Evaluation of the Gambling Act Review: Privacy Notice Focus Groups (Statutory Levy)

Who are NatCen?

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is an independent, not-for-profit social research organisation. You can find a link to our website here: https://natcen.ac.uk/.

What is this research about?

This privacy notice sets out how your information will be used for the evaluation of the Gambling Act Review (GAR). The White Paper and GAR proposed several changes to policies related to gambling, including the introduction of a statutory levy to fund research, prevention, and treatment services. NatCen has been commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Gambling Commission (GC) to conduct an evaluation of the GAR. The focus of the evaluation is to gather evidence to evaluate and better understand changes to gambling related policy, including how these changes are being implemented, whether they are being delivered effectively and are achieving their intended outcomes, and the impacts that they have. NatCen will also capture learning to inform effective future policy changes.

The evaluation will involve several work strands including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis and surveys with different groups of people. As part of the qualitative work strand, we are conducting focus groups with people who are involved in the implementation of the statutory levy, or providing, commissioning, or funding treatment and support services or gambling research.

What is the legal basis for processing my data?

For the purpose of data protection legislation, DCMS and the GC are joint data controllers and NatCen is the data processor. This means that DCMS and the GC are responsible for deciding the purpose and legal basis for processing data collected in relation to the GAR data collection activities. In order to use personal data in a manner which is lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in data protection legislation, as set out in Article 6(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As such, the lawful basis for this data processing will be ‘public task’. This is because the evaluation of the GAR is in the public interest, is being carried out as part of DCMS and the Gambling Commission’s statutory responsibilities, and the processing of this personal data is necessary to carry out the evaluation.

Who will have access to my personal data?

We are recruiting people to take part in the focus groups to collect data for the evaluation. This will involve the processing of personal data of those participating in the research. Named individuals in the NatCen research team will have access to the contact details of those taking part. This is for the purpose of organising and facilitating the focus groups.
No one at NatCen outside of the designated research team will have access to the data; this will be stored in secure folders which have restricted access.

How will my data be used?

The data we collect will be used for research purposes only. Information gathered from the data collection activities, including the focus groups, will feed into evidence as part of the evaluation to understand the implementation and impact of the policy changes. We will treat everything you say as confidential.

During the study, NatCen will store and manage all data securely and confidentially. The outputs (such as reports) which use or are informed by data collected from the focus groups will not identify any individuals who took part. Once the project is completed, all personal information, and any other data held, will be securely deleted after the project has been completed. This data can be kept for up to 5 years after it has been used for the project.

Do I have the right to withdraw permission?

You have the right to withdraw your permission for data processing and ask for your contributions to be redacted or withdrawn entirely. You do not have to justify or explain why you wish to do so. If you do decide to withdraw your permission, we will stop processing your data and remove the data that you have provided. However, after your participation, your data will be combined with other responses as part of analysis. It will therefore not be possible to withdraw or redact data following this analysis. Therefore, you can withdraw your permission up to the point at which analysis has started. This will be approximately 2 weeks after your focus group, and will be confirmed following each focus group. After analysis has taken place, if you wish to do so, you are still able to withdraw your permission for any further data processing.

If you do wish to withdraw your permission to take part in the evaluation, or wish to redact your contribution, you can contact the research team by emailing GARevaluation@natcen.ac.uk.

What are my rights as a data subject?

Under UK GDPR, people whose personal data is being processed have certain rights. Data subjects have the right to be informed about the collection and use of personal data; information about this in relation to the GAR focus groups is outlined in this privacy notice. In addition, as a data subject, you have the following rights:

• You are able to access personal data which is held by NatCen in relation to this research, in a format which is easy to transfer.
• If NatCen hold data which is not accurate, you have the right to correct this and for inaccuracies to be rectified.
• You are able to withdraw your permission, object to your data being processed, and have your data erased (please refer to the above section for further information).
• Under certain circumstances, you are able to restrict the processing of your data.
• You can make a complaint relating to the processing of your data (please refer to the below section for further information).

Who can I contact with a query or complaint?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used for this research, or the evaluation in general, please contact the research team at GARevaluation@natcen.ac.uk.

If you have any concerns over how your data is used, you can contact NatCen’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@natcen.ac.uk.

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint about how information has been used or managed with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please go to www.ico.org.uk for more information.