Cookies, Privacy and Data Protection

Find out more cookies and how you can control them below.

What are 'cookies'?

'Cookies' are small text files that are stored by the browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Safari) on your computer or mobile phone. They allow websites to store such things as user preferences. For example, you may not have to enter a user name, address etc. on subsequent visits made from the same computer.

How does Three Rivers District Council use cookies?

Whenever a person visits www.threerivers.gov.uk we collect basic information about their behaviour on our site.  This includes things like what pages have been visited and how they found our website.  The information we gather for these purposes does not identify anyone and we make no attempt to find out who has been to our site.

Three Rivers District Council uses this information to gain a better understanding of our website and their needs of users so we can improve their online experience.

Three Rivers District Council uses the following cookies:

Cookies set by Third Party sites?

When using our website you may be presented with cookies from third party sites such as MailChimp, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.  Three Rivers District Council does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.

How do I turn cookies off?

Three Rivers District Council will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by Three Rivers District Council websites, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings.

These settings can be found in the 'options' or 'preferences' menu of your browser. In order to understand these settings, the following links may be helpful, otherwise you should use the 'Help' option in your browser for more details.

Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
Cookie settings in Firefox
Cookie settings in Chrome
Cookie settings in Safari

Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers.

For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.

Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of Three Rivers District Council websites.

Useful links

If you would like to find out more about cookies and their use on the Internet, you may find the following links useful:

Microsoft Cookies guide
All About Cookies

For further legal information about privacy issues, you may find these links useful:

Data Protection Act 1998
The Information Commissioner's Office
 

Data Protection

Three Rivers District Council and its employees are subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. As such we are committed to maintaining your privacy in all your interactions with the Council.  Your data will be held on a secure server and access within the Council will be limited to those who need to know.  You have a right to see any personal information we hold.  If you would like to see or amend personal data please our main Data Protection page. 

Data Matching

This authority is required by law to protect the public funds it administers.  It may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.

The Audit Commission appoints the auditor to audit the accounts of this authority.  It is also responsible for carrying out data matching exercises.

Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This is usually personal information. Computerised data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it may indicate that there is an inconsistency that requires further investigation.

No assumption can be made as to whether there is fraud, error or other explanation until an investigation is carried out.

The Audit Commission currently requires us to participate in a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Audit Commission for matching for each exercise, and these are set out in the Audit Commission’s guidance, which can be found at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nfi.

The use of data by the Audit Commission in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in Part 2A of the Audit Commission Act 1998. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Data matching by the Audit Commission is subject to a Code of Practice. This may be found at http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/national-fraud-initiative/code-of-data-matching-practice/.

For further information on the Audit Commission’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information, see http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/national-fraud-initiative/fair-processing-notice-full-text/. 

Credit Reference Agency Data-matches in Housing/Council Tax Benefit

Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit data may be supplied to Experian, a Credit Reference Agency, and Housing Benefit fraud investigations could possibly include checks on undeclared cohabiters


For further information on data matching at this authority, please contact:

The Data Protection Officer
Three Rivers District Council
Three Rivers House
Northway
Rickmansworth
Herts WD3 1RL
E-mail: dataprotection@threerivers.gov.uk
Telephone: 01923 776611

Privacy Statement

We automatically collect information regarding the IP of visitors to our site.  This enables us to monitor and analyse how visitors use the web site and improve the services and information that we provide.  This information is never passed on to third parties.

The Privacy Policies and Statements of external organisations linked to this website will vary and we recommend that you understand how other organisations will use and maintain your data.