User Engagement on New Methodology for Measuring Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation in Northern Ireland

We will summarise all responses received and place this summary on the Department for the Economy website. This will include a list of the organisations that responded but will not include personal names or other contact details.

Information provided in response to this user engagement, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure under access to information legislation (primarily the Data Protection Act 2018; the General Data Protection Regulation 2018; Freedom of Information Act 2000; and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). 

For this reason, you should identify in your response any information which you do not wish to be disclosed and explain why this is the case. Please note that an automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.

If we receive a request for disclosure of this information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. 

For further information about how we process your personal data, please see our Privacy Notice below.

Data Controller Name:     Department for the Economy

Business Area:                Statistics Information, Analysis & Research Branch, Analytical Services Division

Address:                          Adelaide House, Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8FD

Email:                              energystatistics@economy-ni.gov.uk

Why are you processing my personal information?

Department for Economy (DfE) Statistics Information, Analysis and Research Branch is seeking users’ views on work undertaken to develop an improved statistical measure of Electricity Consumption and Renewable Generation (ECRG) in Northern Ireland and the development of an improved data framework in support.

The information we collect from you will help shape the final developments and improvements to the ECRG report.

The lawful basis for processing your personal data is that of public task in accordance with:

• Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR (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) and Section 8(d) of the Data Protection Act 2018 (the exercise of a government department).

What categories of personal data are you processing?

Your name and e-mail address.

As part of the user engagement response, you will be asked if you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation. Responding organisations may include trade unions, but we will not ask you if you are a member of a trade union.

When you submit a response via Citizen Space, your IP address is automatically recorded. This helps us maintain the integrity of the consultation process.

Where do you get my personal data from?

You will provide us with your personal data when responding to the user engagement. Providing your name and email address is entirely optional and not required to complete the survey. If you choose to provide your contact details, we may use them to follow up with you should any issues arise from your submission, or if we require further clarification regarding any concerns you have raised.

Do you share my personal data with anyone else?

No, responses will only be accessible to statisticians within Statistics Information, Analysis & Research Branch.

A user engagement Summary Report will be produced after the user engagement has closed. We may choose to take excerpts and examples from comments that are made in text boxes within the user engagement for the Summary Report. You are not required to provide further information in any text box or provide any personal information. If you choose to make additional comments, including personal information, where it is possible to anonymise this information for publication in the Summary Report, we will do so. Where this is not possible, this information will not be included in the Summary Report.

In some circumstances, DfE is legally obliged to share information, for example with the PSNI. We might also share information with regulatory bodies, for example, NI Audit Office, in order to further their, or our, objectives. In any scenario, DfE will satisfy itself that it has a lawful basis on which to share the information and document it’s decision-making.

If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, unless you request otherwise, we will include the name of the organisation in the user engagement summary – we will not share your name.

In any event, if we need to share outside of the above it will only be after a thorough data protection assessment to ensure that this is fully compliant with data protection law.

Do you transfer my personal data to other countries?

No. Your personal data will not be transferred to other countries.

How long do you keep my personal data?

We will retain any personal data for a period of 5 years in line with the Department for the Economy Retention and Disposal Schedule after which time it will be destroyed securely.

Do you use my personal data to make an automated decision about me or for profiling?

No.

What rights do I have?

• You have the right to obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and access to your personal data
• You are entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data, in specific circumstances
• You have the right to object to the processing, in specific circumstances
• You have rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

If these rights are applicable and you wish to exercise these please email DPO@economy-ni.gov.uk

How do I complain if I am not happy?

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal information is being processed, please contact the Department’s Data Protection Officer at DPO@economy-ni.gov.uk    

If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Contact details of the ICO are available at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/