Running electoral registration - Scotland

Data protection considerations when working with partners

You need to be able to demonstrate that all information obtained, whether from internal or external partners, complies with the principles of processing personal data, ensuring that it is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.

You should ensure that any partners assisting electors to complete applications are aware of data protection principles before handling any personal data. 

External organisations from whom you are obtaining personal data, for example, universities and care homes, will hold personal data on their students and residents respectively and are likely to be data controllers in their own right. 

Although data protection legislation does not require a written agreement when sharing data between data controllers, it is strongly recommended that you agree with your partner a data sharing agreement to help you both demonstrate that you are acting in accordance with data protection legislation

Our guidance on data protection for EROs and ROs contains further information and a checklist to support you in developing a data sharing agreement.

The Scottish Assessors Association (SAA) have also made available the data sharing agreement being used by EROs to share data in Scotland.