Privacy and the Adoption Service
This Privacy Notice explains how the Adoption service at Buckinghamshire Council (the data controller) will use the personal information we collect about you when you use this service.
Information held about you:
We can hold the following information:
- personal information (such as name, address, contact details, date of birth, gender, and language)
- special category characteristics (such as ethnicity, disability, religion, and medical information)
- family network and relationship information
- employment information
- financial information
- Criminal convictions
- information relating to assessments and approvals for suitability to adopt children
- contact we have had with you (such as correspondence)
- Other information you have given to us
A person making an application for Adoption services, we may also obtain and hold additional information from other sources as follows:
- the local authority in whose area you live
- other Council departments
- other adoption agencies previously involved
- past and/or present employer
- references (personal and employment)
- previous partners
- health
- schools
- Disclosure and Barring Service
We need your information to:
- process adoptive parent applications
- assess suitability to become an adoptive parent
- match approved adoptive parents with children for adoption, to ensure the most successful outcomes for children who have been in care
- provide ongoing support and advice to adoptive parents
- to safeguard children
- prevent or detect crime or fraud
- assess and evaluate our services
- inform future service planning and the commissioning of services
What is the lawful basis for us to process your information?
The lawful basis for processing the personal information under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR is:
- In relation to your personal information: Article 6(1)(c) We have a Legal Obligation under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and Adoption Agency Regulations 2005 and associated legislation
- In relation to any special category information: Article 9(2)(g) substantial public interest to ensure compliance with legal obligations, check suitability of adopters and proposed adoptions and safeguarding purposes
- In relation to criminal information: the exercise of official authority under the Adoption Agency Regulations 2005 and under Paragraph 6 Schedule 1 Data Protection Act 2018
How we share and process your information
We will share your information, if appropriate, with:
- third parties (data processors) contracted by Buckinghamshire Council to work on behalf of the Council to support the Adoption service - such third parties including:
- the judiciary and legal representatives
- Ofsted (in the event of a local authority inspection of children’s services)
- other local authorities
- adoption agencies
- Parents and Children Together (PACT) Voluntary Adoption Agency as our partner in Buckinghamshire Adoption Partnership
- Link Maker and Adoption Match (national agencies for matching)
- Adoption Support Fund
- Health – NHS and Private
- For safeguarding purposes
Your personal information will be held according to the Councils privacy notice. If you have “registered interest in adoption” your records are kept in line with retention of record periods specified in the Adoption Agency Regulations 2005 and associated legislation.
The Council does transfer personal data that is processed for the purposes of this Privacy Notice to countries outside of the territorial scope of UK data protection laws.
Where your information is shared with a country outside of the territorial scope of UK data protection laws, appropriate safeguards will be put in place with regard to the specific country.
Automated decision making
We do not carry out any automated decision making in relation to this information.
Your rights
You have legal rights over your information. For details of those rights, see our corporate Privacy Policy. Your rights will differ depending on our lawful basis for processing your personal information.
Contact our Data Protection Officer:
Buckinghamshire Council
The Gateway
Gatehouse Road
Aylesbury
HP19 8FF
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to the Data Protection Officer. You can also then complain to the ICO if you remain unhappy with how we have used your personal information.
Last updated in December 2023 and published in February 2024.