This page explains how your information will be used.
The Senedd Commission (“the Commission”) is the data controller of the information you provide, and will ensure it is protected and used in line with data protection legislation.
Our Contact Details
Any queries regarding our use of your information should be sent to the Data Protection Officer at:
0300 200 6565
What information we will collect about you:
When registering for the subscription feature, the following types of information about users of this site will be processed:
- Your email address, your first and last name, and your alert preference (weekly, monthly or real time);
- If applicable, information as to whether you are a member of the Senedd or work for a member of the Senedd. You are not obliged to provide this information.
We will also process any personal information you provide in the course of giving general feedback and in the course of queries that you make.
Why we are collecting this information:
As a research and information service based in the Senedd, Senedd Research provides politically impartial research to Members of the Senedd, their staff and Senedd Committees. This helps Members answer questions from constituents and supports them in scrutinising the Welsh Government’s legislation and policy. More information on what we do is available here https://research.senedd.wales/about-senedd-research/.
We publish our research in a number of formats, from short articles and longer briefings to interactive maps which contributes to an open and well informed debate in Wales. These can be found on this website https://research.senedd.wales/.
The purpose of asking you to subscribe is so that we can achieve these aims and engage with our stakeholders. Our stakeholders include Members of the Senedd and their staff, and members of the public. Alerting stakeholders to updates via weekly, monthly or real time alerts, as requested, is one tool available to us that ensures this information is as accessible as possible.
Likewise, receiving and responding to queries allows us to continue to inform debate and address areas that may require further explanation.
It is also important that we are able to improve our services to ensure that we adapt to audience preferences and continue effective stakeholder engagement. Receiving, considering and addressing feedback allows us to continuously develop and improve the service we provide to stakeholders.
How your information will be used:
Your information will be used only for subscription purposes, or to respond to your feedback and improve our services based on your feedback.
Who will have access to the information:
Personal data will be accessible by Commission staff in a small team in Senedd Research administering the micro-site, and by MailChimp. On occasion, it may also be necessary for us to share some of your personal data (see below).
We will share information relating to the number of people subscribed in an anonymised form back to the Senedd Research Editorial Board.
Will your information be shared or publicised?
We do not publish the personal information you provide as part of subscribing for alerts, or in the course of asking a query or providing feedback.
We welcome your queries and feedback. If a query does not fall under the remit of the Senedd or the Commission, it may be appropriate for us to pass on your query and contact information to the relevant organisation(s) for a direct response. Before doing so, we will inform you and ask if you would like us to pass on your information to the relevant organisation(s) that can deal with your query. If you refuse, we will not pass on your information but it may not be possible for us to provide you with a response to your query.
If you contact us asking for information, or with a query, which we are to respond to, we may need to contact others to find that information. In the course of doing so, we will only share your personal data if, and to the extent, required to provide you with a sufficient response.
If your query or feedback is technical in nature and requires a specialised response, we may need to pass it and your contact information to our technology suppliers to either respond to you directly or provide us with information that enables us to provide a sufficient response to you. We will only share your personal data to the extent that is necessary for the purposes of understanding and answering your query or responding to your feedback.
How your information will be stored:
The Senedd Research articles at the Welsh Parliament is hosted by a third party ‘Umbraco’ which is part of our Senedd website infrastructure. Your information will also be stored securely on our ICT systems which includes third party cloud services provided by Microsoft. Any transfer of data by Microsoft outside of the EEA is covered by contractual clauses under which Microsoft ensure that personal data is treated in line with domestic legislation. To find out more about how Microsoft will use your information, you can read their privacy statement here.
Our subscription service is provided through a third party application called Mailchimp.com. You can subscribe to updates through the following link: http://eepurl.com/iiA2vX. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Details about how MailChimp use your information can be found through their privacy notice: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/.
How long your information will be retained:
Registration data:
Once subscribed your information will be retained until you choose to unsubscribe. Subscribers can update their preferences or unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time by clicking on the links located at the end of the email.
Details about how long MailChimp will retain data is available on their website: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/.
General feedback and queries:
Once we have replied to feedback, we keep a record of your message for three years for audit purposes.
