Who we are 

The COSLA Migration Population and Diversity team is funded by both the UK Government and the Scottish Government. Scotland’s Regional Strategic Migration Partnership (RSMP) is funded by the Home Office and hosted by COSLA. We work with organisations across the statutory, voluntary, community and private sectors to help the region to deal with, and benefit from, migration.

We are the Data Controller for personal information which we have collected, for example from online and paper correspondence; by telephone or in person. This means that we determine the purposes for which personal data is collected and the manner in which is it processed.

We are also the Data Processor for personal information shared with us by other bodies to fulfil contractual tasks. This means that we hold and process data, but do not have any responsibility or control over that data. These bodies are the Data Controller.

Privacy Policy 

This policy is designed to inform you of COSLA Migration Team’s commitment to upholding your right to privacy and how the COSLA Migration Team will handle your personal data.

Any personal information will be processed by COSLA Migration Team in accordance with the requirements and principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 1998. COSLA is registered with the Information Commissioner as a data controller under the following address and registration number:

COSLA, Verity House, 19 Haymarket Yards, Edinburgh EH12 5BH – Registration No: Z6216554

If you choose to share data with COSLA, this is stored securely, and we only use this information to for purpose for which it was collected.

Links within this website to external websites are not covered by this policy and individuals should check the terms of the privacy policy of those sites for their terms. The COSLA Migration Team is not responsible for the content or policies of external websites.

How the law lets us use your personal information

There are a number of legal reasons why we need to collect and use personal information. We may collect and use personal information where:

•  it is necessary to perform our public tasks (which are in the substantial public interest)
• it is to the benefit of society as a whole
• it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes

How we will manage your Personal Data

 Your personal information will be used solely by us for the purpose it is collected.

Personal data is collected on the lawful bases for processing personal data as set out in Article 6 and Article 9 of the GDPR as a public task and / or for legitimate interest

 Personal data is always destroyed after the purpose for which it was collected has been discharged.

We may need to process personal data to:

• signpost you to services and support;
• contribute to our Case Studies, Migration Library or Resource Directory;
• carry out tasks as required by the UK Government Home Office relating to migration i.e. refugee resettlement and placement; asylum dispersal protocols;
• carry out any other purposes in order for us to carry out our public functions, as long as this is necessary, lawful and appropriate in the circumstances;
• carry out consultations and surveys;
• carry out corporate administration and all activities we are required to carry out as a processor of personal data. 

COSLA will not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may make information available to tax and law enforcement agencies, as required or permitted by law. Any personal data that is shared with partners is with your consent unless permitted by law otherwise 

Website 

If you send us a message on our contact form we will collect your name and email address for the purposes of responding to your message, and any personal information you choose to include in the message. This information is sent directly to our inbox and no copy is held on our website server.

Your email is kept on our secure and password protected cloud storage system and your details are only used to provide you with a response. We will never share your details with a third party, unless it is relevant to your enquiry and only with your permission. Email inquiries will be deleted three months after they have been dealt with.

Our website uses Google Analytics. All IP addresses are anonymised on Google Analytics when we collect statistics about visits to our website, and cannot be traced back to an individual.

List of cookies used:

COOKIE	DOMAIN	TYPE	DURATION	DESCRIPTION
_ga	.migrationscotland.org.uk	Third party	2 years	Used by Google Analytics to distinguish users.
_gat	.migrationscotland.org.uk	Third party	1 minute	Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate.
_gid	.migrationscotland.org.uk	Third party	24 hours	Used by Google Analytics to distinguish users.
daa	.twitter.com	Third party	~3235 days	Digital Advertising Alliance (but lacks documentation).
has_js	.migrationscotland.org.uk	Strictly necessary	Session	Boolean value, to determine whether user’s browser is Javascript-capable. Used to fall back certain JS behaviours to plain HTML.
lang	cdn.syndication.twimg.com	Third party	Session	Language selection.
personalization_id	.twitter.com	Third party	~392 days	Used by Twitter to distinguish users.

Storage of Personal Data

 

Any personal information we hold is digital, stored securely and transferred by password protected, secure email or data sharing platforms

Subject Access Requests

Under data protection law, you have rights. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information. full details of these rights can be found here https://ico.org.uk/global/privacy-notice/your-data-protection-rights/

Removal of Personal Data 

At any point you can request the removal of your personal data that you have provided to COSLA MPD directly by emailing info@cosla.gov.uk with your contact details. You will then be contacted and asked a number of security questions to ensure the validity of your request. 

Contact Us

You can contact our data protection manager by emailing: dataprotection@cosla.gov.uk or by post at this address: Data Protection Manager, COSLA, Verity House, 19 Haymarket Yards, Edinburgh EH 12 5BH.

Security

This site and associated systems have security measures in place to protect your privacy, and prevent the unauthorised alteration of the information under our control.

Complaints

Our Data Protection Manager aims to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal data. See the Contact Us section above. However, you also have a right to lodge a complaint about a data protection matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office by post at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. By phone on 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745. Website for more information: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Privacy Notice was last updated May 2019