Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions

1. Disclaimer

Surrey County Council’s (“SCC”) Surrey-i Portal (“the Website”) is a service operated by Surrey County Council, 11 Woodhatch Rd, Cockshot Hill, Reigate, RH2 8EF on behalf of and in partnership with Surrey Strategic Partnership.

If you use Surrey-i you agree to our terms and conditions.  By reading and continuing to use the Portal you agree to the following conditions of use:

We may revise our terms and conditions at any time without notice. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you of any changes but it is up to you to regularly check the terms and conditions to make sure that you are still able to comply with them.

If you do not agree with our terms and conditions you must not use Surrey-i.

SCC makes every effort to ensure that data custodians and information publishers, and authors observe the recommendation relating to good quality data and keep their data and information on this Portal accurate and up-to-date. It is recommended that the users always read the metadata associated with the data or information before making value judgements about it. However, we cannot accept responsibility for any loss or inconvenience caused by reliance on inaccurate or poor quality material contained in this Portal.

SCC is committed to providing a rich range of information and every attempt has been made to ensure that the Portal is up to date. However, SCC cannot accept any liability for the accuracy or content. Visitors who rely on this information do so at their own risk.  SCC also provides links to websites maintained by other organisations for the convenience of the user.

2. Copyright

Data, information, objects and documents on this Portal are the copyright of the data custodian, publisher or author named in the metadata, or the organisation that they represent, unless stated otherwise. All other material on the Portal, including text and images, are the copyright of SCC who manage the Surrey-i Portal.

Please note that we also publish third party data from organisations such as the Office for National Statistics etc. Details of the copyright and the original source can be found in the dataset’s metadata.

Unless otherwise stated all materials, computer programs, pictures, audio, video, artistic music and literary works featured on the Portal or viewable by means of the Portal, and the selection or arrangement thereof, is copyright of SCC (Copyright Protected Material). Permission is granted to reproduce Copyright Protected Material in any format or media, provided:

  • it is solely used for private or educational use;
  • it is reproduced accurately and no changes are made to the material;
  • it is not used in a derogatory or misleading context;
  • and SCC is acknowledged as the owner

The permission to reproduce the Copyright Protected Material does not extend to:

  • copyright works which are identified as being the copyright of a third party;
  • audio and/or video conveyed in any Webcast viewable via the Portal;
  • the coat of arms of SCC; or
  • commercial purposes without the express written permission of SCC

3. Open data licence

Anyone can re-use the data made publically available through this Portal. Yon don’t have to apply or ask permission, but you do have to agree to the terms of the Open Government Licence for public sector information.

The idea of Open Data is that non-personal information held by government and local councils should be freely available for anyone to use.

Surrey-i Portal wants to make public data available for the benefit of everyone, so that:

  • The user can examine the data and information to get a better understanding of local issues
  • The public organisations increase their transparency and accountability
  • The user can re-use, remix, share and republish the data in new and creative ways provided there is no infringement of copyright whatsoever
  • The user can use the data to create useful applications and websites without infringing or breaking any rights whatsoever

The Open Government Licence allows you to copy, download, publish, distribute and adapt the data (including commercially) in your own product or application. If you use the data, you should acknowledge Surrey-i as the source and provide a link to the licence. You must not use the data in a way that suggests any official status nor that we endorse you or your use of the data. Your use of the data must not be misleading nor misrepresentative of the original data and you must comply with the Data Protection Act1998 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

The terms of the licence are compatible with any creative commons attribution 3.0 licence. This means you can mix data with any Creative Commons licensed material to create a derivative work that can be distributed under any Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence.

If you develop applications or mashups with the data, you should ensure it follows the data.gov.uk code of conduct found by copying the URL http://data.gov.uk/code-conduct to your browser

4. Data quality

The Surrey-i Portal is a rich source of information and although it is expected that the data custodian publishes only good quality data in the system, sometimes data or information that is timely is more relevant or interesting than data that is accurate and therefore the data quality may vary. The data custodian is expected to record the quality of their data, and any other useful information that helps you to judge the validity of the data, in the metadata associated with a specific piece of data or information.

Quality is measured by the extent to which data or information is, fit for its purpose, meets requirements, is free from known defects or contamination, and meets customer satisfaction.

