What personal data do we collect? 

Research participants are typically made up of voters, members of political parties, individuals who are politically active, specialist groups, members of the public and their families, and anyone who fills out online and paper based surveys, questionnaires or polls, has topic specific conversations with us, or has publicly available records or recordings which may also be in the media. 

The information below is to provide you with a non-exhaustive list of possible personal information we may request from you within any project or piece of research we conduct.  

We may collect and process the following types of personal data which will be highly dependent on the work we are doing. The list below is non-exclusive: 

• Personal identifiers: for example, name, email address, telephone number, post code, where you work, job title, local council; 
• Characteristics: for example, age, gender, ethnicity, academic achievement, instances of harm, location, first language, disability, benefits status, school attendance information, special educational needs (SEN), eligibility for free school meals; 
• Information collected from our copy of the Electoral Register including voting preferences; 
• Information provided by you into our Labour Membership database; 
• Information about you or related to you which you have made publicly available including anything on any social media platform; 
• Responses to interviews, electronic conversations, meetings, conversations and surveys, questionnaires and Polls (digital or paper-based); 
• Derived data about you which is where new information or datasets that are created from existing data, or data we have collected within our research; 
• If applicable, further information that may assist in our activities for the archiving of information ready for future use and further research; 

• Sensitive information including hospital or GP records, criminal records and further special categories of personal information as characterised in the UK GDPR (race, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health data, information concerning your sex life or sexual orientation); 
• Personal information related to the Equality Act 2010 inclusive of data known as ‘Protected Characteristics’ (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership (in employment only), pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation); 
• Personal information related to our internal equality and diversity monitoring policy (geographical location, organisation, socio-economic class, caring responsibilities, educational background); and 
• Pseudonymous and anonymous data we have created from the personal data. 

Where do we get your personal data? 

As a Research participant we will collect your data in a variety of ways and at a variety of times throughout any given project.  

Not all methods of collection listed below will be relevant to you and you should rely on the project specific Privacy Notice to keep you informed. Below is a list of all possible ways we, or a Project Team or Policy Team may collect your personal information. 

We refer to “direct data collection” when data is collected directly from you, and we refer to “indirect data collection” when the data is not collected directly from you. The following list is non-exclusive: 

• From the Electoral Register (indirect data collection); 
• From yourself when you are a Labour Member (direct data collection); 
• From other Labour Members who are updating your personal data in our membership systems based on a request you have made for them to do so (indirect data collection); 
• From yourself when you have interacted with Labour in any capacity which may be on the doorstep, at a rally, online (including social media), physical or digital communications you have had with us at any time (direct data collection); 
• From your local Labour Party or group, trade union, socialist society or associated political organisation which may or may not be your place of work where they have identified you as someone who may be interested in the research (indirect data collection);  
• From yourself via an online surveys, questionnaires and Polls we have sent you or you have voluntarily answered in-person or online (direct data collection);  
• From organisations, where they have the correct, documented legal basis for capture and use of your data for political analysis, which we have purchased your data from (indirect data collection); 
• From the analysis of personal data from all sources we have legitimate and transparent access to personal data i.e. production of derived data (indirect data collection); 
• From yourself when you digitally or verbally communicate directly with us (direct data collection); 
• From publicly available websites and sources including social media (indirect data collection);  

• From yourself within online/telephone interviews (direct data collection);  
• From yourself within online workshop or focus group interviews (direct data collection); and 
• From a reference passed to Labour or the Project/Policy Team by an individual or organisation within the network of individuals known to someone within Labour or the Project/Policy Team who may be working on behalf of Labour (indirect data collection). 

Depending on the research we are conducting, if applicable, we may also receive personal data indirectly (indirect data collection), from other sources listed below. The following list is non-exclusive: 

• We may receive information from local authorities, Universities, schools, virtual schools, education providers, charities, and other organisations that are interested in our research work or are collaborating with us on research projects; 
• We may receive information from private sector organisations, government institutions, and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

What do we use your personal data for and what is our lawful basis for using it? 

