Planning Applications Wales: privacy policy

Under GDPR, we have a legal duty to protect any personal information we collect from you. We use leading technologies and encryption software to safeguard your data, and keep strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it.

We do not pass on your details to any third party or other government department.

Under GDPR, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you. These are;

• a right of access to a copy of the information comprised in their personal data
• a right to object to processing that is likely to cause or is causing damage or distress
• a right to prevent processing for direct marketing
• a right to object to decisions being taken by automated means
• a right in certain circumstances to have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed, and
• a right to claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the act.

You can read more about these rights on ico.org.uk.

The “Planning Applications Wales” web service planningapplications.gov.wales is delivered by PortalPlanQuest Ltd, trading as the Planning Portal, on behalf of the Welsh Ministers. When someone visits planningapplications.gov.wales uses a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in an anonymous way which does not identify anyone individually. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be open about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

Use of cookies by planningapplications.gov.wales

Cookies are small text files sent to your computer or mobile device by the websites that you visit. They help make websites work better and provide information to the owners of the site. For instance, we use language cookies to know what language you would like the web site displayed to you in, we also use YouTube cookies to embed videos in pages and Google Analytics cookies to track users’ behaviour whilst on the site. By understanding how people use our site, we can improve the navigation and content to better meet people’s needs. The information collected by planningapplications.gov.wales includes IP address, pages visited, browser and operating system. The data will not be used to identify any user personally. The cookies we use on our site are:

Web browsers allow some control of cookies through browser settings. To find out more about cookies and how to manage them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

We collect the information submitted as part of your application, and we transmit this information to the Local Planning Authority responsible for determining the relevant application. We also keep a copy of any applications, either prepared in draft or submitted to the relevant Local Planning Authority, for 4 years, to facilitate the resubmission of an application, or to be used as a template for a future application. 

Local Planning Authorities are required by planning law to gather and process certain information in the determination of planning applications and associated consents. The planningapplications.gov.wales service provides a single entry point to these services. To be clear, responsibility for the data you submit to Local Planning Authorities via planningapplications.gov.wales also extends to the Local Planning Authorities once they receive the data you submit. We do not accept any responsibility on behalf of Local Planning Authorities in relation their receipt, processing, or loss of your data. 

We monitor user activity to enhance content provided on this site. This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. ('Google'). Google Analytics uses 'cookies' and JavaScript code to help analyse user activity on websites. The information generated about your use of the website (including your anonymised IP address) will be transmitted to and stored on Google servers in the United States.

Google will use this information to produce user activity reports for this website. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf.
 
Google will not associate your IP address with any other data previously held. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Please note that if cookies are disabled, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
 
Read Google's Privacy Policy and Google's Terms of Service for detailed information.

We use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt and protect email traffic in line with government. If your email service does not support TLS, you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit.

We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

In order to use planningapplications.gov.wales, you must register. The registration information we require as mandatory for registration is your email address. This data is stored in the UK and its handling satisfies the provisions of GDPR as confirmed here. This information is stored until such time as you choose to delete your account.

You can change your registration preferences, e-mail address and login details through the website at any time.

PortalPlanQuest Ltd tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

This privacy policy was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of PortalPlanQuest Ltd’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below.

This privacy policy does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

If this privacy policy changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties.

This privacy policy was last updated on 10 May 2018.

If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can write to:

Data Protection Officer
PortalPlanQuest Ltd
Suite 4C
Spectrum Building
Bond Street
Bristol
BS1 3LG

We welcome your feedback. If you contact us asking for information, we may need to contact other government departments to find that information. If your question is technical, we may need to pass it to our technology suppliers.

We do not pass on any of your personal information when dealing with your enquiry, unless you have given us permission to do so. Once we have replied to you, we keep a record of your message for audit purposes.

Further information

If you have any further questions about how your data will be used by PortalPlanQuest Ltd, please write to us using the details below.

PortalPlanQuest Ltd
Suite 4C
Spectrum Building
Bond Street
Bristol
BS1 3LG