The audit commissions definition of data quality is one that is necessary for an operational or productive systems and which is used to make operational decisions about people or cases. It also applies to data that has been audited. However, the Surrey-i definition of good quality data is broader than the audit commissions one as the system is only used for statistical, analytical or research purposes and as such, it is sometimes beneficial to have access to data that provides the user ‘guidance’, ‘indication’ or ‘possible trend’ in the absence of better quality or more timely data. The absolute key to the data quality in the Surrey-i is the metadata. It enables the consumers to judge if a piece of data or information is fit for the purpose they plan to use it for and consequently it will decide if the system meets the customer’s satisfaction. Metadata is the responsibility of the data custodian and publisher as they create new data or information. Without good quality metadata, the consumer cannot make informed value judgments about the data.

5. Privacy

The public access is provided without registering as a user. Any personal information collected from registered users to this Portal is used only to respond to enquiries, troubleshoot technical problems and to monitor Portal usage. The Portal uses cookies on survey pages, but no personal information is disclosed to third parties. Personal information is held under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. SCC will use its best endeavours to safeguard the privacy of its Portal visitors.

When collecting information SCC does not use cookies that collect personal information from visitors to the Website.

Cookies and logging of IP addresses may be used to enable SCC to monitor site traffic and repeat visitor statistics. The information cannot be used to identify any individual. To read more about cookies and IP addresses please refer to our “Explanation of technical terms”.  Personal information may be collected from an email sent by, a telephone call from or a web form completed by a customer using a website service or as feedback on our services. For some services SCC may collect sensitive personal information and in these circumstances SCC will aim to get your explicit agreement to our using this type of information.

In all cases the information requested will be no more than is necessary to provide the service promised.

We will collect personal details appropriate to the service you require. In some areas, this may simply mean registering your name, address and email details. Other on-line forms will require more information so that all the appropriate elements of your service request will be dealt with in a timely manner.

Use of information

Any and all personal information collected is used only to monitor site usage, respond to enquiries or to carry out the service for which the customer supplied the information. Where personal data is requested through forms, such data is only used for the purpose stated on the form and will not be given or sold to any third parties without your consent.

6. Retention of information

As a general rule SCC will not keep information longer than is necessary and whilst in our possession SCC will safeguard your personal information according to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Personal data received as part of an enquiry is only retained as long as the enquiry remains open or for processing to obtain statistical information, in which case the data is anonymised.

Personal information collected by cookies is anonymous and held on a temporary basis.

There are various reasons that we need to collect personal data. For example, we may need to ask you for your contact details for correspondence purposes. Similarly, we may need information in order to fulfil our statutory obligations and regulatory responsibilities. Subject to your agreement we may contact you to either provide information about new services that are coming on line, or get your feedback on how well we are performing. In any event we will only ever obtain information from you that is ‘fit for purpose’ and does not constitute an invasion of your privacy.

Surrey-i Privacy Policy

We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of Surrey-i registered users and visitors; this policy sets out how we will treat your personal information (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998).

7. What information do we collect about users?

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:

(a) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website (including, for example, your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views, website navigation);

(b) information that you provide to us for the purpose of registering with us;

(c) information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our website services, email notifications and/or newsletters;

(d) any other information that you choose to send to us.

(e) “Public access to Surrey-i data and information is provided without registering users.  Any personal information collected from users who register to this site is used only to enable website services, respond to enquiries, troubleshoot technical problems and to monitor site usage.  The site uses cookies on survey pages.

We will never disclose or sell personal information to third parties or send you unsolicited emails.  Personal information is held under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998”

8. Cookies

A cookie consists of information sent by a web server to a web browser, and stored by the browser. The information is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.

We use both “session” cookies and “persistent” cookies on the website.  We will use the session cookies to: keep track of you whilst you navigate the website.  We will use the persistent cookies to: enable our website to recognise you when you visit.

Session cookies will be deleted from your computer when you close your browser.  Persistent cookies will remain stored on your computer until deleted, or until they reach a specified expiry date.

We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of this website.  Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies, which are stored on users’ computers.  The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information.  Google’s privacy policy is available at http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html.