Purpose for using personal data 

The main purpose of conducting research with the personal data we collect is to inform, enhance and develop policies and procedures for how best to either: 

1. Win a general election; 

2. Enhance our effectiveness and targeting techniques for raising funds to run our organisation and fight a general election or other relevant political campaigns; 

3. Write policies and procedures for the running of the country;  

4. Produce and deliver effective messaging to target geographies and demographics;  

5. To inform our activities and best practice requirements for most effective ‘democratic engagement’; and 

6. Stay in government should Labour form a government at any time. 

Most outputs from the research will be statistical, based on aggregated information that is derived from the personal data and derived personal data we have created or have access to. At every stage of use, where possible, we will pseudonymise and anonymise your personal data. This is so that the least amount of people possible have access to personal data when conducting research and/or are not given the ability to re-identify the data where there is no reason for them to do so.  

For our research projects we collect your personal data for two distinct reasons when you are a Research Participant. You should always refer to any research specific Privacy Notice provided to you which will be bespoke to the research you’re involved in. 

The first reason for collecting your personal data will be to analyse it in the context of the research. This means the personal data collected from you is needed so we can conduct research on your personal data. Our work will be to generally seeks better understanding, effectiveness and development of policies and procedures regarding UK governance i.e. winning elections and running the country. 

It is highly unlikely we will analyse one research participant’s personal data in isolation. Most research we conduct is the bringing together of multiple people’s information and personal data to make discoveries to inform results to be published in a research report, white paper, or policy document we are writing. Your personal data is never published unless we have gained explicit permission from you to do so. Research outcomes are mainly statistical, and derived into statements and reproducible facts without any individual personal data associated to them. 

The second reason for collecting your personal data is so we are able to gather the information needed for the research project from you. To achieve this we will may use your personal data: 

• To conduct an interview, workshop or focus group with you as a participant, which may or may not be recorded; 
• To contact you to participate in an interview, and/or a workshop, and/or a focus group session as part of a project or piece of research; 
• If you are having data gathered directly from you, to gain your permission for participation in the research; 
• To match your data with your data held in the government data sources, such as the Office for National Statistics; 
• To match your personal data with any other personal data about you that we already hold; 
• To transcribe the audio captured from any recorded interviews, workshops or focus groups we have with you as a participant; 
• To identify your data, which would be deleted where possible, should you no longer agree to have your data processed for the purpose of conducting the evaluation; 
• To associate your answers with yourself where we would like to make confidential contact with you based upon the answers you have provided which we have identified as useful in our development of the research area; and 
• To make confidential contact with you where you have indicated interest in being contacted about the research area or to participate in any research projects associated with this area of research (you are able to opt out at any time and are under no obligation to participate in any subsequent research projects). 

We will also use your personal information to respond to and identify your personal information when you submit a data subject rights request. 

Lawful basis for using personal data 

We process the personal data of research participants in a variety of ways. As a research participant we will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. 

We will always inform you of our lawful basis for processing within either a bespoke Research Participant Data Privacy Notice and/or a Research Participant Information Sheet and/or a Consent Form you are presented with at the point of collection of your personal data.  

Most commonly, the lawful basis for using your personal data may be one or more of the following within a project: 

• Legitimate Interest for societal benefit within a research project; 
• Legitimate Interest for ‘democratic engagement’; 
• Public Task for ‘democratic engagement’; and 
• Legal Obligation when we have a statutory requirement to inform relevant authorities. 

Information on the meaning of ‘democratic engagement’ for national and local political parties, and their candidates and elected representatives can be found by clicking here. 

For the collection of your sensitive personal data, also known as GDPR special categories of personal data, in general we rely on GDPR Article 9.2(j) for research purposes with a basis in law. This is also relevant to any personal information known as “protected characteristics” under the UK Equality Act 2010. Confirmation of this will be found in the project specific Data Privacy Notice. 

A note on Consent: Research projects will often ask you for your consent to participate in a project. Unless it is clearly stated in the relevant Privacy Notice provided to you, in general, this will not be data protection consent as the lawful basis we use to process your personal information. 

A lot of research that is conducted throughout the UK is dependent on gathering “informed consent” from you for your participation as part of ethical considerations required by either a research ethics committee who have reviewed the project proposal or to follow best practice in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. 

