Who we are and how to contact us
We are the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s (H&F’s) Trading Standards Team.
H&F is the Controller for the personal data we process. Our Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) registration number is: Z5124889.
Council contact information, including our switchboard phone number and our address is on our council ‘Contact us’. Please see ‘Your data rights’ for:
- how to contact us to exercise your data rights (e.g., to access your data) or if you’re unhappy with how we use your data or comply with your data rights
- how to contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO).
What we collect and process
The type of information we collect and process relating to personal data includes:
- Personal identifier such as names (including previous known names), date of birth, contact information (address, contact number, personal email address) and preferred contact methods
- Complaints information about goods, services, or businesses and can include financial data, victims, and witnesses
- Criminal offence data which includes alleged offences
- Photographs, audio, and visual recordings
Some of the personal data we process is data about you that we have been given by other external partners and enforcement agencies such as Citizen Advice Consumer Service, Food Standards Agency, Police etc. Whilst we do not seek to collect it, we do recognise that we could be provided with special category data from, or about, a data subject. This data can include but is not limited to:
- details of medical conditions and health
- racial or ethnic origin
- political opinions
- religious or philosophical beliefs
- sexual orientation
We may also collect information concerning criminal convictions and offences.
Most of the personal data we process is data provided directly to us from consumers, individuals, witnesses, victims, businesses, external partners (as above) and enforcement agencies. We process this information in order to carry out our statutory duties and to prevent or detect crime.
If we have data about you from others, we will let you know how we are processing it unless processing it would be prejudicial to our work or require disproportionate effort.
Why we need it and what we do with it
The Trading Standards team are responsible for dealing with a number of statutory provisions, including, but not limited to, those listed below:
- Consumer Rights Act 2015
- Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
- Enterprise Act 2002
- Estate Agents Act 1979
- General Product Safety Regulations 2005
- Tennant Fees Act 2019
- Trade Marks Act 1994
- Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
- Weights and Measures Act 1985
Our legal basis for processing your data is that:
- we need to process it to perform a public task which is to enforce the above-mentioned legislation (6(1)(e) of the GDPR).
- we need to process it to comply with the law: The above legislation particularly Consumer Rights Act, Consumer Protection Act, Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and Weights and Measures Act places a duty of this council to enforce it. (6(1)(c) of the GDPR)
- special category personal data e.g., health - where processing is necessary for the reasons of substantial public interest (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) and DPA 2018, Schedule 1, para.6(1) & (2)(a)). An example would be record of an injury caused by an unsafe product
- criminal convictions and offences - where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (UK GDPR Article 10 as supplemented by DPA 2018 section 10(5) & Schedule 1, Part 2, paras. 6(1) and (2)(a))
Whilst undertaking an investigation, we process personal information under Part III of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) for law enforcement purposes.
We also need your data because we use it to protect and promote environmental and public health in our community, and to encourage a fairer, safer trading environment.
You can contact Trading Standards Services on 020 8753 1081 or email us at trading.standards@lbhf.gov.uk
Who we share it with
We share your data within the Council where it is necessary to deliver service or comply with our statutory obligations. We may share your data with:
- External enforcement agencies such as Met Police, City of London Police, Fire Brigade and Rescue services, Environment Agency, Action Fraud, Insolvency service and other Local Authorities Trading Standards service, National Trading Standards and Regional Investigations Team
- Internal Council Departments and Elected Members
- Central government departments such as Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), Defra, Environment agency, HMRC, National Crime Agency, to assist with service delivery
- Other organisations including voluntary services, where the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of the prevention and / or detection of crime
- Other parties - where the law requires us to pass on information under special circumstances, for crime prevention or the detection of fraud, and as part of the National Fraud Initiative
- Other parties where the information is required for legal action or protection of intellectual property, and we assess the disclosure as appropriate.
If you require an interpreter or document translation, your data may be shared with our translation and interpretation service to provide this service. Data shared with our translation and interpretation service will be only for the explicit purpose of completing the translation/interpretation and will not be shared for any other purpose.
We only process your data in the UK and the European Union (EU)
How long we keep it
We retain your data in accordance with the council retention schedule. Most data are retained for up to six (6) years, though it may be as long as 10 years where safety legislation is involved. We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
When we no longer need your data, we will dispose of it securely or, if it is of historic interest, we will transfer it to our local archives service.
What are your rights?
In relation to this processing, you have the right to:
- be informed – we do this through this privacy notice
- access your data
- have us change incorrect or incomplete data
- restrict how we process your data
For more information on your rights and how to exercise them, please see “Your data rights – what they are” and “Your data rights – how to exercise them”.
Who to contact if you’re unhappy about how we use your data or comply with your data rights.
For who to contact if you’re unhappy, please see “Your data rights – who to contact if you’re unhappy”.
What if this notice changes?
If we make a substantial change to what personal data we process, how or why we process it, or who processes it we will update this notice. We may also contact you using other communication channels to make you aware of the changes.