Carbon Sequestration Evidence Review Panel survey: privacy notice

Social Scientists within SEU are undertaking a lessons learnt exercise reflecting on the Carbon Sequestration Evidence Panel, on behalf of the wider Strategic Evidence Unit within Welsh Government. 

The aim of gathering this feedback is to reflect on the recent ‘Sustainable Farming Scheme: Carbon Sequestration Evidence Review Panel’ and to inform how WG collaborates with stakeholders in the future, particularly in areas characterised by complex or contentious science, where it is important to ensure that we all have a shared understanding of the evidence base.    

The Welsh Government is the data controller for the data. No personal data will be provided by the research team to others in Welsh Government unless you ask us to. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. 

The key findings will be circulated within Welsh Government in the form of a short report. It is not our intention to publish the final document but we will share it with respondents once it has been completed. This report will not include any information that could easily be used to identify individual participants (but given the small number of respondents it is difficult to guarantee complete anonymity).

Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.

Welsh Government hold your personal information (name, email address) due to your participation in the Carbon Sequestration Evidence Review Panel. You have received or a link to the survey because of your participation.

The survey does not require you to provide any personal data. Completing the survey will not capture your email or IP address and as such the survey responses are anonymous. However, if you choose to provide additional personal data as part of the survey in the open-ended questions, this information will be redacted by the research team in Welsh Government before the data is analysed. We will try not to identify you from, or link your identity to, the responses you provide (though this may be more difficult in this instance due to the small group size). 

If you raise a query or complaint and provide personal data requesting a response, Welsh Government will forward the request only to the relevant official and subsequently delete it from the research data.

The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task; that is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government.

Participation is completely voluntary. Collecting insight such as this is important for Welsh Government to enable us to continuously improve how we work. 

Personal data provided to Welsh Government is held on secure servers. Any personal data you choose to provide will be stored in a restricted folder. The researchers will not provide any personal information when reporting findings.

When conducting surveys, the Welsh Government use a survey software programme called Smart Survey. We have ensured that Smart Survey is UK GDPR compliant and meets our expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software (e.g. all data is processed within the UK). 

The Welsh Government has procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, the Welsh Government will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so. 

The research team will use the information gathered to produce a report. This report will not include any information that could easily be used to identify individual participants (but given the small number of respondents it is difficult to guarantee complete anonymity).

Any personal data that was provided in open-ended questions in the survey will be deleted prior to the data being analysed.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this User Survey, specifically you have the right:

• To access a copy of your own data;
• For us to rectify inaccuracies in that data;
• To object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances);
• For your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances); and
• To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection.

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are: 

If you have any further questions about how the data provided as part of this study will be used by the Welsh Government or wish to exercise your rights using the UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at: