Privacy policy for export opportunities

Information provided while using this service, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with access to information regimes, primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and UK Data Protection legislation.

Purpose of this document

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will process personal data supplied in this service in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA).

DBT is the data controller for the data.

The information you provide will be processed on a lawful basis to enable DBT to perform a task in the public interest or to fulfil an official function, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

What data we collect

Personal data we collect includes your:

• name
• job title
• business website address
• telephone number
• company name
• business type

Lawful basis for processing

We rely on the ‘public task’ lawful basis, where we need to process data to perform a task carried out in the public interest or for one of our official functions (Article 6(1)(e)), to:

• process business applications to serve international opportunities
• match and target businesses to the most relevant opportunities and services
• manage relationships with businesses the department is supporting to trade or invest internationally
• identify and secure international and UK-based opportunities
• identify businesses with the greatest propensity to trade or invest and direct them to the most appropriate advice, events, and services
• evaluate the impact of trade and investment services
• better understand the trade and investment environment
• better understand the domestic and international business landscape
• target financial support at businesses to secure trade and investment opportunities
• process business applications to access trade and investment-related advice and services
• understand barriers to trade and investment
• design effective and intelligent trade and investment policy, services, and make business decisions

How we share your information

We will, in some circumstances and where the law allows, share your data with other government departments, agencies, public bodies, and third-party service providers which may include, but is not limited to:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Government Digital Service (GDS)
• Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO)
• organisations contracted by DBT to deliver investment support services, including Ernst & Young and OCO Global
• organisations contracted by DBT to provide marketing and communications services, including M&C Saatchi, Manning Gottlieb OMD, TMW Unlimited, Stova, and Populus
• Kantar Public
• Local Enterprise Partnerships and trade bodies
• devolved administrations
• other UK government departments

You will be notified if your information is shared with third parties not included in this list.

Aggregated analysis of responses may also be shared with:

• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
• Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA)
• National Audit Office (NAO)

If you want the information you provide to be treated confidentially, please be aware that, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), public authorities are required to comply with a statutory code of practice that addresses obligations of confidence, among other things. Therefore, it would be helpful if you could explain why you wish the information to be treated confidentially. If we receive a request for disclosure of that information, we will take full account of your explanation. However, we cannot guarantee that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

How long we keep your data

In line with our records management and retention and disposal policy, we will only retain your personal information for as long as:

• it is needed for the purposes set out in this document
• the law requires us to

We will retain your personal information for up to 10 years from the date on which it is provided or subsequently updated, in order to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.

How we protect your data and keep it secure

We are committed to doing all that we can to keep your data secure. We have set up systems and processes to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of your data. For example, we protect your data using varying levels of encryption. All personal data is stored in the European Economic Area (EEA).

We also ensure that any third parties keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure.

Contacting you

We will use the personal information you provide to contact you about the specific service you have used or enquiry you have made.

We rely on the ‘public task’ lawful basis when sending promotional messages to carry out DBT’s public tasks or functions (Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018). This is without prejudice to your right to object and to exercise other applicable rights available under the regulation. The full details of data subjects’ rights and how to contact us are provided below.

Your rights

When processing personal data under the public task lawful basis, you have the following rights:

• Right to be informed: you have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data
• Right of access: you can request access to your personal data.
• Right to rectification: you can request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data
• Right to restrict processing: you can request the restriction of processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Right to object: you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data

Please note that the right to erasure and right to data portability do not apply when processing is based on public task.

Contact us

If you have any of these requests or have questions about this privacy policy and how we handle your personal information, you can contact:

Data Protection Officer Department for Business and Trade

Old Admiralty Building
Whitehall
LONDON
SW1A 2DY

Email: data.protection@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Information Commissioner’s Office

Contact the Information Commissioner for independent advice about data protection, privacy, and data-sharing issues.

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

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Textphone: 01625 545860

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Changes to this privacy policy

We reserve the right to update this privacy policy at any time and we will provide you with a new privacy policy when we make any substantial updates.

Confidentiality

Information provided whilst using this service, including personal information, may be disclosed in accordance with access to information regimes, primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

If you want the information you provide to be treated confidentially, please be aware that, in accordance with the FOIA, public authorities are required to comply with a statutory code of practice that addresses obligations of confidence, among other things.