Protecting Residents’ Data Under GDPR

A resident can share their data with the council at any point whilst living within the ward. This can include informing the local authority they have moved, paying their council tax online or applying for permits, just to name a few.

It can even include when the resident enquires generally regardless of their method, as some personal details will be recorded. These individuals will need to be aware of why the council collects this information and how they intend to process it. GDPR strongly outlines that explaining this must be clear, concise and written in plain language, it also needs to be easily accessible therefore it is recommended that your privacy policy contains this information.

For the majority of enquiries, the council can use ‘Legitimate Interest’ as the lawful basis for processing, as in most cases residents need to share their details in order for the councils’ services to be accessible for them. For example, if they want to find out their bin collection day, they would need to provide at least their postcode in order for the local authority to accurately supply this information.

If the council is collecting data for other purposes, such as marketing they will need to use another lawful basis for processing. Therefore consent will need to be given if it is intended to use the resident’s data in a manner the individual would not reasonable expect.

Gaining Consent Using Live Chat 

Any consent given during any part of the chat journey will be stored against the chat record and can be used as evidence for proof of consent. There are two ways to gain consent, the first way if for the resident to type out their statement of consent during a chat session.

This method allows the consent to be more specific and enables the representative to provide how they will process their details whilst in chat; therefore it doesn’t distract the visitor from the conversation whilst they review the privacy policy.

The alternative is to use a checkbox and a link to the privacy policy or a ‘just in time’ panel that summarises the intention behind collecting the data. All the visitor facing aspects of the Click4Assistance solution are 100% customisable allowing the checkbox to be added on the most appropriate window:

• Pre-chat form where details are being gathered before the chat starts
• Dialogue window where the visitor will express their enquiry
• Post chat form which can be used to collect details to opt into mailing lists or send transcript etc.

Under the right to erasure/ to be forgotten, a visitor can request for their data to be deleted once there is no longer a compelling reason for it to be processed, in the case of a council this is likely to be when a resident moves out of their ward. Whereas the rights of access and to data portability, allows an individual to request their personal details that the council holds for them, which must be sent in a readable format. If a visitor requests either of these, any records that are stored within the Click4Assistance solution can be easily searched by a user with the authorised permissions, who can send the information directly to the resident or purge the data permanently.

Click4Assistance has developed the enhanced solution to ensure that it complies with the new regulations for data processing. For more information on the Click4Assistance best live chat solution and security, contact our team on 01268 524628 or email theteam@click4assistance.co.uk.