Personal information requests

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, the Right of Access gives you

  • the right to obtain confirmation that you data is being processed and
  • access to your personal data

The following explains how to submit a request for access to personal information held by us.

You can also find further details about how your information is processed in our privacy notice.

Request to see your personal information

You can ask us for a copy of the information that we hold about you. To do this you can complete our online form below.

If you are acting on behalf of someone else, you must show that you have authority to do so. Please make sure you have a letter of consent from the person whose details are being requested. This will need to be uploaded as you complete the form.

We'll provide you with a copy of your information free of charge. We may use our discretion to ask you to pay for any admin costs. We'll do this where we feel the request to be unfounded, excessive, or if we've previously provided you with the same details. We'll always tell you if there'll be a charge before any work is undertaken.

If you're the police or any other authorised agency requesting information on a person.  Find out how to request the disclosure of personal data.

Request to see CCTV footage

CCTV footage can only be released under certain means. View our CCTV page to find out more.

For a request relating only to CCTV images, please use our CCTV images form below. Please remember to submit your photo  ID with your request. If your appearance has altered a lot in any way from your ID.  Then please let us know as we'll need to be able to identify you in the footage. 

We'll provide you with a copy of your information free of charge. We may use our discretion to ask you to pay for any admin costs. We'll do this where we feel the request to be unfounded, excessive, or if we've previously provided you with the same details. We'll always tell you if there'll be a charge before any work is undertaken.

Other requests

You can also contact us if you want to:

  • know more about how the council uses your information. Before you do this, you may want to look at our privacy notice.
  • ask us to correct any information you believe we hold which is incorrect or not complete. If we're not able to do this we'll always tell you why.
  • ask us to delete the information we hold about you, or ask us to stop processing the information. If we're not able to do this we'll always tell you why.
  • let us know if you'd like your views to be considered when we make automated decisions using the information we hold on you.

To ask us about any of the above you need to submit your request online. You can use the My Information, My Rights personal information request form below. Please remember to provide us with two forms of ID as specified on the form.

Your individual rights

An individual right request can be made by any person and will relate to the information we hold about them. There are eight individual rights as outlined within the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Right to access

A subject access request can be made.  This can be done if you want to access details that we may hold which is personal to you.

Requests can include:

  • access to social care records
  • employees who have left the authority and wish to access their employment records.
  • CCTV imagery

Right to rectification

Where you believe that we hold incorrect or incomplete information about you, you can ask for this to be amended.

Right to restrict processing

You can ask us to stop processing your information. This does not mean it will be deleted, but that we can no longer process it. For example, you could ask us to stop processing your data because what we hold is incorrect.

Right to be informed

You should be informed about how your data is being processed. Why it's being processed, how long we'll keep it for and who we will be sharing it with. Services are responsible for telling you about this. See our service specific privacy notices.

Right to object

You can request that we stop processing your data where you have a legitimate reason to request this.

Right in relation to automated decision making and profiling

Where decisions are automated. You can request to express your point of view, challenge it or ask for a person to look at it.

Right to erasure

Where you don't want the council to hold your personal information any longer.  Then you can ask for this information to stop being processed and deleted. However, there are certain circumstances that this may not apply, such as (this list is not exhaustive):

  • Council Tax data
  • Safeguarding
  • Children Social Care
  • Adult Social Care
  • To comply with a legal obligation

Right to data portability

It's unlikely that this right relates to any council data. However, you've the right to reuse the personal data that is held by the organisation, for their own purposes across different services.

How to make a request

To make an individual right request, please complete our online form below.

What happens when we receive your request?

  • We'll acknowledge receipt of it within five days.
  • We’ll always deal with your request as quickly as possible. We hope to do this within one month from the date you asked for it. There are occasions when we may need to take longer to handle your request.  Especially where your request is complex or there is a large volume of information held. If this is the case we'll always tell you as soon as possible, but within the one month time frame. All requests should be responded to within three months of the request being received.
  • We'll, where possible, provide you with the information you have requested in an electronic format, sent via secure means.

If you need any help completing or submitting a request, please contact the Information Governance Team on (01226) 773555 or email informationrequests@barnsley.gov.uk.

What to do if your request is turned down?

There may be some situations where we have to withhold information, for example, if it is about third party individuals. Information that is withheld is known as a 'redaction' and if any are made we'll explain why.

If we don't provide the information you requested, you think there is something missing, or you do not agree with the redactions made.  Then you can ask for a review of the decision by:

If you're not satisfied with our response you may contact our Data Protection Officer on dpo@barnsley.gov.uk

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority upholding information rights in the public interest. If you're not satisfied with the way we've handled your details, they can be contacted:

  • by telephone on 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or (01625) 545745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
  • by email to casework@ico.org.uk (please include your telephone number)
  • in writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF