Coroner's Office - Privacy Notice

Details

  • Name of service - Coroner's Office
  • Directorate - Finance
  • Date of issue - 25 May 2018
  • Review date - 25 May 2019

Notice

The reasons why we use your personal data

Purpose / function of the service

This privacy notice applies to all functions of the Coroner's Office that are required for its effective administration and operation within Surrey County Council (SCC).

The coroner is a doctor or lawyer responsible for investigating deaths in particular situations and who can also arrange for a post-mortem examination of the body, if necessary. Inquests can be made which are legal inquiries into the causes and circumstances of a death.

What processing of personal data is undertaken by the specific teams or services

Your personal data is collected to enable us to administer the running of an HM Coroner's Office in order to carry out our statutory responsibilities under the different legislative frameworks.

In addition, we collect your personal data for the following:

  • Service delivery
  • Statistical analysis and reporting
  • Safeguarding (future prevention of death)

What information do we collect?

Where relevant, we will collect the following information:

  • Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Medical history from GP and hospitals
  • Cause of death
  • Family details
  • Lifestyle and social circumstances
  • Addictions
  • Financial details
  • Employment and education details
  • Occupation and place of work
  • Offences and alleged offences contained in police report
  • Physical or mental health details
  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Religious or other beliefs
  • Criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences
  • Results of DNA reports and finger reports results

How we are allowed to use your personal data

Legal obligation or public task under various UK legislation including but not limited to:

  • Coroners and Justice Act 2009
  • The Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013
  • The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013
  • Coroners Allowances Fees and Expenses Regulations 2013

Who we share your personal data with

Personal data will not be shared in every instance with those listed below; it shall only be shared with those that are relevant to a particular case.

  • The Coroner and Assistant Coroners
  • Family, appointed executor representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing
  • Jurors, interested parties including funeral directors, Care Quality Commission (CQC) ,expert witnesses, legal teams
  • Healthcare social and welfare organisations including hospitals, care homes, hospices and GPs
  • Financial organisations - insurance
  • District and Borough Councils and government Departments
  • Auditors
  • Courts or tribunals (judges and/or magistrates) - Ministry of Justice
  • Prosecuting authorities
  • Police forces and Prisons
  • Contractors
  • Within SCC data will be shared internally with the Finance service / Human Resources/ Registrars / Emergency Management Team /Adults and Children Business Support Teams

Automated decision making (when computers make any decisions about you)

We do not use automated decision making.

Personal data being sent or processed outside of the UK and EU

A body does not come under the control of the Coroner unless the person dies in the Coroners area of jurisdiction.

It is possible that another area can ask the Coroner to hear an inquest in his area and, if agreed, the details will then be transferred to that area (either in or out). Where in the cases of the Coroner having to share data outside of EU, although rare, we will ensure adequate protections are made.

Retention of data

Data will be retained in accordance with the our countywide data retention schedule.

Other information

For further information on our privacy notices, please see information and privacy.

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