Privacy notice - Libraries equalities survey

North Somerset Council is carrying out a short engagement exercise on equalities to better understand the requirements and needs of customers. 

The data gathered from this consultation will be used to identify potential actions relating to this statutory duty and will help inform the development of a library service consultation in summer 2025 and the equality impact assessments. We are asking North Somerset library users to complete the survey.

Our consultations

All consultation and engagement surveys are hosted on our consultation hub. Please see our privacy notice for our consultation hub.

North Somerset Council is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for the purposes of processing personal data.  For full details of how we use personal data, please see the privacy section on our website.

The information you provide will be held and used in accordance with the requirements of UK and European data protection law. 

As soon as the survey administration is complete, your personal information is removed from all survey files.  

Information that contributes to any reports or evaluations may be held longer but will be anonymised to protect the confidentiality of individuals at all times.

As well as asking for your opinion on the library service offer, we will ask for your personal details across several equalities questions as losted:

• age
• any fairness issues
• main language
• ethnic group
• any physical or mental health conditions that affect your daily life
• sex
• gender

Consent will be obtained before the information is collected, and it will be gathered directly from you, the data subject.

The processing of this information is lawful under:

• Article 6.1e of the General Data Protection Regulations. The processing is necessary to perform a task in the public interest for our official functions; or the task or function has a clear basis in the law. We are seeking to obtain data relating to library customer equalities and protected characteristics to help inform the equality impact assessments and in developing options for the service review.
• Article 9(g) of the General Data Protection Regulations. It is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. 

Your personal data will be processed by the Business Intelligence Service within North Somerset Council. Access to the raw data is strictly limited to authorised personnel within the team, and it will not be shared in its raw form with any external parties. 

An anonymised summary report will be produced and shared with the Library Service and relevant internal stakeholders to facilitate the development of options for the service review. 

Snap Surveys Limited

The council uses Snap Surveys Limited to manage and distribute this survey. Snap Surveys hosts the survey on its platform, who are prohibited from sharing your personal data with third parties. Snap Surveys only processes the data in line with our instructions and data protection regulations. For further details on Snap’s data handling, please refer to their Privacy Policy. 

North Somerset Council’s secure server

Your data will also be stored on our secured internal server and SharePoint system, which have restricted access. Only staff directly involved in producing the Domestic Needs Assessments and its operations will have access to this data. All systems are protected in line with data protection regulations and council security protocols. How long will my data be stored for? www.n-somerset.gov.uk – Town Hall, Weston-super-Mare BS23 1UJ Privacy Notice Personal data will only be retained for as long as it is needed for the purpose specified above, for as long as the duration of the project requires it, or as required by applicable law or regulatory requirements.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we process your personal data, our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk.

You have the right to see the personal data we process about you, as well as the right of objection, rectification, and restriction to the processing.