1. Introduction
The Housing Agency regard your privacy and the handling of your personal data with the utmost importance. This Privacy Notice details how we collect, use and securely store any personal data submitted to us through use of our website.
There is also an explanation of the various rights you can exercise as a data subject, as well how you can exercise those rights.
The scope of this Privacy Notice applies to https://www.housingagency.ie/
2. Who we are (identity of the data controller)
The Housing Agency is a government agency focused on supporting local authorities, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG) and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). The Housing Agency also implements the Pyrite Remediation Scheme and is the interim regulator of the AHB sector.
We are a non-departmental body under the aegis of the DHPLG. We work closely with our colleagues in the DHPLG to ensure and support the delivery of ministerial policy objectives. We are subject to all Data Protection Regulations and Legislation. We work to act in a fully accountable and transparent way.
For the purposes of Data Protection Legislation, The Housing Agency is the Data Controller. This means that the Housing Agency is the entity which decides on how your Personal data is collected, used and protected.
Our registered office address is:
Housing Agency, 53 Mount Street Upper, Dublin 2, Ireland, D02 KT73
3. Data Protection Officer (DPO)
The Housing Agency has duly appointed Trilateral Research Limited as the Data Protection Officer (DPO). Should you need to contact the Housing Agency DPO directly, you can do so either by phone or by email.
Tel: +353 01 657 1978 Email: dpo@housingagency.ie
The DPO’s registered office is: Trilateral Research Ltd, FDW House, Blackthorn Business Park, Coes Road, Dundalk, Co. Louth
4. Collection, processing and retention of personal data
Personal data is information that is associated with your name or personal identity, or any such information which can directly or indirectly identify an individual. Some examples of personal data include:
- Your name
- Your address
- Email addresses
- Location data
- Internet Protocol (IP) address
Our site does not explicitly collect any personal data about you, apart from information which you willingly volunteer (for example, by emailing us or by filling out the contact us form). Any information which you provide in this way is not made available to any third-parties and is used only specifically for the purpose for which you provided it.
Any personal information we collect will not be kept for any longer than it is necessary to provide the specific service. The length of the retention period depends on how long we need to process your data. In certain circumstances we are legally obliged to retain personal information for longer, such as accounting or regulatory purposes.
5. Security and sharing of personal data
The Housing Agency is committed to the protection of any personal data it collects and processes, therefore we have implemented what we believe to be the most appropriate technical and administrative safeguards to prevent unauthorised access, use and disclosure of any personal data you submit to us.
We do not share your information with anyone outside the Housing Agency without your express permission to do so. Under no circumstances will your information be sold or passed on to third parties for the purposes of marketing, sales or other commercial uses without your prior express consent.
We may disclose information to third-parties where it is necessary, such as where there is a legal obligation, where permitted under Data Protection Legislation or for the purposes of the prevention and/or detection of fraud or crime.
6. Cookies and our site
Our site uses “cookie” technology to enhance your user experience. A cookie is a little piece of text stored by your browser on your computer, at the request of our server.
We may use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and to save your personal preferences, so you don't have to re-enter them each time you connect to the Internet or our site. You are always free to decline our cookies, if your browser permits, or to ask your browser to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
You can also manually delete cookie files from your computer at your discretion. Note that if you decline our cookies or ask for notification each time a cookie is being sent, this may affect your ease of use of our site.
7. Data Subject rights
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), data subjects whose data is processed by the Housing Agency are entitled to exercise certain rights against their personal data. These rights are designed to put data subjects in the driving seat when it comes to how their personal data is handled by organisations.
You may request to exercise any of these rights, free of charge by contacting dpo@housingagency.ie.
Typically, in order to further one of the following requests, we will ask for you to provide a form of identification for verification purposes.
The right to be informed |
The Housing Agency are obliged to ensure that any communications regarding our data processing activities between ourselves and any data subjects is provided is a clear and transparent manner. This is provided by this Privacy Notice. |
The right of access |
You are entitled to request a copy of the all personal data currently held on you as well as the following information about your data:
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The right to rectification |
If you believe the personal data we hold on you is either inaccurate or incomplete, you may exercise this right to correct or complete this data. This right can be used with the right to restrict processing to ensure that any inaccurate or incomplete data is not processed until corrected. |
The right to erasure (right to be forgotten) |
You may request erasure of any personal data we hold on you without undue delay where one of the following grounds apply:
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The right to restrict processing |
As an alternative to the right to erasure, you may ask us to cease processing your data, but not erase it entirely where one of the following grounds apply:
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The right to data portability |
You may request your personal data be transferred to another controller or processor in a commonly used, machine-readable format. This right can only be exercised when all of the following grounds apply:
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The right to object |
You may exercise the right to object in instances where:
Any data subject request will be responded to within one month, however we reserve the right to refuse or charge an administrative fee for the furthering of any of the above requests if they are done so in a frivolous, vexatious or excessive manner. We will inform you if an administrative charge is being applied before fulfilling your request, so you can decide whether to proceed. |
8. How to exercise your rights
If you wish to exercise one of your data subject rights outlined above, enquire about any of the information contained in this privacy notice or request further information, please do not hesitate to contact the DPO function at: dpo@housingagency.ie. The DPO will respond to you as soon as possible and will aim to fullfil any exercise of your rights within one calendar month.
9. Complaints
Should you wish to discuss a complaint, please contact the DPO at the above email address, who will be happy to assist you.
Alternatively, if you are unsatisfied with the DPO’s response to your concern, Under Article 77 of the GDPR you have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the Data Protection Commission. Under Article 80, you may authorise certain third parties to make a complaint on your behalf (such as legal representation).