Broadband grants: privacy notice for applicants

The Welsh Government receives information from individuals, businesses and communities, as part of their request in applying for broadband grant funding. Data is received from applicants at the following stages in the grant process:

• Application stage
• Offer of funding stage
• Claiming of fund stage
• Feedback from any direct survey conducted by the ICT Infrastructure Broadband Grants Team.

Upon receipt of the information collected, the Welsh Government becomes the data controller.

Your personal information will be used to support the appraisal of your application, and awarding grant funding that is applicable to the broadband grant schemes. Financial details will be shared with Welsh Government’s Central Finance Division and any fraud prevention/law enforcement agencies in the detection, investigation and prevention of crime. No other personal information will be shared beyond the realms of the Welsh Government ICT Infrastructure Division.

Information will be gathered from grant applications relating to broadband speeds achieved. This information will not identify you as an individual; it may be collated and shared with Welsh Ministers in response to assembly questions posed. Responses to assembly questions on speed will be presented on a generic, broader level only.

Occasionally the evidence that accompanies the broadband claims may include an IP address. The Welsh Government Broadband Grants team will not share this information beyond the ICT Infrastructure Division. The only exception being at the request for information from relevant law agencies when used for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime.

Your information will also be used for statistical and research purposes which will help to inform, influence and improve policies when planning broadband services and broadband support for people/ businesses in Wales. Any reports created as part of such research will be anonymised.

Processing of your personal information provided is necessary for the performance, monitoring and appraisal of your grant application for funding as it relates to the broadband grant schemes.

Before we provide financing to you or your organisation, we undertake checks for the purposes of preventing fraud and money laundering, and to verify your identity. These checks require us to process personal data about you.

When we process your personal data we do so on the basis that it is in the public interest to prevent fraud and money laundering, and to verify identities, in order to protect us and comply with legislation that applies to us. Such processing is also a requirement of the financing you have requested.

• Having anonymised the data firstly, any persons conducting research in the achievements of the broadband grants schemes.
• Welsh Government officials that are directly involved in the appraisal of your grant application, and where applicable processing an offer of funding.
• Data you have provided may be shared with fraud prevention / law enforcement agencies if we suspect or detect fraud.

Welsh Government will only provide data for a specific purpose and for a limited time period, after which the Welsh Government must confirm that it has been destroyed. Any analysis produced must follow Welsh Government disclosure rules. For research purposes in any surveys that take place, Welsh Government will use techniques that ensure the data are anonymised before any research takes place. Sharing of anonymised data is outside of GDPR.

It should be noted that if the Welsh Government, or a fraud prevention/law enforcement agency, determine that you pose a fraud or money laundering risk, the Welsh Government reserves the right to refuse to provide the financing that you have requested, or we may stop providing existing finance to you. If you would like to know more, please contact us for more information using the details provided below.

A record of any fraud or money laundering risk will be retained by the fraud prevention agencies, and may result in others refusing to provide services, financing or employment to you. If you have any questions about this, please contact us for more information using the details provided below.

Welsh Government will keep this data until seven  years (84 months) has elapsed from the final payment relating to an award of funding, or two years (24 months) from receipt of an unsuccessful application of funding (whichever is the shortest duration). After this point the data will be anonymised/destroyed. If you or your organisation is considered to pose a fraud or money laundering risk, your data can be held by fraud prevention/law enforcement agencies for up to six years from its receipt. 

You have the right to:

• have access to the personal data that Welsh Government broadband grants schemes are processing about you
• require Welsh Government to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• object to processing on grounds relating to your particular situation (in some circumstances)
• restrict processing (in some circumstances)
• request that your personal data is erased or corrected
• lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who is the independent regulator for data protection.

For further information about the information which Welsh Governments hold and its use, or if you wish to exercise our rights under the GDPR, please see contact details below:

Data Protection Officer
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email address: data.protectionofficer@gov.wales 

If you are unhappy about how your personal data has been used, please refer to the Welsh Government complaints policy.

You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates the processing of personal data.

To contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, please see details below:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 029 2067 8400 (Wales helpline) or 0303 123 1113 (UK helpline)

Email: wales@ico.org.uk

Website: https://ico.org.uk/