How we collect and use your information
Aberdeen City Council collects and records information about you so we can support you whilst you are in Scotland. We may receive information about you from the Scottish Government or from other local authorities if you have arrived in Aberdeen from another area in Scotland. We will also collect information from you when you arrive. This information will include:
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Sex and relationship status
- Contact details email address, phone number (including second contact details if known), and preferred method of contact
- Number of dependents
- Current location and planned date and place of arrival in the UK
- Languages spoken
- Pets
- Mobility or access needs
- Date and point of arrival
- Visa application number
- Names and ages of family members
- Health information relevant to housing needs
- Information about pets and number of pets they are travelling with
- Pregnancy status
- Passport / Visa / ID verification information
- Occupational / skills
We keep records of the support you receive whilst you’re here, including money you have been given you have received whilst you are in Aberdeen.
How we share your information
We will share this information about you with an organisation called COSLA who are matching guests to homes on behalf of Scottish Government. This is so they can match you and your family with suitable accommodation.
If you move on from Aberdeen to accommodation in another area, we will share some information about you with the Local Authority for the area you are moving to so they can support you.
To help get any relevant support and access services whilst you are we may share information to following and any other relevant agency:
- Education services (where you have school age children)
- Social work and wellbeing services
- Police Scotland
- Health services or the NHS (to ensure you are able to access relevant Health services)
- The Anti-Social Behaviour Investigation Team (to help ensure the safety of Guests and Hosts)
- The Department for Work and Pensions
We will also receive information from each of these organisations or Council services if it is necessary to ensure that you receive the right support or if it is necessary to ensure you or another person’s safety.
The other services will have their own information processing methods which they will share with you during initial appointments.
Finally, we may share some of your information with hotels prior to your arrival or with interpreters who provide you with language or personal support to help your integration in Aberdeen. The information we share with interpreters and volunteers is limited to the minimum information needed for them to carry out their support assignment. We only use registered interpreters bound by the code of practice of community interpreters. We also use registered and trained who may help with interpretation services, under the supervision of Council staff.
How long we’ll keep your information for
We will keep your information for at least 5 years after our last contact with you, your information will be retained if there is opportunity for you to engage in optional services past this point.
Your rights
You have rights in relation to your data, including the right to ask for a copy of it. See the Your data page for more information about all the rights you have, as well as the contact details for the Council’s Data Protection Officer. You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office if you think we haven’t handled your data properly.
Our legal basis
Wherever the Council processes personal data, we need to make sure we have a legal basis for doing so in data protection law. We consider refugee resettlement as part of our public task, in accordance with the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. We also have broad powers under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to provide support to people who need it. This means that we understand our legal basis for processing your data as Article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and our powers under social work, housing and local government legislation.
In delivering this service we will process special category personal data. We understand our legal basis for doing so as Article 9(2)(g) of the GDPR as we consider that it is in the substantial public interest for us to do so.