This Privacy Notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revised at any time. It was last updated in November 2025. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.
- Introduction
- What personal data do we collect?
- How we use personal data
- Legal Basis for processing
- Who do we share personal data with?
- How long do we keep personal data?
- Automated decisions
- Your rights
- Data Protection Officer.
Introduction
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
This notice provides additional privacy information for Trading Standards.
What personal data do we collect?
To carry out activities and obligations as a Trading Standards service we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Social Media account(s)
- Gender
- National Insurance number
- Vehicle and property ownership
- Bank details and transactional details between a trader and consumer
- Evidence of entitlement to work in the UK.
We also process the following Criminal Offence Data:
- Offences, cautions (including alleged offences), civil and criminal proceedings, investigations, outcomes and sentences.
How we use personal data
The main purposes for processing your personal data are:
- To satisfy statutory obligations of the local authority to deliver a trading standards service
- For the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties
- To allow us to communicate with service users and investigate complaints
- To intervene and protect residents
- To allow us to contact parents in respect of underage sales volunteers who carry out sales operations
- The operation of the Good Trader Scheme
- To carry out verification of Good Trader Scheme customer feedback received.
To allow data analysis to enable an intelligence led service with priorities identified locally.
Legal Basis for processing
The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is:
- for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or carried out in the exercise of official authority.
The legal gateways include, but are not limited to:
- The Enterprise Act 2003 section 242
- Consent (for the operation of the Good Trader Scheme and to provide feedback to members of the public on complaints).
The condition we rely on for processing your criminal data is:
- Reasons of substantial public interest: Statutory etc and government purposes.
Who do we share personal data with?
In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share data with and receive data from the following when required:
- Enforcement agencies and partners including HMRC, National Crime Agency, DWP, Police, Illegal Money Lending Team, Insolvency Service, Environment Agency
- Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council as Host Authority for NAFN (National Anti-Fraud Network) Data and Intelligence Services
- Action Fraud and Trade Associations
- Trading Standards intelligence sharing database
- National Trading Standards Scams Team
- National Trading Standards Departments
- Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service
- Other council departments, including Environmental Health, Licensing, Council Tax, Legal
- Other Government Departments and Agencies
- Other Local Authorities.
This is not an exhaustive list.
How long do we keep personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.
Automated decisions
All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.
Your rights
More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found in at Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
Data Protection Officer
If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.
We will respond to all requests within one month.
If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).
Document information
Owner: Julie Middlehurst, Assistant Director Infrastructure & Regulatory Services
Author: Ian Kelsall, Trading Standards Manager
Version and date: V4.0, October 2025