Personal information charter

This personal information charter explains how we look after your information.

You can also read a short version of this guidance (PDF, 126 KB, 4 pages).

We sometimes need to process personal information about you so that we can provide services for you, carry out Home Office and other related public functions, and comply with relevant laws and regulations.

This document explains generally what you can expect when we ask for, hold, or otherwise process your personal information. It also covers:

  • what we ask of you to help us keep information up to date
  • how you can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
  • your rights as an individual (data subject)
  • how you can report a concern
  • our information management policy

Our standards

The processing of personal data is governed by data protection legislation including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation and other relevant legislation. As required when we ask you for personal information, we make sure that:

  • you know why we need it and what we are going to do with it
  • we only ask for what we need and don’t collect too much, or irrelevant information
  • we protect it and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn’t
  • we only share it with other organisations when there is an identified need, and it is lawful to do so
  • we don’t keep it longer than necessary
  • you know how to tell us that you object to us processing your information and how to tell us if the information we hold about you is incorrect or you want us to delete it
  • you know how to contact us and our data protection officer
  • you know how to complain to the Information Commissioner if you are not happy with the way we process your information

In return, we ask you to:

  • give us up to date and correct information
  • tell us as soon as possible if there are any changes, such as a new address

This helps us keep your information reliable and up to date.

Personal information that we collect and process

We collect and process personal information to carry out our own and associated public functions. These include (but is not limited to):

  • investigating an offence
  • preventing, detecting, or prosecuting a crime
  • maintaining and developing DNA and other policing databases
  • keeping public order and stopping anti-social behaviour
  • keeping the UK’s border safe and controlling immigration
  • recording movements in and out of the UK
  • considering applications to enter and stay in the UK
  • addressing visa matters and checking immigration status
  • issuing passports and visas
  • confirming rights to benefits and services
  • managing customs functions at the border
  • considering applications for activity needing a government issued license
  • keeping the UK safe from the threat of terrorism

We may also use information we hold about you to:

Examples of how we may process your data include:

  • you travel to and from the UK
  • you enter the UK by crossing the UK border, for example, an airport
  • you enter a country in the Common Travel Area
  • you make an application or claim (online, on paper or in person)
  • you attend an interview
  • we seek to verify your information, documents, or identity
  • you supply a biometric (for example, fingerprints or a facial biometric)
  • we receive information from a sponsor or other third party in relation to your application
  • we receive allegations or intelligence from law enforcement agencies and others involved in preventing crime and fraud
  • we are notified of a relevant criminal conviction
  • sound and visual imagery, such as CCTV and facial recognition
  • intelligence sources
  • incident details such as crime report

We may also request information from third parties. For example, this might be for the purposes of verifying information you supplied in support of an application, obtaining information needed for a safeguarding purpose, obtaining new address details of people we are trying to trace, or undertaking other enforcement actions. This may involve, for example:

  • contacting your sponsor or linked applicant
  • obtaining information from other government departments – these may include HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Department for Education (DfE), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
  • obtaining information from credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies or banks, and local authorities
  • seeking to verify documents, information, or identity in relation to your application or other relevant purpose – this may include private and public authorities in other countries
  • local authority services (for example, social services)
  • United Kingdom health bodies for reasons relating to public health

We may ask you for different types of personal and/or special category personal data, including (but not limited to):

  • biometric data (such as facial images, fingerprints, and/or DNA).
  • personal identifiers, contacts, and characteristics (for example, name and contact details, such as email addresses and phone numbers, passport information and biometric data such as fingerprint)
  • employment information (for example organisation or department, profession, role, and background)
  • criminal offence data

CCTV is used by the Home Office for maintaining the security of property and premises and for preventing and detecting crime.

Further details about how we work with fraud prevention organisations is also available.

Depending on why the Home Office is processing your information it may be held for a number of reasons, including and in addition to those listed above. Please read the privacy notices issued by other parts of the Home Office for more information about this and:

  • what information (both personal and special category) we will collect and process
  • if the Home Office is acting as Data Controller and/or Data Processor
  • what lawful basis personal information will be processed under

Please read the privacy notices issued by other parts of the Home Office for further information.

Borders, immigration and citizenship system privacy notice

His Majesty’s Passport Office privacy notice

Information rights privacy notice

More information about the Home Office retention and disposal standards is also available.

Keeping personal information

We will keep your personal information for only as long as is needed to:

  • provide you with a service
  • conduct our business in accordance with our functions and our records management policy

We may also keep it for longer to meet other legislative requirements, or to answer requests for information from ongoing or upcoming statutory inquiries.

Depending on the reasons why the Home Office is processing your information, and the type of information being processed it may be held for differing periods of time. For more information about this read the privacy notices issued by other parts of the Home Office.