Other websites:
Other websites linked from this site are not covered by this privacy policy. You should always be aware of this when you are moving to another site and read the privacy statement of any site which collects personal information. This site links to:
- The Senedd’s main website https://beta.senedd.wales/help/privacy/privacy-notice/
- Twitter https://twitter.com/privacy
Our legal bases for collecting, holding and using your personal information
Data protection law sets out various lawful bases which allow us to collect, hold and use your personal information.
For the purpose of processing the personal data you provide, whether that be to subscribe to alerts or included within queries and feedback, we rely on the following legal bases:
The processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
It is in the public interest that the Senedd is able to engage with stakeholders effectively. The Commission plays a fundamental role in engaging with stakeholders on behalf of the Senedd as part of its statutory function to provide the Senedd with the services it requires for its purposes. The Commission may do anything that appears necessary or appropriate for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of its functions. It may also provide services to the public. By providing Senedd Research articles to the world at large, and alerting individuals to new articles should they ask to be alerted, the Commission is able to assist in ensuring well-informed debate and access to impartial information on topics and developments being debated in the Senedd and/or related to Wales.
The Senedd may also give special or general directions to the Commission for the purpose of, or in connection with, the Commission’s functions, which may require the provision of information and/or engagement with stakeholders through the use of Senedd Research articles. Finally, the Commission has a statutory function to promote public awareness for the current or any pending system of Senedd elections, and of devolved government in Wales. Senedd Research articles may be utilised to promote public awareness of these systems.
It is necessary for the Commission to gather feedback and process queries on its engagement tools, including Senedd Research articles, and use the information collected to improve the way it engages and provides information. This continuous improvement allows the Commission to ensure it is engaging with stakeholders as effectively as possible and promote improved interest and participation in the work of the Senedd. Responding to queries also allows the further provision of information that helps to inform debate and understanding, whilst providing a service to stakeholders.
If your query or feedback is technical in nature and requires specialist input, it may be necessary to share your personal data with our technology suppliers to ensure that an adequate response is provided to you or we are able to make improvements based on feedback.
Consent
If you raise a question within your query or feedback that does not fall within the remit of the Senedd or the Commission, we may seek your consent to pass on your personal data to a relevant third party organisation so that they are able to provide a response directly to you. You are able to withdraw your consent at any time.
Special category personal data
We may process special category personal data as part of queries and feedback if you choose to provide any. Special category personal data is defined as including data revealing racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation and data about health. We will be processing any relevant special category data about you and anyone else you mention in your feedback.
Special category data provided within feedback will be processed on the basis that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (as provided for by Article 9(2)(g) of the GDPR, read in conjunction with paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018), for the reasons outlined above. You do not have to provide us with special category personal data.
If you raise a question within your query or feedback that does not fall within the remit of the Senedd or the Commission, we may seek your explicit consent to pass on your special category personal data to a relevant third party organisation so that they are able to provide a response directly to you. You are able to withdraw your consent at any time.
Your rights
As a data subject, you have a number of rights. The rights which apply depend on the legal bases we are relying on to use your personal information. Those rights will not apply in all instances, and the Commission will confirm whether or not that is the case when you make a request.
The rights include the right to request access to your own personal information, sometimes called a ‘subject access request’.
Additionally, you have the right to request from us:
- that any inaccurate information we hold about you is corrected (please note that you are required to keep us up to date with any changes to your personal information);
- that information about you is deleted (in certain circumstances);
- that we stop using your personal information for certain purposes or in certain circumstances; and
- that your information is provided to you or a third party in a portable format (again, in certain circumstances).
If you would like to engage any of the rights that you have under data protection legislation, ask a question or make a complaint about how your information is used; please contact the Data Protection Officer using one of the methods set out at the above.
Requests for information made to the Commission
In the event of a request for information being made under access to information legislation, it may be necessary to disclose all or part of the information that you provide. We will only do this if we are required to do so by law.
How to complain
You can complain to the Data Protection Officer if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. Contact details can be found above.
If, following a complaint, you remain dissatisfied with our response, you can also complain to the ICO.
The ICO’s address is:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Changes to this privacy policy If this privacy policy changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Visit this page regularly to ensure that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties.
Updated April 2023