Privacy notice – LibrariesWest

Last updated: 5 June 2024

The purpose of this privacy notice is to tell you what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information and who we may share it with.

LibrariesWest is a partnership between the library services of Bath & North East Somerset, Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole, Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils. The partnership collects and stores data in a shared database to enable you to use libraries across LibrariesWest. Personal data provided to any one authority when registering to use the library service will be shared between all of the authorities in LibrariesWest and held on a shared database.  

North Somerset Council is a Data Controller in respect of its own data and a Data Processor when using other authorities’ data.

Unless otherwise agreed with you, we will only collect the minimum personal data required to deliver the service, which includes name, address, date of birth, telephone number and email address. We are collecting this data because the data is necessary to carry out the agreement you have entered into, for instance becoming a library member.

By law – Provision of a Library Service

Bath & North East Somerset, BCP (Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole), Bristol, Dorset, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils are legally required to provide a library service under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, and in order to provide the service efficiently and carry out this public task, we need to hold and process your data.

Legitimate Interests – Audit / Quality Control, Enquiries and Complaints

We will use your personal information, where there is a legitimate interest in carrying out audit and quality control and to enable the handling of enquiries and complaints.

If you have provided us with an email address we will send you essential service information, automated email notifications reminding you to return or renew your loans a few days before the due date, and emails to inform you when reserved items are available for collection (if you have opted to be informed by email).

If you have agreed, we will from time to time send out emails to library members to promote news and events relating to library services. If you would like to receive these emails, please inform a member of library staff.

We will hold this data for up to two years after your last transaction with us to meet audit requirements. However, if you have unreturned items or outstanding debt your data may be retained for a further 2 years. After this, your information will be deleted or archived. If you wish to view your details at any time, please go online at www.librarieswest.org.uk or ask a member of library staff. 

Your data may also be accessed by the suppliers of our library management systems. These suppliers have committed to handling data in accordance with UK data protection legislation and will only do so to the extent that it is required to maintain the library management systems. Your data may also be shared with the local authorities’ service delivery partners. We will only share your data with these partners where we have a data sharing agreement in place and only for the purpose of delivering more effective public services to you. 

Transfers Abroad

To provide and maintain an effective library service to customers it may be necessary to transfer customer data to our LMS supplier’s data centres hosted in Europe. This data will only be securely transferred and/or accessed when necessary due to technical issues in the UK based data hosting centres. 

E-services

The LibrariesWest Authorities jointly purchase a range of e-services, which can be freely accessed by customers. The third parties who access personal data to provide these services are bound by UK data protection legislation and will only access data to the extent that is required to deliver the service.

You have the right to ask LibrariesWest for a copy of your data, the right to rectify or erase your personal data, the right to object to processing, the right of data portability and the right to withdraw consent where consent is the legal basis for processing your personal data. However, these rights are only applicable if the Council has no other legal obligation concerning that data. We ensure that the information is held securely and is protected from unauthorised access.    

You can ask to see what information we hold about you and have access to it by contacting librarieswest@somerset.gov.uk. LibrariesWest will then forward your request to the local authority where you signed up for your library card for processing.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we process your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer for North Somerset: DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk   

You also have a right to complain to the regulator at https://ico.org.uk if you think we have not dealt with your information in a proper manner.

The Councils are required by law to uphold the law and protect the public funds they administer. They may share information provided to them with other bodies responsible for crime prevention, auditing, administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function, in order to prevent and detect crime including fraud.

Changes to this privacy policy will be made when required in response to changing legal, technical, or business developments. When we update our Privacy Policy, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make. We will obtain consent to any material privacy policy changes if and where this is required by applicable data protection laws.

You can see when this privacy policy was last updated by checking the ‘Last Updated’ date displayed at the top of the page.