York Health and Wellbeing privacy notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – reference Z5809563. We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in March 2026.

CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information about you.

However, the information we will process about you will vary depending on your enquiry.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904-555719

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other CYC privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice and/or CYC policies and procedures.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this document.

How we collect your information
What personal data we process and why
Automated decision-making
Collecting information automatically
Childrens' information
Lawful basis for processing your personal data
How long we keep your personal data
Data sharing
Data processors and or third parties
Transfers of personal data
How we protect your information
Your rights in relation to this processing
Cookies
Email
Unsolicited mail
Third parties

How do we get your information

We get information about you from the following sources:

directly from you

What personal data we process and why

We will only process the information that is necessary such as:

name
contact details
your comments, feedback and opinions if you choose to take part in our surveys, consultation etc. You can withdraw your consent to these at any time by contacting [email protected].

We will process your information to be able to answer your enquiry or request for a health needs assessment.

When you complete an online form on the council’s website and you have provided your email address, we will send you a copy of your completed online form.

We will ask for your consent to take part in surveys, consultation or other events to get your feedback, about the service and support you and your family has received

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to support or enhance council services. Where AI is involved in a process that directly affects your interaction with us, we will inform you before your user journey begins. This ensures transparency and helps maintain trust in how we use AI.

Our use of AI complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), including the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, accountability, and accuracy. We conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) where AI systems are likely to result in high risks to individuals’ rights and freedoms, such as automated decision-making or profiling.

If generative AI tools are used, we do not use personal or end-user data to train AI models. This helps ensure compliance with the purpose limitation and data minimisation principles under UK GDPR.

AI for Staff Productivity and Accessibility

Where AI tools are used solely by staff to assist with drafting, research, or accessibility - for example, to improve writing efficiency or summarise information - these uses do not form part of a business process that affects service delivery or decision-making. As such, no specific notification will be provided for these internal productivity uses.

These uses are considered low-risk and do not involve automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. They are also subject to internal governance and safeguards to ensure responsible use.

Examples include:

drafting internal reports or meeting notes
summarising lengthy documents for quicker review
assisting with spelling, grammar, or formatting tasks

We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you or individuals such as:

for statistical analysis
for statutory returns
for audit frameworks
to see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
to help design better services
to inform funding decisions

Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making in York Health and Wellbeing.

Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

Childrens’ information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with Article 6, 9 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

The legal basis for processing your personal data is in accordance with the following:

Article 6(1) of the UK GDPR

(a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
(c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
(e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

This is supported by the following legal framework:

Health and Social Care Act (2012)

The legal basis for processing your special category data is in accordance with the following:

Article 9(2) of the UK GDPR

(a)Explicit consent
(g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
(h) Health or social care (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

Health and Social Care Act (2012)

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed.

You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the Council retention schedule page.

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

other CYC services
other councils, government departments and agencies
other organisations such as NHS and the Police
third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
internal and external auditors

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

Data processors and or third parties

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps) etc for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:

the council’s use of Microsoft 365 as its main operating system; read the Microsoft Privacy Statement, alongside our contract with Phoenix Software Limited; read the Phoenix Data protection information
the council's use of Canon (UK) Ltd as its main multi-functional print devices; read the Canon (UK) Ltd Privacy Notice
Forvis Mazars who provide external audit services to the council; read the Local Government Audits in England - Forvis Mazars
Microsoft Forms, as part of MS365; read the Microsoft Privacy Statement
Veritau Public Sector Limited (VPS), who provide services to the council such as internal audits and counter fraud services; read the Veritau Privacy Policy
other specialist or assistive systems, software, platforms, applications (apps), to help provide our services and support to you and our staff

Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

How we protect your information

We are committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
training for all staff and elected councillors
policies and procedures

Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under Data Protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) For the public | ICO.

You can also find information about your rights at Our Privacy Notice – City of York Council.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, email: [email protected], telephone: 01904 555719, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Cookies

By using our website you are consenting to certain types of cookie being placed on your device. See our Cookies Policy.

Where our website links to external resources or websites, these may add their own cookies. These are outside our control. Cookies can be disabled by changing the settings in your browser, but you may need to re-enter information at times.

Email

Emails that we send to you or you send to us, may be retained as a record of contact and your email address stored for future use in accordance with our record retention schedules. If we need to email sensitive or confidential information to you, we may perform checks to verify the correct email address and may take additional security measures.

Unsolicited mail

You will not receive unsolicited paper or electronic mail as a result of sending us any personal data while using our website, unless you have given us permission to do this.

Third parties

We do not pass personal data to third parties for marketing, sales or any other commercial purposes without your prior explicit consent.

If we have to share your personal data externally, we require any third party to comply with the principles of data protection legislation, and our procedures and instructions, when they use your information on our behalf.