Most browsers allow you to reject all cookies, whilst some browsers allow you to reject just third party cookies.  For example, in Internet Explorer you can refuse all cookies by clicking “Tools”, “Internet Options”, “Privacy”, and selecting “Block all cookies” using the sliding selector.  Blocking all cookies will, however, have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

9. Using your Personal Information

Personal information submitted to us via this website will be used for the purposes specified in these terms & conditions or in relevant parts of the website.
We may use your personal information to:

(a) administer the website;

(b) improve your browsing experience by personalising the website;

(c) enable your use of the services available on the website;

(d) send you general non-marketing communications;

(e) send you email notifications which you have specifically requested;

(f) send to you our newsletter or event notifications where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require new letters or event notifications);

(g) deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website;
We will not provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.

10. Disclosures

We may disclose information about you to any of our employees, officers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes as set out in these terms & conditions.

In addition, we may disclose your personal information:

(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;

(b) in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings;

(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights

(d) to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information.

Except as provided in these terms & conditions, we will not provide your information to third parties.

11. International data transfers

Information that we collect will not be transferred between any other countries.

12. Security of your personal information

We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure password and firewall protected servers.  All registration and secure login transactions you make to or receive from us will be encrypted using SSL technology. Of course, data transmission over the Internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the Internet.
If you are a partner user with a user account, you are responsible for keeping your password and user details confidential. We will not ask you for your password (except when you log in to the website).

13. Amendments

We may update these terms & conditions from time-to-time by posting a new version on our website.  You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes.

14. Your Rights

You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.  Provision of such information will be subject to:

(a) the payment of a fee and

(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity. For this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address from members of the public and a copy of a payslip from the partner users.
We may withhold such personal information to the extent permitted by law.

15. Third Party Websites

The website contains links to other websites. These are provided for your convenience and do not imply Surrey County Council’s endorsement of them. We cannot be responsible for information contained on other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party websites.

16. Updating Information

Please let us know if the personal information, which we hold, about you needs to be corrected or updated.

17. Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our treatment of your personal information, please write to us by email to surreyi.helpdesk@surreycc.gov.uk or by post to Surrey-i, 11 Woodhatch Rd, Cockshot Hill, Reigate RH2 8EF.

18. Data controller

The Data Controller responsible in respect of the personal information collected on this website is Surrey County Council.
Our data protection registration number is PZ7330410.

19. Applicable law

This Licence will be governed by and construed in accordance with English law, and any disputes relating to this Licence shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

20. About these terms & conditions

For further information about these terms & conditions please contact the Surrey-i Coordinator:

Surrey-i – Surrey County Council

11 Woodhatch Rd

Cockshot Hill

Reigate

RH2 8EF

21. Freedom of information

The Act

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all information held by public authorities which are subject to the Act, regardless of when the information was recorded.  The purposes of the Act are summarised below:
provides a right of access to recorded information held by public authorities
creates exemptions from the duty to disclose information
established the arrangements for enforcement and appeal

General right of access to information

The key feature of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is that it provides a general right of access to information held by those public authorities which fall within the scope of the Act. Information held by a public authority is information:
which is held by the authority (except for information it holds on behalf of another person)
and information held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Information or records?

It is important to note that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not give an automatic right to Council documents or other types of records.  Rather it gives a right (subject to any exemptions) to information contained within them.  Consequently, there will be times when only some parts of a document can be made available.

Before making your information request

SCC already makes available a large amount of information via a number of means.  Before lodging your request, it is important that you check whether the information you are seeking is already available to you.  If this is the case, SCC is not obliged to deal with your request under the Freedom of Information Act.

Please first check the following sources:

  • SCC’s Website
  • SCC’s Website Scheme
  • SCC’s Libraries

Who can request information under FOI?

Anyone can request information under the Act regardless of age, nationality or location.
What information will be available?

Any information held by SCC is eligible for release.  However, a number of exemptions may be applied to protect confidential information.

How do I make a request?

Your request must be made in writing.  You can submit your request via fax, e-mail, or in writing:

Freedom of Information Officer
Room 134
County Hall
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey, KT1 2DN

Tel: 020 8541 7969
Email: foi@surreycc.gov.uk
Fax: 020 8541 9115

Your request must include:

  • Your name
  • Your address
  • A description of the information you wish to obtain
  • Any preferences for the format for receiving the information

More details about FOI requests can be found on the SCC public web pages