Communicating with us

Website and social media

We will use the Internet to communicate with the public and promote public participation. Through our social media accounts and website, we will post photos, videos, and sound recordings of our work and events, which may sometimes include personal data.

Although we often try to seek consent, this may not always be possible when capturing large crowds or public street scenes. If you are ever unhappy about being included in any of these publications, please contact us by emailing SocialMediaTeam@leeds.gov.uk.

The data that you provide when communicating with Leeds City Council through social media such as Twitter and Facebook will be stored directly with the social media platform, and as such, their privacy notice will apply. The information may subsequently be processed by Leeds City Council in order to respond to your enquiry.

We do not recommend that you communicate with us through social media for matters that require the transfer of sensitive personal information. In these instances we can be contacted by other means including online via our website. Please see the contact us page for more information.

Registration and authentication

In some cases we will require you to provide us with your personal details (authenticate) in order for you to access services. You may choose to set up an account, and if you do so, authentication will be carried out via Microsoft Azure. In most cases, you will not be required to set up an account in order to access council services.

Emails

Unless encrypted, email messages sent via the internet may not be secure and could be intercepted and read by someone else. Please bear this in mind when deciding whether to include personal or sensitive information in any email messages you intend to send to us. If you email us we may keep a record of the information you provide which will be kept for no longer than necessary, in line with our retention policy.

Using our website

The Leeds.gov.uk website does not store or capture personal information, about you unless you decide to provide it to:

  • subscribe to or apply for services that require personal information
  • report a fault and give your contact details for us to respond
  • contact us and leave your details for us to respond

You can read more about how we use cookies on our cookies page.

Telephone calls

We record telephone calls that are made to the Council’s contact centre for staff training purposes.

A random automated survey is carried out in relation to calls that are made to the council. The purpose of this survey is to assist the council in continuously improving the service provided. Completion of this survey is optional.

On occasions customers choose to utilise a third party company to assist in communications during their telephone call. In these instances consent will be relied upon subject to:

  • Article 6(1)(a) 'the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes'

The recordings are kept in line with our retention policy.

Face to face

During the COVID-19 outbreak, we have a temporary requirement to record your personal details when you visit one of our sites (please see below for more detail). Other than for this requirement, we will only capture your personal information if you decide to provide it:

  • to apply for services or memberships that require personal information
  • in order for us to update you in relation to your service request

Test and Trace (COVID-19)

There is a temporary legal requirement for Leeds City Council to capture the details of all individuals that enter a public access council building. This a requirement of Public Health England to allow for NHS Test and Trace to be carried out when required. Test and Trace is a key part of the country’s ongoing COVID-19 response.

The information that is required includes:

  • your name
  • contact phone number, email address or postal address
  • time and date of visit

Information that is captured for these purposes will be used for this reason only and retained for a period of 21 days as stipulated by Public Health England.

The legal basis for processing this information is:

  • Article 6(1)(e) ‘processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’

Public Health England’s privacy notice is available online. The guidance provided to organisations in respect of collecting this data is also available.

E-newsletters and texts alerts

Data you give us will not be used for sending you marketing e-newsletters or other electronic promotions e.g. text alerts, unless you have opted in to receive them. We may send you service announcements in this way though. We will not send you any other information electronically unless you have specifically opted to receive it.

The reason we use your data

The reason we use your data will depend upon the service you have requested. In most instances, a service specific privacy notice should be referred to.

Why we are allowed to use your data

We are allowed to use you data for legal obligations or to perform a public task under various UK laws depending on what your service requests relates to.

For further information into the detail of any relevant legislation which allows us to use your data, see the appropriate service specific privacy notice for your request.

Wherever it is not necessary to process your personal information in order to fulfil your request, we will make this clear, and give you the option to choose whether or not to provide it.

Privacy information