Disability benefits evaluation research: privacy notice

This privacy notice explains why we need information from you and how we will use it.

Why we need to collect this information

The information from research conducted as part of the evaluation of disability benefits is used to design and evaluate Social Security policy in Scotland.

The type of personal information we collect

We currently collect and process the following information:

• full name and preferred contact method details (e.g., email address, postal address, telephone number)

How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

• Social Security Scotland – to allow us access to the wider client base for recruitment purposes
• appointed contractors – to allow us to recontact you to take part in research, where you have consented to this

We use the information that you have given us in order to recruit for relevant research we have underway.

We will not share this information with anyone outside of the Scottish Government research team. Where you opt in to the research, you will be asked to contact appointed contractors to take part. We will share relevant contact information with you.

The Scottish Government is the data controller under data protection legislation. This means that the Scottish Government is responsible for how your personal data is used. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is “public task in the public interest”

Your personal information will either be shared with us by Social Security Scotland or Appointed Contractors. For the former, we have secure internal processes for transferring this data. For the latter, we have included within our planning and risk assessment as a prerequisite that appointed contractors will have the appropriate processes in place to allow for the safe and secure transfer of your personal information.

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored.

We keep your full name and preferred contact details for four years in the Scottish Government’s secure Analytical Data Management system. We will then securely destroy this data. Further guidance is contained in our policies on the secure erasure and disposal of computer media and the destruction of classified material.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• your right of access - you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information
• your right to rectification - you have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete
• your right to erasure - you have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances
• your right to restriction of processing - you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• your right to object to processing - you have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• your right to data portability - you have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at Stefania.Pagani@gov.scot if you wish to make a request.