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UK Parliament

Diversity monitoring for parliamentary functions privacy notice

We respect your right to privacy. This privacy notice sets out details about the personal data that we collect from you and how we may use your information.

In this notice, references to 'us', 'our' or 'we' are to the House of Commons. The Corporate Officer (Clerk of the House of Commons) is the Controller of any personal data processed as described in this Privacy Notice. The Data Protection Officer is the Head of Information Compliance.

If you have any questions about the use of your personal data, please contact Information Compliance:

Collection and use of your personal data

The House of Commons is committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion. We ask individuals we work with, for example witnesses and specialist advisers, to complete diversity monitoring surveys.

This information is collected to allow us to track the diversity and experience of those we work with. This is necessary to help the House Service achieve its strategic aims of encouraging a diverse range of people to interact and engage with the House of Commons.

In these surveys we will collect a range of personal data and special category data in order to fulfil the purpose specific to each collection.

The data we ask for may include:

  • name (We ask for your name to ensure that we can identify you if you wish to withdraw your consent at any time)
  • age range
  • the region in which you live
  • education history and qualifications
  • employment and socio-economic status, including whether you are on parental leave
  • racial or ethnic origin
  • religious or philosophical beliefs
  • information about health or medical conditions, including whether you have a disability or whether you are pregnant
  • sex and gender identity
  • sexual orientation

A lawful basis is required to process personal data for example, name, age or region. A further condition is required when processing special categories of personal data as these require greater protection.

Special categories include racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, health data, and sex life or sexual orientation.

We will collect your personal data and special category data only where we have your consent to do so and the lawful basis and condition we rely on is as follows:

  • personal data: UK GDPR Article 6 (1)(a) - we have your consent
  • special Category Data: UK GDPR Article 9 (2)(a) - we have your explicit consent;

You will be asked to provide your consent at the end of any survey so you are able to see the information requested before making this decision.

In compliance with DPA 2018, our Safeguards Policy (pdf, 135KB) provides further information about the processing of special category data.

Sharing your personal data

Your survey answers will be processed by the Scrutiny Unit. Your personal data will never be shared with anyone else in the organisation or externally unless there is a lawful basis for doing so.

Aggregated and/or fully anonymised statistical information may be shared with other areas of the business and externally to improve our services where there is a requirement to do so. 

Anonymised statistics may be published in reports and publications or in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Any statistical information will not identify you personally.

We will never share or sell your personal data to other organisations for direct marketing purposes.

Storage, security and retention of your personal data

We take the security of your data seriously. All personal data you provide to us will be stored securely, both physically and electronically, in accordance with our policies.

We have an information security process in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data. Some personal data controlled by us are held outside the UK.

These data are predominantly held in data centres within the European Economic Area (EEA), for the purpose of hosting and maintenance. Regulations under section 17A of the DPA 2018 specify that all countries within the EEA are regarded as providing an adequate level of data protection.

If personal data are transferred to a country outside the UK or EEA, the adequacy of that country and the organisations and systems processing the data is assessed to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.

Your personal data will be held for up to five years, or the length of a Parliament, whichever is shorter. This is so that the data can be used for the period of an entire Parliament.

This is necessary to allow us to monitor diversity data and trends over time and identify where we need to take further steps. At the end of the retention period, your personal data will be disposed of securely. Anonymised/statistical data may be kept for longer.

This retention period will be reviewed regularly and any changes will be reflected in this privacy notice.

For further information on personal data disposal, please see our Authorised Retention and Disposal Policy (ARDP).

Your rights

We will ensure you can exercise your rights in relation to the personal data you provide to us. 

You can withdraw your explicit consent to the processing of your personal data at any time.

You can request access to the personal data we hold about you at any time by contacting the Data Protection Officer whose contact details are found at the top of this notice.

You can ask us to update your personal data if it changes. In certain circumstances, you can request we erase the personal data we hold or ask us to stop or restrict processing if you have an objection.

If you have any privacy-related questions or unresolved problems relating to the use of your personal data, you may contact us to complain by contacting the Data Protection Officer whose contact details are found at the top of this notice.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the supervisory authority, about our collection and use of your personal data. They can be contacted at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or ico.org.uk.

Further details about your rights and the complaints process can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.