Media in Family Court Pilot Evaluation: Privacy Notice

The Judicial Office has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out a qualitative evaluation of the Family Court Media pilot to inform delivery and future roll-out. The pilot is being carried out in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle, enabling journalists and legal bloggers to report on what they see and hear in courts under ‘the transparency principle’.

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are certain things that we want to let you know about how information will be processed for the evaluation of the Family Court Media Pilot. A privacy notice explains how data we collect will be used. In this privacy notice, we explain:

  • the legal basis for data processing;
  • who will have access to your personal data;
  • how your data will be used, stored and deleted; and
  • who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

Who’s who?

This evaluation is being carried out by independent evaluators, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), commissioned by the Judicial Office.

You can find out more about NatCen at natcen.ac.uk.

You can find out more about the Judicial Office at judiciary.uk

Who will access personal data?

NatCen are carrying out this evaluation and will have access to recordings and transcripts of interviews with judiciary, clerks, families, legal bloggers and journalists, carried out for the purpose of this evaluation with individuals’ consent. The NatCen research team will conduct interviews with all participants. All interview transcripts and responses will be anonymised before being analysed.

McGowan Transcriptions (www.mcgowantranscriptions.co.uk) is the transcription service NatCen uses to transcribe interview data. They will have access to recordings and transcriptions from all interviews. McGowan Transcriptions is on NatCen’s approved supplier list and is compliant with all our information security policies.

How will the data be used?

The data collected will be used for research purposes only. Information and opinions gathered from interviews and focus groups with judges and court staff, families, legal bloggers and journalists will be used to inform this evaluation. During the study, NatCen will store and manage all data securely and confidentially. Only the research team will have access to the data. At the end of the study, NatCen will write a report summarising the evaluation findings. The report will not identify any individuals who took part. All personal information, and any other data held, will be securely deleted six months after the study is completed.

The legal basis for processing data

For this evaluation, NatCen is the data processor, and the Judicial Office is the data controller. Contact details for both organisations are provided below. In order for the use of personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation, as set out in Article 6(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For the purpose of this project, the legal basis for this project is “public task”. This means that we believe that processing this data is necessary to perform a task in the public interest or for official functions.

Do you have the right to withdraw permission?

You have the right to withdraw your permission for processing at any time and you don’t have to justify or explain why you are doing so if you don’t want to state your reasons. To withdraw your permission, please contact the study team at FCMP@natcen.ac.uk.  

When any data you provide has been aggregated with other responses in analyses, we will be unable to remove your data from those analyses. However, the original data will be erased, and it will not be possible to identify you in these aggregated results.

Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your permission, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

Who can I contact with a query or a complaint?

Under GDPR, you have the right to raise any concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their website at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

If you have any questions about how your data will be used or managed, please contact NatCen’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@natcen.ac.uk.

Contact information

If you have any questions about how your personal information will be processed, or about the evaluation, please contact:

The NatCen research team at: FCMP@natcen.ac.uk or on 0808 196 9507.

The Judicial Office at: Bee.Ezete@judiciary.uk