Data Protection Policy

Updated by The BidCarbon Legal Team on 2 January 2025

The BidCarbon processes the personal data of a wide range of individuals including (but not limited to) members of the public, BidCarbon staff, contractors and visitors.

We process this personal data in accordance with data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). This policy provides a general statement of how we achieve this.

Data subject

The individual whose personal data we process.

Personal data

This is information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. A natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, from the information and who is not a separate legal entity such as a limited company.

Special category personal data

This is sensitive personal data which requires extra protection and conditions for processing. This includes personal data which relates to an individual’s race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics (where used for ID purposes), health, sex life or sexual orientation.

Processing

This is any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means. It includes collection, storage, use, disclosure (including sharing) and destruction.

To process personal data, a controller must either have consent or it must be necessary for a specific purpose (known as a lawful basis for processing, Article 6 UK GDPR).

To process special category data, a controller must satisfy one of the conditions in Article 9 UK GDPR, for the specific purpose intended. 

Controller

The controller decides the purposes and means of processing personal data. This may be a named person, or it may be a “legal person” such as an organisation, public authority or other body. More information about the BidCarbon Foundation’ controller can be found at the end of this policy.

Processor

A processor processes personal data on behalf of a controller, usually under contract.

Data Protection Officer

A named person within an organisation who assists the controller by ensuring compliance with the legislation, as well as acting as a point of contact and advice. More information about the BidCarbon Foundation’ Data Protection Officer can be found at the end of this policy.

Key terms

Responsibilities

In addition to the individuals described above, some key teams and individuals are also responsible for data protection compliance in the BidCarbon Foundation.

Information Compliance

This team is responsible for the BidCarbon Foundation compliance with information legislation. This includes providing advice, training and guidance, answering individual rights requests and carrying out personal data breach reports and investigations.

Departmental Information Risk Owners (DIROs)

The BidCarbon Foundation has a DIRO, who is responsible for maintaining a register of processing activities (ROPA), raising local awareness and monitoring compliance with data protection law within their Teams.

All staff of the BidCarbon Foundation

All staff are responsible for the personal data they process as part of their roles within the BidCarbon Foundation. This includes the appropriate handling, sharing and security of personal data and the requirement to report any instances of misuse, loss or unauthorised access of personal data. Further, staff are responsible for ensuring that personal data and, in particular, special category data, are not held for longer than is necessary for the purpose they were collected. The BidCarbon Foundation has a retention and disposal policy in place (Authorised Retention and Disposal Policy (ARDP)) which must be adhered to.

Details about staff responsibilities are provided in the BidCarbon Foundation Staff Handbook.

Data Protection Principles

We ensure that all personal data is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Principles found in Article 5 UK GDPR. These principles state that personal data must be:

processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner

processed only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes

adequate, relevant and not excessive

accurate and kept up to date

kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data are processed; and

processed in a secure manner, protecting against unlawful access, loss or destruction

We are also committed to being responsible, accountable and able to demonstrate compliance for our processing of personal data, as required by the UK GDPR (Accountability principle).

Individual rights

The BidCarbon Foundation respects the rights of individuals concerning their own personal data and will comply appropriately with any request by a data subject relating to those rights. These rights, found in Chapter 3 UK GDPR, are:

The right to be informed

The right of access

The right to rectification

The right to erasure

The right to restrict processing

The right to data portability

The right to object

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Further information

For general queries, privacy and rights

Please consult the BidCarbon Foundation data protection pages on the BidCarbon Foundation website.

Data protection guidance is also available on the Information Commissioner’s website both for the public and for organisations.

For specific queries, concerns or complaints

If you have any questions about the use of your personal data, please submit your enquiry to the Data Protection Officer at www.bidcarbon.com/legal-privacy-contact.

Complaints and enquiries can also be directed to the UK’s regulator for data protection, the Information Commissioner’s Office. More details can be found on their website.

Our Data Protection Officer

The Head of Information Compliance serves as the Data Protection Officer (DPO) for the BidCarbon Foundation. Any data protection or privacy-related enquiries should be directed to the DPO via www.bidcarbon.com/legal-privacy-contact.

Website Terms of Use

Terms covering use of BidCarbon websites, including linking to portions of the site.

Contact us

We are here to help. Please contact us for information and support.

Disclaimer

This website is maintained and operated to provide information to the public.

Learn more