Public health privacy notice
Read this alongside the Trafford Council privacy notice for information that applies to all services.
This page explains how we collect and use personal information in public health.
What information we collect
We may collect:
- Name, address, date of birth and contact details
- NHS number and other health identifiers
- Information about your health, lifestyle and medical history
- Data on disease incidence, screening and vaccination
- Information about service use, such as GP visits or hospital admissions
- Details from birth and death registrations
- Demographic information such as ethnicity, language or religion
Most of this is special category data, which means it is more sensitive and requires extra protection.
Why we collect your information
We use your information to:
- Monitor and improve the health and wellbeing of the local population
- Identify and reduce health inequalities
- Plan, commission and evaluate health services
- Support public health campaigns and initiatives
- Prevent and respond to outbreaks of disease and other risks to public health
- Carry out research and statistical analysis
- Meet our legal duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and related legislation
Our lawful basis
The main legal bases we use are:
- Public task – to carry out our duties under public health law
- Legal obligation – to comply with statutory requirements for health protection and improvement
For special category data, we rely on:
- Public interest in the area of public health – under UK GDPR Article 9(2)(i) and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018
- Health or social care purposes – under UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h)
Who we share your information with
We may share your information with:
- Other council teams involved in health, social care and wellbeing services
- NHS organisations, including GP practices, hospitals and public health agencies
- The UK Health Security Agency and Department of Health and Social Care
- Academic institutions and researchers (in anonymised or pseudonymised form where possible)
- Voluntary and community sector organisations delivering health services
- The police or other agencies, if required for safeguarding or protecting public health
Where possible, we use anonymised data so individuals cannot be identified.
How long we keep your information
We keep public health records for the minimum time needed to carry out our functions and meet legal requirements.
Some statistical datasets are kept permanently for historical and research purposes, but without identifying individuals.
Automated decision‑making
Public health does not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.
Contact us
If you have questions about how we use your information in public health, see the contact us section in the primary privacy notice.