Our Contact Details
Any queries about how your information will be used should be sent to the Data Protection Officer at:
- data.protection@senedd.wales
- 0300 200 6565
If you have any questions about the Welsh Youth Parliament, please contact the Welsh Youth Parliament team on: hello@youthparliament.wales
How your information will be used
The information you provide will be used to enable you to register and vote in WYP elections. When you register to vote, you will provide your registration details to a company called Assembly Voting who manage registration and voting in this election on behalf of the Welsh Youth Parliament (WYP).
Assembly Voting’s privacy policy can be found at https://assemblyvoting.com/privacy/.
On the registration page, you will also be given the opportunity to opt-in to receive WYP-related information beyond the scope of the election, including latest news and opportunities to contribute to the WYP’s work, such as through surveys and events. You do not have to opt-in to be able to register and vote in WYP elections, and can opt-out at any time as set out in the ‘Why are we collecting it?’ section of this notice.
Assembly Voting manages (or ‘processes’) the information you provide on behalf of us, the Senedd Commission. The WYP is not a legal entity in its own right, and so it is the Senedd Commission, as the corporate body that serves the Welsh Parliament / Senedd Cymru (the Senedd), that ‘controls’ the information you provide. This means that we are responsible for ensuring that your information is used appropriately.
This notice sets out what we, the Senedd Commission, will do with your registration information.
What is the information?
In order to register and vote in WYP elections, we need your:
- Name;
- Date of birth;
- Postcode;
- The name of your school; and
- E-mail address.
You may also provide your mobile phone number, although you do not have to do so in order to register and vote. If you choose to provide your mobile phone number and do not opt-in to receive additional WYP-related updates, it will only be used for specific election related purposes, in particular to remind you when a vote is upcoming, and links to the relevant website where you can vote.
Why are we collecting it?
Part of our role is to engage with the people of Wales on behalf of the Senedd. As a national parliament, it is important that the Senedd is able to listen to the views and opinions of citizens in Wales to better inform its work. This also helps to demonstrate to citizens that their views have helped to influence our work, which is a strategic objective for the Senedd Commission.
This includes engaging with citizens across a wide range of ages. The WYP is a key initiative that better enables us to engage with children and young people and take on board their views. Doing so also provides children and young people with a platform to set out and debate their opinions in a safe, controlled environment on topics that are important to children and young people. In some instances, this can help to inform debate in the Senedd itself and influence government policy.
The WYP also acts as an educational tool. By using the WYP to run elections, provide a platform for debate and ultimately allow children and young people to form conclusions on key areas of interest, we are able to provide a flavour as to how a Parliament operates in a democratic society. It is hoped that by engaging with children and young people in this way, the WYP will help to fulfil the wider goal of supporting and promoting democratic engagement.
Your information will be used to register your details to vote in the WYP elections. Assembly Voting will collect this data on our behalf in order to:
- address any issues which arise from registrations;
- send reminders to individuals who have registered but have not voted;
- administer registrations and the election, such as by checking eligibility and safeguarding against duplicate registrations.
There will be an option for you to select on the registration page which would allow you to receive updates from the WYP beyond the election. If you choose to opt in, we will contact you to inform you of the latest news relating to the WYP, and opportunities to contribute to the WYPs work on an ongoing basis, such as events and surveys on issues prioritised by the WYP. You can opt out at any time during the election period by logging in to your account and unchecking the tick box. Following the election period, you can opt out by contacting us at hello@youthparliament.wales.
Who will have access to the information?
Staff at the Senedd Commission and at Assembly Voting who are working on the election will have access to your information. Your information will not be shared with any other third parties unless we are required to do so by law or we are required to change our election partner during the time you are registered to vote.
If, during the time that you are registered to vote, we change our partner and a different third party organisation takes over the role of Assembly Voting, we will write to you and inform you of any such change. In doing so, we will inform you of any effect this has on the handling of your information. You can also request that we delete your information.
Where will the information be stored?
Information shared with the Senedd Commission will be stored securely on the Senedd ICT systems which includes third party cloud services provided by Microsoft. Any transfer of data by Microsoft outside of the EEA is covered by contractual clauses under which Microsoft ensure that personal data is treated in line with European legislation. To find out more about how Microsoft will use your information, you can read their privacy statement here.
How long will the information be retained?
The Senedd Commission will keep your information and maintain your registration until you are no longer able to vote in WYP elections (i.e. when you are 18). This will allow you to vote should the Senedd Commission be required to hold a by-election; and to take part in future WYP elections.
How will we dispose of your information?
Information will be securely deleted in line with our retention policy.
Our legal basis for collecting, holding and using your personal information
Data protection law requires us to make sure we have a good reason (what is known as a ‘legal basis’) to collect and use your information.
As set out above in the ‘Why are we collecting it?’ section of this notice, the Senedd Commission plays a vital role in engaging with young people in Wales on behalf of the Senedd. The WYP is an important tool that allows us to do this and facilitating elections to the WYP is essential for us to make sure that as many young people are engaged with the WYP as possible and feel they can participate.
Whilst the WYP is not a legal entity in itself, it has been set up to allow young people in Wales to make themselves heard and give young people first-hand experience of how politics works. Therefore, in the process of running the election, we also hope to educate young people about the Senedd, the democratic process and Welsh politics in general. This is part of the Commission’s public function to support and promote democratic engagement.
Therefore, we collect and use your information to perform a task in the public interest.
We will sometimes collect and use your personal information based upon your agreement. This is known as 'consent'. We will always tell you where this is the case and ask you to agree before we collect your information. For example, if you opt-in, we offer the opportunity for you to subscribe to further updates about the WYP and it’s work.
You can opt out at any time during the election period by logging in to your account and unchecking the tick box. Following the election period, you can opt out by contacting us at hello@youthparliament.wales. To find out more about what we will do with your data when you opt in, please see our full Welsh Youth Parliament privacy notice: Full Privacy Notice (senedd.wales).
We do not anticipate collecting any sensitive or ‘special category’ personal information about you for the purpose of WYP election registration.
Your rights
As a data subject, you have a number of rights. The rights which apply depend on the legal bases we are relying on to use your personal information. Those rights will not apply in all instances, and the Commission will confirm whether or not that is the case when you make a request.
The rights include the right to request access to your own personal information, sometimes called a ‘subject access request’.
Additionally, you have the right to request from us:
- that any inaccurate information we hold about you is corrected (please note that you are required to keep us up to date with any changes to your personal information);
- that information about you is deleted (in certain circumstances);
- that we stop using your personal information for certain purposes or in certain circumstances; and
- that your information is provided to you or a third party in a portable format (again, in certain circumstances).
If you would like to engage any of the rights that you have under data protection legislation, ask a question or make a complaint about how your information is used; please contact the Data Protection Officer using one of the methods set out at the above.
Requests for information made to the Commission
In the event of a request for information being made under access to information legislation, it may be necessary to disclose all or part of the information that you provide. We will only do this if we are required to do so by law.
How to complain
You can complain to the Data Protection Officer if you are unhappy with how we have used your information. Contact details can be found above.
If, following a complaint, you remain dissatisfied with our response, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO’s address is:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113