Correspondence

Privacy Notice

Published 11 September 2026

1. Privacy Notice re processing of personal data provided by applicants to and members of the OAG Standing Junior Panel

1.1 Purpose

The Office of the Advocate General (OAG) will process your personal data as part of Standing Junior Panel application and membership:

• To develop a clearer picture of panel selection and usage:
• To establish how practices may be improved in order to remove barriers and advance opportunity.

In furtherance of OAG’s compliance with its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

We recognise that your personal information is important to you, and we take our responsibilities for ensuring that we collect and manage it securely, confidentially and only used for the purpose it was collected for.

1.2 What information do we hold and use?

It is the responsibility of OAG to provide a clear rationale for the collection of data. OAG may collect and process the following information:

• Personal information (including full name, full business/home address)
• Contact details (such as telephone number, email address)
• Protected Characteristics (such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion).

1.3 On what lawful grounds do we use the information?

We collect and lawfully process your personal information under the following: 

• Data Protection Act 2018 / UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• The Public Sector Equality Duty at Part 11 of the Equality Act 2010

We process personal data for the following reasons:

• GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
• GDPR Article 6(1)(e) - 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.

We process special category data (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^{[footnote 1]} for the following reasons:

• GDPR Article 9(2)(g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of domestic law or relevant international law, which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
• Where Article 9(2)(g) is relied on processing will only take place where it meets the condition set out in Schedule 1 para 8 (Equality of opportunity or treatment) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

We confirm we have an appropriate policy document, (see appendix A).

1.4 How do we collect this information?

We may collect information in the following ways:

• Paper, electronic or online forms/questionnaires
• Email

Please note that the above is not an exhaustive list. We may gather information iteratively and through other means such as web searches as required or through consideration of public professional and/or regulatory websites.

1.5 Who do we share your information with?

The data captured through the questionnaire regarding your protected Characteristics (such as ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion).which is special category data will not be shared outside OAG.  Within OAG, the information provided in the questionnaire responses will not be shared during the application process with those who are assessing applications or involved in the selection of candidates for appointment.

Personal data which is not special category data or home addresses may be shared with other organisations and persons where this is deemed necessary in furtherance of the aims and purposes set out above or where required to comply with our legal obligations, and only as permitted by Data Protection legislation. The names of those appointed to the panel will be published on our website.

1.6 How long do we store it and is it secure?

Once an application process has concluded, the information provided by all applicants to the process will be used to compile statistics (omitting any identifiers) to show the protected characteristic make-up of all applicants to the process to assist OAG in  reviewing  and improve our performance and practices of panel selection. Once that has been done, the data from unsuccessful applicants will be deleted within three months.

The information and data provided by successful applicants to an appointment process will be held and used by OAG to instruct counsel and monitor the use by OAG (and in due course, also the framework firms) of counsel and assess (every 6 months) whether there are any trends in the use of counsel by reference to protected characteristic, and whether any action is needed by OAG to address any trends that exist. OAG has retention schedules in place to ensure that information is only held for as long as it is needed. We will not keep your information for longer than is required to by law.  Your information will be disposed of in a controlled and secure manner in accordance with the OAG’s Retention Policies OAG’s IT security policies ensure that your information is protected and accessed on a need-to-know basis only.

1.7 What rights do you have?

• The right of access - you are entitled to see the information OAG holds about you 
• The right to rectification - we will amend the information accordingly, if any of the information OAG holds about you is incorrect
• The right to restrict processing - you may wish to limit how we use your data 
• The right to object - in addition to the right to limit the use of your data, you also have a right to object to the use of your data for certain actions
• The right to erasure/right to be forgotten. You have the right to request information we hold is deleted and each request will be considered accordingly.

1.8 Where can I find out more?

If you would like to know more about how OAG  uses information, your rights or have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we request that you raise your concern with us in the first instance; our Data Protection Officer (DPO) contact details are available here: Jim Gaughan, email: SO-and-OAG-DPO@ukgovscotland.gov.uk  OAG, Queen Elizabeth House,  Edinburgh, EH8 8FT. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

1.9 When was this privacy notice last updated?

We will continually review and update this privacy notice to reflect any changes in our services and to comply with any changes in the law. This privacy notice was last updated on 10 September 2026.

1. Article 9(1) UK GDPR ↩