Data Protection

 [We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 8^th January 2026]

Kent County Council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Who we are

Kent County Council collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018.  We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information.

Visit Kent is the destination management service for Kent. The Visit Kent service sits within KCC’s Economy team but also works within Medway Council. The Visit Kent website aims to inspire and inform users of the best things to see and do in our destinations, and how to enjoy more short breaks and adventures here.

Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us:

In the course of e-newsletter sign-up requests, competition entries, website log files, cookies, digital analytics (Google), and registration we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

Identity Data includes first name, last name, date of birth

Contact Data includes email address

Location Data includes postal address 

Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website

Usage Data includes information about how you use our website

Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences

Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:

Technical Data from analytics providers such as Google based outside the EU.

How we use your personal information

E-newsletters - We send out regular newsletters to keep interested parties informed of news, events, seasonal promotions, competitions and activities they might enjoy on their next visit to our destinations. We only collect this data when we have your consent and retain it on a secure database. If you withdraw consent it will be deleted within one calendar month.

Competitions - When you enter a competition, we may collect your name, email address and postal address so that we can notify you if you have won a prize. You are also given the option to consent to future marketing from us and also from our competition partners. We process this data as part of our contract to you and we retain it for three months after the competition has closed. After this point, it will deleted until you have consented to receive future marketing communications from us.

If you consent to future marketing, we will continue to process your data on that basis and in accordance with this privacy policy. We may use this data to tailor the communications we send and improve our service to you and others.

If you consent to marketing from our named partners, we will share your data with them.

All competitions will include detailed terms and conditions, a hot link and URL to which will be clearly displayed on any sign up page or promotional material.

Registration – Visit Kent runs campaigns throughout the year, giving users access to exclusive offers or promotions. Some of these campaigns, such as Big Weekend, require registration. We may use your registration contact information to send notifications to you regarding products and services directly related to the relevant campaign by email. Your name and email address may be shared with any business or attraction that is part of the promotion/competition you have entered or registered for, only if you have consented for us to do so.

We may also request your email address or mailing address for the purpose of conducting surveys or to provide additional services (for example, announcement lists or information about conferences and trade shows). Whenever we request the identity of a visitor, we will clearly indicate the purpose of the inquiry before the information is requested. We maintain a strict policy on the protection of our data, which means that we do not sell, rent, or otherwise give your email address to a third-party, without your consent or as permitted by this Privacy Policy.

Photographic Images - If we, or someone on our behalf, take photographs or videos for social media or marketing purposes, where the image focuses on individuals or groups of individuals, for use by ourselves or a third party, we will inform you that these are being taken and provide you with information about the context that the images would be used in. 

You have the right to object to having your image taken beforehand, in which case you will not be included, or if you raise concerns immediately after the image is taken, the photographer will delete the images immediately. 

If we believe that you will be identifiable eg by your face, we will ask you to sign your permission on a ‘model release’ consent form. The details on this form will be kept confidential and not shared with any third party.

For images with an associated model release form we shall keep the image and model release form until such time that it is no longer required for the purposes it was taken. A review of all images will be taken on a yearly basis.

IP Addresses - Every computer connected to the internet is given a set of numbers that serve as that computer's "Internet Protocol" (IP) address. When a visitor requests a page on the website, our web servers automatically recognise that visitor's domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address from which you have accessed our site. We use this information to examine our traffic in aggregate and to investigate use of our network, its users, or to cooperate with law enforcement activities and enquiries. Information can include what pages you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you clicked on.

The information collected helps us investigate whether our websites meet the need of users as well as to evaluate how each website can be improved. But we do not collect and evaluate this information for specific individuals. 

Visit Kent will disclose an IP address, when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• Cooperate with the investigations of purported unlawful activities and conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Visit Kent websites
• Protect and defend the rights or property of Visit Kent or visitors to our websites
• Identify persons who may be violating the law, our terms and conditions of use, the rights of third parties, or otherwise misusing our websites or the computer equipment on which it is hosted (whether owned by Visit Kent or a third party) 
• Fulfil a user's order or request 

Cookies - From time to time, Visit Kent may send a "cookie" to your computer. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your internet browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie can't read data off your computer hard disk or read cookie files created by other web sites. Cookies do not damage your system. We use cookies to identify which areas of Visit Kent owned or operated web sites you have visited or customised, so the next time you visit, those pages may be readily accessible. 

You can choose whether to accept cookies by changing the settings of your Internet browser. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or allow your browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept these cookies, your experience at our site and other web sites may be diminished and some features may not work as intended. 

Google Analytics - Digital analytics tools such as Google Analytics may be used by (by Google) to record anonymous users’ interaction with our websites. This data may then be used to retarget users through advertising on other websites, therefore an individual's behaviour on one of our websites may result in them being retargeted by Google with advertising related to the pages they visited or actions they took on the site.

You may opt out of the DoubleClick cookie by visiting the Google advertising opt-out page https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads  or you may opt out of our use of Analytics by visiting the Google Analytics opt-out page. https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Audience segmentation - When you consent to share personal information with us, we may use this information to improve our services to you and to tailor the information we provide in future. We may also use it to understand the success of our marketing and make improvements to our services overall. Personal data is stored for as long as the purpose intended.

We may use the information you supply about your location (town/city/country) to tailor our email marketing and website information and make it more relevant to you. We therefore process this data in your legitimate interest. 

If you do not want us to use your data in this way, please contact us. Likewise if you would like to see the data that we use for this purpose, contact us.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6 (1) (A) Consent, 6 (1) (B) Performance of contract and 6 (1) (F) Legitimate Interest as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data.

Our legitimate interests are informing our marketing strategy, defining our audience and ensuring our website remains updated and relevant for its users.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for:

• We will retain your personal data until you either unsubscribe or notify us that you would like us to delete it from our systems. We will then delete it within one month
• If you have consented to receive e-newsletters, we will retain your data on a secure database. If you withdraw your consent we will delete your data within one month
• If you enter a competition but do not consent to receive e-newsletters, we process this data as part of our contract to you and we retain it for three months after the competition has closed. This allows us time to draw a winner, contact them and redraw an alternative if necessary (i.e. the original winner does not claim their prize)

Who we share your personal information with:

If you consent to marketing from our named partners as part of a competition entry, we will share your data with them (email address, first name, last name, location).

If you enter and win one of our competitions we will pass your data to the relevant third party who has provided a prize so that they can arrange for you to receive your prize. Each competition will include terms and conditions, with links to each third party prize provider’s privacy policy.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law or in connection with legal proceedings. 

We will share personal information with our legal and professional advisers in the event of a dispute, complaint or claim. We rely on Article 9(2)(f) where the processing of special category data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity. 

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have a number of rights which you can access free of charge which allow you to:

• know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
• ask to see what information we hold about you
• ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
• object to direct marketing
• make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

 

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

• object to how we are using your information
• ask us to delete information we hold about you
• have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
• object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
• stop us using your information in certain ways.

 

We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note: your request may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you.

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise a right, please contact [the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.]

Your Right to Withdraw your Consent

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you can withdraw your consent to our use of your data at any time. 

You can do this by selecting “Unsubscribe here” at the bottom of our e-newsletters. Alternatively, you can contact us.  

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Who to Contact

Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.

You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk.

The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/or telephone 0303 123 1113.

For further information visit https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/about-the-website/privacy-statement