Information about how Wirral Council’s Contact Centre uses your personal data.
Wirral Council’s Contact Centre is committed to protecting your privacy when you use council services. This Privacy Notice below explains how Wirral Council (as a Data Controller) collects, uses and protects personal data that we hold.
Who is the Data Controller for the information I provide?
Wirral Council is the Data Controller for the personal information you provide.
Our address is;
Wirral Council
PO Box 290
Brighton Street
Wallasey
Wirral
CH27 9FQ
Issues of how data is handled are dealt with by the Council's Data Protection Officer Jane Corrin who can be contacted by email at DPO@wirral.gov.uk
Why do you need my information?
We record calls and web chat details to help us monitor performance and improve customer interactions with the Council
Call Recording
This could include any incoming or outgoing telephone calls that are handled by staff in the Council’s Contact Centre. However if a payment is required, financial details are not included in the recording, and the process for making a payment is conducted without staff intervention.
Any conversations that take place following the transfer of the call to another Council department will not be recorded. How to contact the council.
Why are calls recorded?
It has become common practice to record calls due to the growth of business conducted by telephone.
Recording customer conversations allows us to assess customer satisfaction, train and develop staff, review call quality, and have access to a verbal record of what is said in the event of a subsequent complaint.
It also hopefully means employees feel more protected knowing that any threatening behaviour can be evidenced and acted upon where necessary.
How are call recordings used?
Quality monitoring
Written records only provide partial information. A call recording provides a more rounded view and allows us to better understand the customer experience and assess the processes applied. This can help us identify any improvement areas.
Training and Development
Listening to a sample number of calls, allows managers to identify training needs. Sample scenarios are based on the recordings.
How have we informed our customers that we record calls?
Customers who ring the Contact Centre hear the following message:
Welcome to Wirral Council. Please visit our website at wirral.gov.uk to report, request or find information about our services. Your call may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.
Can I request a copy of my call recording?
Call recordings are destroyed after 2 months. (62 days) If the recording is available, you can request a copy of your conversation by contacting us.
This will be provided to you in accordance with your right of access to your information.
Complaints and disputes
Some calls are verbally resolved. When information is entered onto an electronic system this information becomes the established record. In the event of a complaint or dispute, a call recording (if available), may provide additional information to help us investigate any allegations.
Employee safety and wellbeing
A recording may become a vital piece of evidence in the event of any threats being made to the organisation or an individual.
Web chat
Web Chat is an option for residents to contact the Council via the Councils website. It can be used to ask for information, or record a request for a service using their electronic device (laptop, tablet or phone) The message will be responded to in ‘real time’ by a customer adviser in the Contact Centre.
If you use the Web Chat service we will collect your name, email address and the contents of your Web Chat session in order that we can respond to you. stored in our customer In some circumstances, details of the ‘chat’ will be transferred to another database. This will only be done if the chat relates to a more complex enquiry that forms part of an ongoing application or request.
You may be asked to complete a short survey on completion of your web chat. All answers for the survey are anonymised and will be used for service improvement
What legal basis allows you to use my information?
The Call Centre deals with a range of Council services and the legal basis that allows us to use your data is Public Task. The processing is necessary for us to perform a public task in the public interest as detailed in the following legislation, but not limited to
- Local Government Finance Act 1992
- Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
- Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001
- Highways Act 1980
- The Traffic Management Act 2004
- The Environmental Protection Act 1990
Who will my information be shared with?
Information will only be shared with the relevant service areas of the Council on request, such as a call recording to clarify what was discussed during a call that is in dispute or details of a webchat that becomes more complex and is passed to the relevant service area to follow up the enquiry.
We may disclose information to other partners of the council where it is necessary, either to comply with a legal obligation, or where permitted under the Data Protection Act, e.g. where the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of the prevention and/or detection of crime.
How long will you keep this information and why?
Call recordings and webchats will be stored for a period of 2 months (62 days). More complex webchats may be transferred to service areas for them to follow up and would then be subject that service areas retention period.
How will my information be stored?
Call recordings and webchats are stored on secure electronic databases
How we protect your data.
We will take appropriate steps to make sure we hold records about you (on paper and electronically) in a secure way, and we will only make them available to those who have a right to see them. The Council takes security measures such as, but not limited to:
Logical Security Control
- Encryption
- Anonymisation
- Partitioning
- Paper document security
Physical Security Control
- Managing workstations
- Website security
- Backups
- Network security
- Physical access control
- Monitoring network activity
- Hardware security
Organisational Control
- Monitoring committee
- Policies
- Managing Privacy risks
- Integrating privacy protection in projects (PIA)
Will this information will used to take automated decisions about me?
No
Will my data be transferred abroad and why?
No
What rights do I have when it comes to my data?
Right to be informed – through this Privacy Notice.
Right to rectification – you have the right to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to restrict processing – you have the right to block or suppress processing of your data, however this right does not apply in some circumstances.
Right to object to processing (to certain types of processing only).
Right of Access - you have the right to request a copy of your information and to know what it is used for and how it has been shared.
To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used please email informationmanager@wirral.gov.uk
Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?
Informal resolution
In the first instance we would ask that you try and resolve data handling issues directly with the relevant department before applying for a formal resolution.
Formal resolution
If you are dissatisfied with the informal resolution of your complaint you can request a review by the Data Protection Officer, Jane Corrin, by email DPO@wirral.gov.uk
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal complaint, you can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Changes to our Privacy Notice
We regularly review our privacy notice and suggest you check for any changes from time to time. This notice was reviewed November 2022.