Should you withdraw your consent for participation when the personal data is being analysed, we would not be able to immediately remove your personal data or the derivatives of your personal data until the analysis is complete. Where possible we would endeavour to remove all association to your personal data from the point of withdrawal of consent and inform you where this may not be possible depending on the stage of analysis and the project as a whole. 

If you have interacted with Labour in a different way and if you expected to see something different to the list above, you can access all of our privacy notices by clicking here. If it is still not there, feel free to get in touch as mentioned below. 

Who do we share your personal data with? 

Any data shared with the below categories of recipients is the minimum necessary for the task they have been instructed to carry out on our behalf or in conjunction with us. Each category of recipient is subject to review by the Data Protection Team to make sure they have the right methods in place for keeping your personal data secure. 

Where the sharing of personal data is within the context of a product or service being supplied under contract to Labour, a Data Processing Agreement, in accordance with GDPR Article 28 is put in place. This makes sure the supplier cannot use your personal data outside of the list of uses above. 

Within the purposes of using your personal data, as listed above, we will share your personal data with the following: 

1. Pre-approved digital communications and storage providers; 

2. Pre-approved online survey, questionnaire and polling platform providers; 

3. Pre-approved Client Relationship Management service providers (digital platform providers used to manage our data); 

4. Pre-approved data collection service providers (collecting on our behalf and sharing with Labour); 

5. Pre-approved policy development service providers which may include associated think tanks, policy makers and other socialist societies (anonymous and pseudonymous data only); 

6. If relevant, and anonymous and pseudonymous data only, government departments; and 

7. If they are involved in the research, Labour Party organisations, Labour Candidates hoping to be elected, Labour Councillors, Labour Mayors and Labour Members of Parliament (MPs). 

There may be scenarios where we are subject to a legal obligation to disclose or share your personal data, such as with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies or public authorities in order to prevent or detect crime, or prove we have adhered to their request. We will only ever disclose your personal data to these third parties to the extent we are required to do so by law. 

Data sharing with a third-party organisation that is not a supplier of a product or service to Labour does not occur unless there is a legal obligation or sound lawful purpose for such sharing.  For any such sharing we put a Data Sharing Agreement in place between Labour and the third-party containing specific information in accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office ‘Data sharing code of practice’.  

You can find further information on how local Labour Party organisations, Labour Candidates hoping to be elected, Labour Councillors, Labour Mayors and Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) use your personal data on their respective websites and more generally within our list of privacy notices which can be accessed by clicking here. 

In all circumstances, the unlawful and unauthorised sharing of copies of personal data in which the Labour Party is the data controller is expressly prohibited. Any unauthorised sharing of Labour Party data is classified as a data breach which we will record and report to the ICO as required. 

How long will we keep your personal data? 

We will only keep personal information for as long as it is needed to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected. Data shall be reduced, redacted, de-identified, anonymised and deleted at appropriate times so we retain the minimum amount of data possible throughout any research we conduct. 

Wherever possible, personal data will be anonymised or pseudonymised, as long as this does not impair the aims of the research. When data is no longer needed, unless there is another legal reason for us to retain your personal information, we will securely destroy any paper or digital records. 

What are your rights and how can you express them? 

To understand your data privacy rights and to submit a rights request, the best way to do so is by visiting the ‘YOUR RIGHTS’ page on our website which you can get to by clicking here. 

How can you complain about our use your personal data? 

The best way to make a complaint is by visiting our page on ‘HOW TO MAKE A DATA PROTECTION COMPLAINT’ which you can access by clicking here.  

How can you contact us about this privacy notice? 

If you have any questions about the information in this privacy notice, then you can contact the Data Protection Team via email using [email protected] or by post within a letter to: 

Labour Statutory Data Protection Officer 

The Labour Party, Southworks, 20 Rushworth Street, United Kingdom, SE1 0SS 

When was this privacy notice last updated? 

We may update this notice (and any supplemental privacy notice), from time to time as shown below. We will notify you of the changes where required by applicable law to do so.