and consultants who need to know that information to deliver or improve the Council's services, and the Editor(s) of an organisation against which individuals have registered accounts.

The security of your personal information also relies on you taking reasonable steps. You should never pass on or share your password with anyone else. If you do, that person will have access to your personal information, and may change it without you knowing. If you believe someone else has obtained your password, please change it immediately (as described below).

Neither Window on Woking Support staff, nor an Organisation's Editor(s) will ask you for your password by phone or email. Please do not give your password to anyone who contacts you, even if they claim to be from the Council or Window on Woking Support or an organisation with which you have registered an account.

Contacting You

If you register with Window on Woking we may use your personal information to contact you by letter, phone, or e-mail. All Publishers and Editors will receive regular copies of our e-mail bulletin to keep them informed of new developments and news relating to the community website.

We may contact you in respect of any services we provide or are under development by Window on Woking. We may also contact you from time to time to in order to request specific feedback on the services we are providing via the community website.

Access to your Personal Information

If you wish to have a copy of your personal information held by Window on Woking, please contact the Support team.

There are many pages on the community web site that contain links to other web sites operated by third parties. Woking Borough Council has no responsibility for the operation of these web sites. No personal information submitted to Window on Woking will be transferred to these sites. If you submit personal information to a third party site, you should satisfy yourself whether the site has its own privacy policy.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small file that is stored by your browser on your computer. Window on Woking uses cookies to recognise your account when you log in to the site or the administration area. The cookie itself does not contain any personal information, is not made available to third parties, and is not used to track your activity on the site. The software you use to browse the web (such as Internet Explorer) must allow cookies for you to be able to successfully log into Window on Woking.

Amending your Personal Information

It is important that you keep your personal information up to date if you wish to continue to receive services through Window on Woking. If you have an Account (or accounts) with the community site or one or more organisations, you can update your details at any time by logging in and selecting Manage My Account. You can then change your password or your personal details. If you are an Publisher or Editor for an organisation, you can also make these changes via the Administration Shell (you can find the links under My Options on the main menu of the Shell).

Please do not ask Support to amend your details as we do not provide this service.

Changes to this Policy

This Privacy Policy may be changed or revised over time as new features are developed on Window on Woking. We will post the amended Policy on the community website, and try to ensure, as far as we are able, that you are aware of the changes to the Policy by prominently displaying notification of any changes.

Policy Updated: May 2006