Marketing and Communications - Privacy notices

Last updated: April 2026

The following privacy notice applies to marketing and communications services provided by Warwickshire County Council (“the council”). It should be read in addition to the council’s overall Customer Privacy Notice and any other relevant service-specific privacy notices.

The Marketing and Communications team processes personal information to plan, deliver and evaluate communications, engagement and marketing activity.

This supports the council’s public functions and service delivery by ensuring residents, partners and staff are informed about council services, campaigns, consultations, initiatives and emergency information, and by helping improve how the council communicates and engages with its audiences. This includes (but is not limited to):

1) Public information and campaigns

• Producing and publishing information about council services, programmes, consultations and campaigns (online and offline).
• Managing media relations (media releases, statements, interview requests and enquiries).
• Creating case studies and stories that show outcomes and public benefit (for example, service user stories, staff stories, community partner stories).

2) Publications and content

• Producing newsletters, leaflets, posters, annual reports, website content, social media content, videos, photographs and other communications materials.
• Managing subscriptions to council newsletters and information updates (including opt-in and opt-out/unsubscribe handling).

3) Engagement and consultation

• Running engagement activity (for example: surveys, feedback forms, event registrations, stakeholder forums, focus groups, co-production and consultation activity).
• Analysing feedback to improve communications and services (including reporting on themes and trends, usually in anonymised or aggregated form where appropriate).

4) Managing communications channels and interactions

• Managing council social media accounts and responding to messages, comments and enquiries.
• Delivering targeted digital advertising and campaign messages to residents and audiences via online platforms (such as social media and search engines) to support public information campaigns, service awareness and engagement activity.

5) Staff communications and workforce-related communications activity

• Producing internal communications for council staff (for example: intranet news, staff newsletters, staff campaigns).
• Managing internal case studies and staff recognition content (including staff quotes, photos and videos where appropriate).

6) Supplier and contract management

• Buying and managing communications services (for example: design, print, merchandise, distribution, media buying, photography/videography, translation, digital platforms).

We process personal information that is relevant to the activity being carried out. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Personal details such as name
• Contact information, such as email address, telephone number or postal address
• Newsletter subscription and communication preferences
• Social media usernames, profile information and content you share when interacting with council social media channels
• Records of correspondence received via social media, including enquiries, complaints, compliments and feedback
• Event or engagement information, such as attendance details or access requirements
• Professional contact details for journalists, media representatives and partner communications professionals
• Images, audio or video recordings where individuals are identifiable (for example, photographs, interviews, podcasts or filmed content)
• Online identifiers and engagement data (eg cookie and IP addresses) used to support digital communications and advertising.

The lawful basis for processing personal information is:

• A contract for the supply of services
• Tasks carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.

Special category (sensitive) information

For the purposes of producing and publishing council communications, campaigns, engagement activity, internal communications, case studies, consultation outputs and promotional materials, the service also processes some sensitive (special category) information, which may include but is not limited to:

• Physical or mental health information (where revealed through case studies, interviews or images)
• Disability or additional access needs (for example, to support inclusive engagement or events)
• Racial or ethnic origin
• Sexual orientation

The lawful basis for processing this sensitive (special category) data is:

• Explicit consent
• Necessary for obligations under employment or social protection
• Personal data made public by data subject
• Substantial public interest on basis of UK law
• Archival purposes

Legitimate Interests

The legitimate interests pursued by us, or third parties we use, are as follows:

• Legitimate interest of Warwickshire County Council in maintaining the security, integrity and effective operation of its communication systems and digital platforms

Processing based on consent

For marketing, promotional and engagement activity where personal information is obtained alongside, and directed at, individuals, the lawful basis for processing personal data is consent. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Subscribing to and receiving email newsletters and updates
• Participation in case studies, interviews, podcasts or communication campaigns
• Use of names, quotes, photographs, audio or video recordings in promotional or informational materials
• Targeted digital communications and advertising where individuals are directly identifiable.

Individuals may withdraw their consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect any processing carried out prior to withdrawal.

Targeted digital advertising

The council may use personal information to support targeted digital advertising and campaign messaging to raise awareness of services, share public information and encourage engagement. This may include:

• Using contact details (such as email addresses) to create privacy-protected audience lists on digital advertising platforms
• Targeted advertising based on broad characteristics, such as geographic area, age range or interests relevant to the campaign
• Excluding individuals from seeing certain content where appropriate (for example, where they have already engaged with a campaign).

The council does not sell personal data to advertisers and does not use targeted advertising for commercial purposes.

We may share personal information where it is strictly necessary to support the purposes described in this notice and where we have a lawful basis to do so. This may include sharing information with the following, which includes systems and suppliers who act as data processors and are required to process personal data only on our instructions and keep it secure:

• Email newsletter platform – for managing email newsletters and subscription-based communications
• Social media management system – for managing and monitoring council social media accounts and interactions
• Media relations and monitoring service – for media relations, journalist contact management and media monitoring.
• Design, print, photography, videography, digital, research, insight or marketing suppliers commissioned by the council
• Media organisations, where individuals have agreed to be named or featured.

When you interact with us on social media, your personal data will also be processed by the relevant social media platform under its own privacy notice and terms.

Personal information is kept only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, in line with the council’s retention policies and legal requirements. This may include:

• Newsletter subscription data – held while you remain subscribed and for a limited period afterwards to evidence opt-out or unsubscribe activity.
• Media contacts and coverage records – retained while relationships or monitoring activity remains relevant
• Consent for images, quotes and case studies – retained for as long as the material is in use and for up to two years afterwards or up until the person withdraws that consent.
• Social media – where individuals interact with us on social media, these interactions are processed on the relevant social media platform under its own terms and privacy notice. We use a social media management platform to manage and respond to social media interactions. Information held within this platform is retained for the duration of our contract with the supplier, which is normally reviewed every two years, and then deleted or returned in line with contractual and data protection requirements.

Content posted on social media platforms, whether we share it with your consent (such as images) or you post it on our accounts (such as comments or shares), may remain visible on those platforms for an indefinite period, depending on the platform’s own retention practices and the actions of the individual or platform provider. Where you ask us to remove or delete such content, we will take reasonable steps to do so; however, in some cases the content may still be visible even after we have deleted it (for example, if someone else has shared it, saved it or copied it).

Find out how to access your personal information.

You may be entitled to rectification, restriction, objection, and erasure of your personal information depending on the service provision and the lawful basis. Contact us by email at: newsteam@warwickshire.gov.uk.

View more general information on how we process your information including contact details for the Data Protection Officer and if you have a complaint about your information rights.