Guidance

Privacy notice for personal data processed in the IPOs Procurement Service

Updated 6 June 2023

This privacy notice will help you to understand what personal data the IPO collects about you, how the IPO uses this personal data, what personal data is made public (including online) as part of the procurement process, and what rights you have regarding your personal data.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice that is provided to you on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing your personal data, so that you are aware of how and why we are using it.

This notice applies to individual persons who are external to the IPO. This notice does not form part of any contract. This notice can be updated at any time, and we will inform you if this occurs.

Personal data is any information that can be used to identify a living individual, either on its own, or in combination with other pieces of data. Examples of personal data includes your name and address.

Data processing includes the collection, use, publication, and storage of data.

The data controller is the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) per article 4 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The Data Protection Officer for the IPO can be contacted using the contact details below:

DSIT Data Protection Officer
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET

Email: dataprotection@energysecurity.gov.uk

1. The purpose of processing your data

The IPO processes your personal data for the purposes of delivering its procurement service.

2. The lawful basis for processing your data

The IPO processes your personal data for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of the official authority given to it, per Article 6(1)(e) of the UKGDPR.

3. Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• you have the right to request access to your data

• you have the right to correct your data if it is incorrect

• you have the right to object to your data being processed

If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact the Data Protection Officer above.

4. If you do not provide your personal data

If you do not provide all the requested personal data, then the IPO may not be able to process your tender.

5. Where personal data have not been obtained directly from you.

Where the IPO collects your personal data from other frameworks, e.g., GOV.UK Contracts Finder, Find a Tender Service (FTS), Crown Commercial Service (CCS) or Atamis the IPO will not inform you of this data sharing, under the provisions of Article 14(5)(a) of UKGDPR.

6. Publication of personal information

When the IPO awards a contract, some information is made public via Contracts Finder using its Atamis system, a third-party supplied online platform used by the IPO to deliver its service in line with Public Sector Procurement legislation.

The details published on Contracts Finder include the following personal data:

• suppliers name

• suppliers address

7. Data transfers

Your personal data is shared with Atamis under lawful agreements to perform tasks relating to the IPOs responsibilities under Public Sector Procurement legislation.

We do also share information about IPO procurement with our parent Department, Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Cabinet Office, and Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA).

It may also be necessary to share your personal data to comply with Audit regulations or other legal requirements placed on the IPO. Your personal data is shared using secure transfer methods and will not be transferred to any additional third parties or outside of the UK.

8. How long we keep your personal data

Your personal data will be retained in accordance with the IPO’s data retention and disposal policies.

9. The use of automated decision making

Your personal data is not used in any automated decision making (a decision made solely by automated means without any human involvement) or profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain conditions about an individual).

10. Change of purpose

We will process your personal data for the purpose for which we collected it. If we process your personal data for another purpose that we reasonably consider to be compatible with the original purpose, we will notify you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we might process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules where this is required or permitted by law.

11. Changes to this privacy notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial changes. We will also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal data.

12. How to lodge a complaint

If you have a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data, then please contact the Data Protection Officer listed above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervising authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), at any time. Should you wish to exercise that right the full details are available at the ICO website.