Personal information charter

This information charter sets out the standards you can expect from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) when we ask for, or hold, your personal information.


The government incorporated the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) into UK data protection law in January 2021. The EU formally adopted adequacy decisions for the UK under the General Data Protection Regulation and Law Enforcement Directive on 28 June 2021. These allow personal data to continue to flow freely from the EU and wider European Economic Area (EEA) to the UK.

We will ensure that we treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Your rights

When the FCDO or its agencies collects, holds, uses or processes in any way your personal data, you are entitled to be told:

  • the purpose for which the data is being used, and our lawful basis for processing it

  • how long we will keep your data, who we will share it with

  • whether it will be transferred or accessed outside the UK or EU, and what legal safeguards are in place to protect it

  • about any rights you may have, including the right to access your information, or to object to its being used

  • about your right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel that your personal information has been mishandled

  • about the identity of our Data Protection Officer (an independent advisor on data protection matters)

You are also entitled to have your personal information:

  • protected and kept secure

  • kept accurate and up to date

  • not used for purposes which are incompatible with those for which it was collected

  • kept only for as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was collected (unless it must be kept as part of the historic record)

How to access your personal information

If you would like a copy of any personal information that we hold about you, please contact the Information Rights Unit at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Information Rights Unit
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Email: information.rights@fcdo.gov.uk

Privacy notices

Our data controller privacy notice explains how will process your data in accordance with data protection legislation.

These privacy notices explain in more detail how we will handle your data in specific circumstances:

Events and visiting FCDO buildings in the UK and abroad

Working for the FCDO

Foreign diplomatic staff

Consular services

Other FCDO services and occasions when we handle your data

Using special category and criminal conviction personal data

The Appropriate Policy Document sets out how the FCDO will protect special category and criminal convictions personal data.

Data Protection Officer

If you have any concerns about how the department is handling your personal data, you may contact the department’s Data Protection Officer (DPO).

The DPO provides independent advice and monitoring of FCDO’s use of personal information. They can be contacted at the following postal and email addresses:

Information Management Department
Information and Digital Directorate
Room K4.02
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH

Email: data.protection@fcdo.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7008 5000