The services process personal information in order to provide, manage and administer the Archives and Archaeology services either directly or jointly with partners and commissioned private and third sector providers. This includes the provision of:

• access to the Archive and Archaeology collections.
• the records search facility for individuals in the Archive catalogue, Archaeological Library, Historic Environment Record and a range of individual databases on-site and on-line
• the Archaeology service, the Digitisation and Microfilming service, and the Conservation Service
• the dedicated Learning and Outreach team who deliver events and activities to over 6,000 people per year
• advice to help enrich research through access to our resources - the Archives and Archaeology service offers support to planners, landowners, developers, consultants, schools and universities, local groups and members of the public
• volunteering and work experience

The service processes personal information which is relevant to individual cases which may include, but is not limited to, the following personal data:

• Personal details for example name, age, address and Archive Card number
• contact information for example telephone numbers and email address
• other relevant information needed to provide the service required by the user

The legal bases for processing this personal information are:

• consent where, for example, you give your personal information to attend an event or to access the collections and information
• contract where for example you engage the services of the Archive and Archaeology service for a project, or work with the Archive and Archaeology Service on a project
• legal obligation when we process personal information in relation to the Historic Environment Record or the storage and preservation of archives

We may need to share the personal information you have given to us or we have collected about you with partner organisations where relevant to the individual and/or their use of the service provision. These include but are not limited to:

• other Worcestershire County Council services as appropriate including Legal Services
• archive partners
• voluntary agency partners
• third party contractors
• elected members and MPs (as your representative)
• funding bodies
• Worcestershire District and City Councils

Information will only ever be shared when it is strictly necessary to help us provide effective services and you may have the right to refuse.  We will not pass it onto any other parties unless required to do so by law or in all reasonable circumstances the disclosure is fair and warranted for the purposes of processing or subject to a data protection exemption.

We have specific data sharing agreements in place with local agencies and sometimes the law requires that we may have to pass your details on to a third party, for example, to prevent crime.

The standard record retention for records relating to Archives and Archaeology records is six years. However, there are also a range of other retention periods affecting different types of information and service needs and these range from ten years to permanently depending on the type of information and service. More information about our retention periods can be found in our summary Disposal Schedule (Excel file).

Please note stated retention periods may be subject to any legal holds imposed under the Inquiries Act 2005 that may concern the information and override standard retention periods.

You are entitled to a copy, or a description, of the personal data we hold that relates to you, subject to lawful restrictions. For more information see Make a Data Protection Request.

You may be entitled to rectification, restriction, objection, and erasure of your personal information depending on the service and legal basis. Please in the first instance contact Carol Brown, Head of Libraries, Archive and Archaeology, email cbrown@worcestershire.gov.uk, or telephone 01905 846232 to exercise these Information Rights or call the main Worcestershire County Council contact telephone number of 01905 765765.

Please see our overarching Privacy Notice for further contact details and if you have a complaint about your information rights.