We are firmly committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of personal information collected on this site. The purpose of this policy is to outline how the UK Hydrographic Office has established measures to protect your privacy and information rights. Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. Please note this refers to your personal data (your name; address and anything that could be used to identify you personally).

The contact details of UK Hydrographic Office Data Protection Advisor and MOD Data Protection Officer:

UKHO Data Protection Advisor
UK Hydrographic Office
Admiralty Way
Taunton
TA1 2DN

dpa@ukho.gov.uk

Why are we collecting or processing your data?

Under the Data Protection legislation, we have several lawful reasons we can use (‘or process’) your personal data. When using H-Note app users may be required to provide personal data, such as contact details (first name, last name, e-mail address, organisation).  Where personal information is provided, this may be used to provide information on new products and services, except where a app user has indicated otherwise. In any case, personal information will not be passed to a third party. On written request to the UKHO Data Protection Advisor at the above address, users may view the information we hold about them and request that we update, correct or delete it. 

The Information Charter sets out the standards you can expect from the UKHO when we request or hold information, including but not limited to personal data about your enquiries.

  • When you consent to providing us with personal data, we promise:
  • To only ask for what we need, and not to collect too much or irrelevant information
  • To make sure you know why we need it
  • To check the information we hold is accurate and up-to-date
  • To protect the information and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn't
  • To make sure we don't keep it longer than necessary
  • Not to make your personal information available for commercial use without your permission
  • In return, we ask you to provide us with accurate information and inform us about any relevant updates, such as a new address.
  • You can withdraw your consent by contacting the UKHO Data Protection Advisor, dpa@ukho.gov.uk.

Our legal basis for processing your personal data:

We rely on legitimate interests where we have a genuine and legitimate reason to processing data (e.g. to provide the product or service) and we are not overriding your fundamental rights or freedoms as an individual. 

The following are some examples of when and why we use legitimate interests in our work:

Safety: if the information provided would affect safety of life at sea. 
 

With whom we will be sharing your personal data:

Personal data will not be shared with any third parties.

 For how long we will keep the personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period: 
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including the purposes of satisfying any legal and regulatory requirements.  Information held under your consent will only be held until you withdraw your consent or close your account.

Unless otherwise specified, we will hold your personal information:

  • In accordance with our business needs, i.e. managing our relationship with you
  • Whilst we provide you with our services
  • In accordance with our contractual retention period
  • In accordance with any legal and regulatory requirements.
  • To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
  • After the retention period, has elapsed all data will be destroyed securely in line with MOD data destruction policy.
     

Your rights:

Under GDPR you have the following rights with regards to your personal data:  

  • The right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data  
  • The right of access your personal data and supplementary information  
  • The right to have inaccurate personal data rectified, or completed if it is incomplete  
  • The right to restrict processing in certain circumstances  
  • The right to object to processing in certain circumstances  
  • The right to withdraw consent (where relevant)  
  • Right to complain to the information Commissioner  
  • Further information can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/  
  • At any one time, you have the right to be forgotten without undue delay Through these commitments, we will keep to UK Law, including the Data Protection Act 1998, General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
     

Transfer of personal data to other countries:

This data will not be sent overseas.

Automated decision making:

This data will not be used for any automated decision making.

How we store personal data:

This data will be stored in a secure government IT system.  UKHO protect its commercial sites and products from cybercrime by design, ensuring it and its customers can feel safe in the knowledge that UKHO hosts a stable and innovative cyberspace presence which the public can use safely. This statement is validated by independent testing in line with UK government policy. UKHO systems are also accredited in line with UK government Security Policy Framework (SPF) and in line with ISO27001.

If you have any questions regarding our Privacy & Security Policy please contact intellectualproperty@ukho.gov.uk.

These terms were last updated January 2023

How to complain if you're unhappy:

If you're unhappy with how any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal information is being processed, please contact:

UKHO Data Protection Advisor
UK Hydrographic Office 
Admiralty Way 
Taunton 
Somerset 
TA1 2DN 

 We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and send you a full response within 20 working days. If we can’t respond fully in this time, we will write and let you know why and tell you when you should get a full response. 

If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

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

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/