Bereavement Services Privacy Notice

Who are we? 

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is a ‘Data Controller’ as defined by Article 4(7) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Bereavement Services liaise with funeral directors and memorial masons for burials and memorials in the Council’s eight cemeteries.  It keeps records of all burials and memorials erected in the cemeteries. 

Data Protection Officer

Redcar and Cleveland House

Kirkleatham Street

Redcar

TS10 1RT

You can contact the team by emailing InformationGovernance@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk or by calling 01642 774774.

What personal information do we collect?

  • Personal identifiers (name, age, gender) 
  • Contact information (address, telephone numbers, email address)
  • Place and date of death. 

Why do we collect your personal information? 

Personal information is collected to enable accurate records to be kept of the person being buried and the person arranging the funeral to produce grants of rights of burial for the grave and to transfer the rights when the right of burial holder has died.  

The information also enables checks to be made for identifying the right grave when re-opening a grave for another burial. 

Who do we obtain your information from?

  • Family of deceased individuals
  • Funeral directors who complete a Notice of Burial form for the person being buried
  • Memorial Masons who deal with families and submit an application form for the erection of a memorial, an additional inscription upon a memorial and to re-fix or replace a memorial. 

Who do we share this information with?

We may share information with the following where we have a lawful basis to do so:

  • Funeral Directors
  • Memorial Masons 
  • Family History Researchers 
  • Deceased Online 
  • Military, for service personnel burials 
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission 

How long do we keep your information for?

Data held Retention period
Notice of Internment Forms Permanently 
Grave Register Permanently 
Burial Register Permanently 
Index Purchases and Index of Burials Permanently
Memorial Application Forms 6 years from the date of the memorial being erected in pace
Purchase of Exclusive Right of Burial Forms Permanently 

What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council relies on the following lawful basis to process your personal data:

UK GDPR Article 6(e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller. 

The legislations, policies and guidance that relate to this service includes, but is not limited to:

  • The Local Government Act 1972
  • Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977
  • Burial Act 1857
  • Registration of Burials Act 1864

Your Rights

You have a number of rights that you may exercise in relation to your personal data. Some of the rights do not apply automatically and may not be available in certain circumstances where a lawful exception applies. 

  • You have a right to access your personal data. You can request a copy of personal data that we hold about you and ask us to explain how we use your data. 
  • You have a right to object to processing of your personal data. You have an absolute right to stop your data being used for direct marketing. In other cases where the right to object applies, we may be able to continue using your data if we have a compelling reason for doing so. 
  • If we are relying on consent as the lawful basis to process your data you can withdraw your consent at any time, and we will stop further processing. 
  • You have a right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data. 
  • You have a right to have your personal data erased, if we no longer have a legitimate use for it. This right is sometimes called the ‘right to be forgotten’. 
  • You have a right to rectification of your personal data if the information we hold in relation to you is inaccurate or incomplete. 
  • You have a right not to be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects. You can request human intervention or challenge any solely automated decision-making that significantly affects you. 

If you would like to request access to your personal data or exercise any of your other data protection rights, please contact the Information Governance Team:

Information Governance 

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council

Redcar and Cleveland House

Kirkleatham Street

Redcar

TS10 1RT 

Email: InformationGovernance@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk 

Telephone: 01642 774 774 

 

You can seek advice and have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body set up to uphold information rights in the UK. You can contact them through the ICO website www.ico.org.uk, their helpline on 0303 123 1113, or in writing to:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF 

For more information about how the Council uses your data, including your privacy rights and the complaints process, please see our Corporate Privacy Notice.