Research on strengthening and advancing equality and human rights in Wales: privacy notice (focus groups)

The Welsh Government has commissioned Swansea University in collaboration with Bangor University, Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales to undertake research on strengthening and advancing equality and human rights in Wales. The aim of this research is to investigate mechanisms to strengthen and advance equality and human rights in Wales, and to make recommendations for legislative, policy, guidance, or other reforms to meet this objective. As part of this research Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will be gathering information through focus groups.

The Welsh Government is the data controller for the research. However, Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will delete any personal data provided, and anonymise the raw data, before it is shared with the Welsh Government.

The information collected during the project will be included in a report published on the Welsh Government website and possibly in other publications such as journal articles, blogs or consultation responses, and may be referred to at conferences, academic seminars or other public events by Swansea University/Bangor University/Diverse Cymru/Young Wales/Children in Wales.

Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. However your views and experiences are important in order to help inform Welsh Government policies.

The contact for this research at Swansea University is Simon Hoffman.

E-mail address: s.hoffman@swansea.ac.uk
Telephone number: 01792 513004

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

You have been invited to participate in a focus group as part of this research given the Welsh Government is keen to hear the views of people with lived experiences on the extent to which individuals understand equality and human rights legislation, and whether they consider this legislation sufficiently promotes and protects their equality and human rights. The focus groups are being run by Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government. Your contact details have been accessed by Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales from their network of individuals who are interested in getting involved in engagement and consultation opportunities, or from contact details you have provided yourself. Contact details will only be used 

by Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales to organise focus groups as part of this research project and, with your permission, to invite you to provide feedback on proposals for strengthening and advancing equality and human rights as part of the field testing stage of the research.

Your participation is voluntary and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply to the invitation email and your details will be removed.

This research does not require the collection of additional personal data from you other than a video of the focus group if you agree to the focus group being recorded. The focus groups will be conducted online where possible, although face-to-face focus group will be provided for people who find it difficult or impossible to engage online. We wish to record focus groups for operational reasons. We will make this clear to you before the focus group begins, and you will have the opportunity to tell us if you are not happy for the discussion to be recorded, with recording only taking place if all participants are in agreement. If focus groups are recorded, personal data will be removed during the process of transcribing. Recordings will be deleted as soon as this process is completed. If the focus group is not recorded, personal data will not be included in written notes prepared following the focus group.

If you choose to provide additional personal data as part of the research we will try not to identify you from, or link your identity to, the responses you provide. If you raise a query or complaint and provide personal data requesting a response, the researcher 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. Research studies such as this are important for the Welsh Government to collect information and actionable evidence about its ability to deliver government priorities. The information collected in this research, for example, might be used to:

• provide a better understanding of equality and human rights in Wales
• develop, deliver, monitor and evaluate policies relating to equality and human rights
• make recommendations for legislative, policy, guidance, or other reforms

Personal information provided to Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project. Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will only use this data for research purposes.   

Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs, Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will report this to the Welsh Government who will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.

All data gathered through this research will be reported in an anonymised format. It will not contain your contact details and any identifiable information in open-ended answers will be removed. Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will use the information gathered to write sections of a report that will be sent on to Swansea University to be included in a final report that will be published on the Welsh Government website. Both the sections of the report written by Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales and the final report submitted to Welsh Government will not include any information that could be used to identify individual participants.

Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will hold personal data during the contract period, and any personal data not already removed from research responses will be deleted three months after the end of the contract. This includes your contact details. Diverse Cymru and Young Wales/Children in Wales will provide Swansea University with sections of a report that will be subsequently incorporated into a final report submitted to Welsh Government. This final report will include an anonymised version of the data which will not include information that could identify you.

Under GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this research, 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:

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Phone: 01625 545 745 or 0303 123 1113.
Website

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 General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

Name: Steven Macey
E-mail address: Steven.Macey@gov.wales
Telephone number: 03000 622253

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

Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.
Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales