Privacy and Cookie Policy

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work more efficiently as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.

Some examples of cookie usage are:

  • Storing information to personalise the website to your requirements
  • A website that sells things may use a cookie to record items you have in a shopping basket
  • Cookies can be used to record users behaviour on a website, for example to record the pages they have viewed

There are two different types of cookie that can be placed in your browser by a website:

  • Session cookies are only used for the period you use the website, and are deleted when you close your web browser. A new cookie would then be placed in your web browser if you were to visit the same website again in the future.
  • Persistent cookies remain in your browser once you have left the site and closed your web browser. The next time you visit the site the information in the cookie will be used to ensure the website works as set up at the previous visit, for example to display certain things on the homepage. Persistent cookies will expire if the website that set them is not visited again within a certain time.

Cookies on this website

We use a Google Analytics cookie on our website to record website usage. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. We collect this information in a way which does not identify anyone, we do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website, and we do not share this information with anyone.

Managing cookies on your computer

Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage or delete them, visit the About Cookies website (opens in new window).

You can choose to block the cookies that are set by the GATCOM website, however you must be aware that doing so may mean that parts of the site will not work correctly.

Changes to the way websites use cookies

The law that controls how cookies are used on websites has changed. There is more information on the Information Commissioners website (opens in new window).

Data Protection

  1. How we look after your personal data

The Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (GATCOM) is constituted to meet the requirements of Section 35 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 for an airport “to provide adequate facilities for consultation with respect to any matter concerning the management or administration of the airport which affects the interests of users of the airport, local authorities and any other organisation representing the interests of persons concerned with the locality in which the airport is situated”.  The Committee’s work and administrative functions are carried out by the GATCOM Secretariat with the full administrative support provided by West Sussex County Council. Personal data submitted to GATCOM is therefore administered by West Sussex County Council.

West Sussex County Council: the data controller

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. WSCC complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (GDPR).

WSCC is registered as a ‘data controller’ with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO – Reg. No. Z6413427), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. WSCC ensures that your personal data is processed fairly and kept securely and for no longer than is necessary.

It is important that the personal data GATCOM Secretariat holds about you is accurate and up to date, so please tell us if your personal details change during your relationship with us. If you are under 18, get your parent or guardian’s permission before you provide personal information to our website.

It is important you read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notice WSCC may give you when we are collecting or processing personal data about you. In doing so you can be fully aware of how and why we are using your data.

2.   What information we collect and how we use it

The GATCOM Secretariat (provided by WSCC) is committed to processing data in accordance with its responsibilities under the GDPR. In order to register and receive our services and updates, including those on our website, you may need to give us some personal information. We will hold this information for as long as it is needed for the service you have requested and remove it when that purpose has been met.

In the case of an online information service, such as email alerts, we will remove your details if you inform us that you no longer wish to continue to receive the service.

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances.

  • Public task: to perform a task in the public interest or for an official function.
  • Legal obligation: to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
  • Contract: for a contract with you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract.
  • Vital interests: to protect someone’s life.
  • Legitimate interests: to protect the interests of the County Council or someone else unless there is a good reason to protect your data which overrides those other interests.
  • Consent: you have specifically agreed to our use of your data and we have no other legal basis for processing it.

Data security

We have put in place security measures to prevent your personal data from being lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed inappropriately.

We also limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a need to know in order for our service to be provided.

They will only process your personal data on our instructions and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have procedures to deal with any suspected breach of the rules about personal data and will notify you and the regulator of a breach where we are required to do so.

Electronic communications

We reserve the right to monitor and record electronic communications (website, email and phone conversations) for the purposes of keeping records, staff training, detection, investigation and prevention of crime.

  • Phone conversations – We will inform you if your call is being recorded or monitored.
  • Email – Emails that we send to you or you send to us may be kept as a record of contact and your email address stored for future use in accordance with our record retention policy. If we need to email sensitive or confidential information to you, we will perform checks to verify the correct email address and may take additional security measures.
  • GATCOM Website – Our website does not store or capture personal information of visitors using the site through general public access, but it does log visitors.  Using our website confirms your acceptance of our use of cookies.
  1. Who we share your information with

Your personal information may be shared with internal departments of the County Council or external organisations and agencies involved in delivering services on our behalf. Gatwick Airport Ltd and other organisations involved in GATCOM are examples of these.

You may decide you do not wish your personal information to be collected or shared, or may wish to set conditions on our use of it. In such cases we may not be able to provide the service you require, or may only be able to provide it in a limited way.

Other third parties

We do not pass personal data to third parties for marketing, sales or any other commercial purposes without your prior explicit consent. We may process your personal information using web services hosted outside the European Economic Area (EEA), but only where a data processing agreement is in place that complies with obligations equivalent to those of the Data Protection Act.

  1. Your rights
  • To request access to your personal data.
  • To request correction of our records.
  • To request removal of data or limit our use of it.
  • To object to processing – In some cases, we may need to explain that we have good grounds to continue to process your information.
  • To data portability – This right allows individuals to obtain and reuse their personal data for their own purposes for different services. This only applies to personal data provided by you, with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and when processing is automated.
  • To withdraw consent (when this is the only basis for our use of your data).

To find out more about your legal rights or request a change or deletion to your personal information see Your rights.

To obtain access to the records we hold about you see Accessing your personal data.

  1. Contact for data protection issues and complaints

WSCC has appointed a data protection officer (DPO) who is responsible for overseeing issues in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, contact the DPO:

Tony Kershaw, Data Protection Officer and Honorary Secretary to GATCOM

Additional information

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the ICO. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO. If you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we keep it for, please contact the DPO.