Guidance

Privacy Notice for Crown and Lord Chancellor Church Appointments

Updated 10 February 2026

1. Your data

1.1 Purpose

The purpose for which we are processing your personal data is to work with dioceses to consider applications for appointment to a specific Crown or Lord Chancellor clergy post.

As part of the application procedure your personal data will be processed using AI tools provided as part of the Cabinet Office IT infrastructure. This process will not involve any automated decision making about your application. 

1.2 The data

We will process the following personal data: names; address; email address; telephone number; personal circumstances; aspirations and interests; religious beliefs; date of birth; place of birth; nationality; marital status; educational background; pre-ordination occupation; date of ordination; record of service; outside interests; disability; and information on spouse and children (names, date of birth, contact details, nationality, marital status, educational background) can also be included by the applicant but is not requested. 

1.3 Legal basis of processing 

The legal basis for processing your personal data is it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. 

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation. The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data concerning disabilities and religious belief is: 

Disability: 

• It is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising our obligations or rights as the controller, or your obligations or rights as the data subject, under employment law, social security law or the law relating to social protection (equality act reasonable adjustments).

Religious belief: 

• processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department. In this case that is participating in Crown and Lord Chancellor appointments.

1.4 Recipients

As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email, document management and storage services, and customer relationship management services. 

The name and educational qualifications of the successful applicant are shared with the Crown Office for the preparation of the legal paperwork for the appointment.

1.5 Retention 

Your personal data will be kept by us for the following periods: 

• Until the appointment process has been completed and the successful applicant has been licensed;
• Application forms for those that are appointed to our posts are retained indefinitely as a historical record.

Where personal data have not been obtained from you

Your personal data were obtained by us from the diocese to whom you applied, or, where you are a third party, from an applicant. 

2. Your rights

You have the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data. 

You have the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay. 

You have the right to request that any incomplete personal data are completed, including by means of a supplementary statement. 

You may have the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed. 

You have the right in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted. 

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes. 

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

3. International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision, or the use of Model Contract Clauses.

4. Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

or 0207 276 1234, or publiccorrespondence@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 

The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are:

Data Protection Officer
Cabinet Office
Room 405
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

or dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. 

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

5. Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

or 0303 123 1113, or casework@ico.org.uk.  Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.