Privacy policy for the contact form used by export support 

Purpose of this document

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your information. This privacy notice describes how we collect and use personal information about you in accordance with UK Data Protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice. It is important that you read this notice so that you are aware of how and why we are using your information.

What data we collect

Personal data we collect includes your:

• name
• job title
• business email address
• business telephone number
• business address
• company name
• business type
• use of assistive technology
• rating of enquirer’s knowledge of where to go for help and support with exporting

Why we need your data

The information you provide will be processed by DBT and selected third parties in order to:

• manage relationships in support of businesses trading or investing internationally
• identify and secure opportunities both international and in the UK
• direct businesses to appropriate advice, events and services
• better evaluate the impact of trade and investment services and process business applications to access trade and investment-related advice and services
• support understanding of the trade and investment environment and the domestic and international business landscape
• target financial support at businesses to secure trade and investment opportunities
• understand barriers to trade and investment and design effective and intelligent trade and investment policy, services, and make business decisions
• send you promotional messages in order to carry out our public task or function as a government department
• seek your feedback and improve our services

If your enquiry relates to domestic services, we will pass your personal data to the Business Support Service within DBT for them to manage your request.

Lawful basis for processing

Our lawful basis for processing your personal data is that the processing is necessary:

• to perform a task in the public interest (Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018
• for the exercise of our functions as a government department

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 are not limited to:

• UK Export Finance
• other Government departments (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Cabinet Office)
• devolved Administrations (Welsh Government, Scottish Government, Invest Northern Ireland)
• local enterprise partners (38 organisations) including local government and trade bodies
• overseas delivery partners, operating under grant letter to DBT
• other third parties under contract to support the above purposes (these include and are not limited to: Adetiq, UK Shared Business Services, Kantar Public, Dun and Bradstreet Ltd, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Green Park, Profusion, MadeTech)
• organisations working in collaboration with DBT to provide export support including, but not limited to, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)

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

Aggregated analysis of responses may also be shared with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) and the National Audit Office (NAO).

We will not:

• sell or rent your data to third parties
• share your data with third parties for their marketing purposes

We will also share your data if we are required to do so by law or regulation, for example, by court order or to prevent fraud or other crime.

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 password protection, limiting staff access to specifically ‘security cleared’ individuals. We also take steps to ensure any third parties we deal with keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure and in line with data protection legislation.

How long we keep your data

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

In line with DBT’s retention and disposal policy and schedules, your personal data will be retained for 7 years from the date when it was provided, or subsequently updated, and then disposed of.

Anonymised information related to your query, our advice, aggregated analyses, and any other related information will be retained for up to 15 years from the date when the advice was provided or the analyses approved.

Accuracy

We take all reasonable steps to keep your personal data in our control and used on an ongoing basis, accurate, complete, current, and relevant, based on the latest information provided to us. We rely on you to keep us informed about any changes to your personal data in keeping with UK GDPR principles.

Your rights and access to your information

You have the right to request:

• information about how your personal data is processed
• a copy of that personal data
• that anything inaccurate in your personal data is corrected immediately

You can also:

• raise an objection about how your personal data is processed
• request that your personal data is erased if there is no longer a justification for it
• ask that the processing of your personal data is restricted in certain circumstances
• request an opt-out from being contacted for research purposes

Contact us

If you have any requests relating to your rights 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 notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time and we will provide you with a new privacy notice 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.