Borders, immigration and citizenship system privacy notice

His Majesty’s Passport Office privacy notice

Information rights privacy notice

Sharing information with others

Any personal information you provide will be held securely and processed in accordance with data protection and other relevant law, such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Immigration Act 2014. We may (in accordance with the data protection legislation) disclose your information to other organisations so that we can carry out our functions, or to enable others to perform theirs. Other organisations include, but are not limited to:

  • other government departments and agencies
  • local authorities
  • police and other law enforcement agencies
  • courts and other judicial bodies
  • foreign governments and other authorities
  • foreign law enforcement and judicial bodies
  • fraud prevention bodies

Any information about you that we pass to a third party we will require it to be held securely by that party.

Depending on the reasons why the Home Office is processing your information it may be shared with a number of other organisations, including and in addition to those listed above. Sometimes the Home Office may also appoint third parties to process personal data on our behalf. For more information about this and to see if that affects the way your personal information is being shared, read the privacy notices issued by other parts of the Home Office.

Borders, immigration and citizenship system privacy notice

His Majesty’s Passport Office privacy notice

Information rights privacy notice

How to ask for your personal information

If we hold any personal information about you, you have the right to ask for a copy of it through a subject access request (SAR). The Home Office includes UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), and His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO).

In some cases, we do not have to give you the information you have asked for. For example, this might be because we are using the requested data for investigating, preventing, detecting crime, or apprehending or prosecuting offenders, and to provide you with the specific information requested would be likely to prejudice those purposes. Where it is known the police are investigating, or prosecuting offences, we will ask for their view on whether providing you with the information would prejudice their activities.

Guidance is also available on how to ask for:

Additional guidance is also available on:

To ask for personal data held by other parts of the Home Office, please contact the information rights team using the contact details below in ‘Further Information.’

When you write to us you must provide confirmation of identity and confirmation of name and address. Please see some examples below of acceptable documents (please do not send original documents):

Confirmation of your identity:

  • a copy of your passport
  • a copy of your full driving license
  • birth certificate

Confirmation of name and address:

  • a copy of your full driving license
  • a copy of a recent utility bill
  • bank or credit card statement
  • pension or child benefit book (or similar official document which shows your name and address)

If you are writing on behalf of someone else, a signed declaration from the person you are acting for indicating that they have asked you to make an application on their behalf is required.

If possible, you should also send:

  • details of all addresses you have used in previous correspondence with the Home Office, including email addresses (if applicable) so that we can search our systems
  • any information that might help us in locating the information in which you are interested (this might include details of any contacts you have had with the Home Office at any time, any previous names you may have been known as (for example maiden name), and details of why you think we will hold information about you)

Once we receive all the above information, the Home Office has one month within which to respond to your request. This may be extended by up to 2 months in complex cases.

If you have had no previous dealings with the department, it is unlikely that we will hold information about you. If, however, you have reason to believe that we do hold information about you, please indicate any contacts or dealings you have had with the Home Office in the past, so that we can find anything that is relevant.

Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

  • your right of access - you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal data
  • your right to rectification - you have the right to ask us to rectify personal data you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete
  • your right to erasure - you have the right to ask us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances
  • your right to restriction of processing - you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
  • your right to object to processing - you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
  • under Article 7(3) of the UKGDPR, you have the right to withdraw consent for processing your personal data at any time, where we have collected your information under consent

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

If you would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact:

info.access@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Or write to us at:

Information Rights Team
Home Office
Lower Ground Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Information management strategy

We will manage our information to get the right balance between making information more widely available to the public, while making sure the right protection is in place especially as regards personal data.

Our information management policies include how we:

  • answer subject access and freedom of information requests
  • protect the information we hold
  • make sure that information created, collected, and stored is necessary to the business need, and is kept only for as long as it is needed

Further information

This privacy notice has been created to be clear and concise. It does not include the complete detail about what information we hold, every organisation the Home Office shares information with, how the information is collected or how long all information is kept. If you would like more information, you should email us at info.access@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Or write to us at:

Information Rights Team
Home Office
Lower Ground Floor, Seacole Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

The Home Office has a Data Protection Officer who can be contacted if you wish to complain about how the Home Office has managed and used your personal data.

Contacting the DPO by email at dpo@homeoffice.gov.uk is the quickest way to bring your questions and concerns to the attention of the Office of the DPO.

If you are unable to email, you can write to the address below but this may mean that the Office of the DPO takes longer to reply.

Office of the DPO
Home Office
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

The Home Office has a Public Enquiries Team who can be contacted by:

Direct Communications Unit
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
United Kingdom

Email:

public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk

Telephone:

020 7035 4848

The email address above can also be used by organisations and institutions to contact the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Hub.

Reporting a concern

When we process your information we will comply with the law, including data protection legislation. If you feel that your data is being processed in breach of data protection law or other legislation, you have the right to report your concern to our Data Protection Officer using the contact details provided above, or contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60

Textphone: 01625 54 57 45

Email address: icocasework@ico.org.uk.

You can also visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

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