Privacy and telephone calls

This privacy notice explains how Buckinghamshire Council (the data controller) will use information collected during telephone calls.

Buckinghamshire Council record some inbound and outbound telephone calls. We will advise you if a call is being recorded.

In some cases, calls may be answered or supported by our AI-powered virtual assistant. Where this occurs, a transcript of the interaction may be generated and retained in accordance with our data retention policies. For more information on how we use and manage data in connection with our AI virtual assistant, please refer to our separate policy AI Virtual Assistant Privacy Policy.

To deal with your enquiry you may need to provide us with your personal information. We collect the following data:

• your name
• your contact details, including phone number and email address
• reason for contact
• any information you provide during the call. This would normally be a summary but where appropriate a full copy of the conversation may be kept
• a recording of the call (if applicable)

We need your information to:

• provide you with a service
• investigate complaints
• consider and answer your enquiries
• improve our services
• for training, audit and quality assurance purposes

We will also use your information to keep a record of our contact with you.

The lawful basis for processing the personal information under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR is:

• Article 6(1)(a) Your consent - for call recording and AI processing only
• Article 6(1)(b) We have a contractual obligation to provide you with the services you request.
• Article 6(1)(c) We have a legal obligation
• Article 6(1)(e) We need it to perform a public task

We may also process special categories of personal data. For example, information about health. Where we do so, our lawful basis is:

• Article 9(2)(g) reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
• Article 9(2)(a) – Explicit consent, where you choose to provide this information voluntarily

If we intend to record your call or use AI tools, we will inform you and ask for your consent.

If you do not provide consent, there will be no change to the service you receive. Your enquiry will continue to be handled without call recording or AI-supported processing.

If you withdraw your consent, we will stop recording and/or using AI tools from that point onwards. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

Consent applies specifically to the recording of the call and the use of AI to support processing (such as transcription or summarisation). The remainder of the interaction and any service delivery will continue to be processed under public task or other relevant lawful bases, as set out above.

You can remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting [email protected].

We may need to use your personal information so we can contact you, carry out a request, or provide a service. If appropriate, we may share your information with:

• relevant services within the Council
• partners or contractors of the council who deliver services on our behalf
• other bodies, such as the police, where required by law

Where calls are recorded the Council may use Microsoft CoPilot to summarise and/or transcribe the conversation. Summaries will be checked by the person speaking to you for accuracy before being recorded on your notes. For details of how long we keep our information please see our corporate privacy notice.

We will securely hold your information. Where applicable, call recordings may be held for up to two years, after which they are automatically deleted. If the call recording or transcript is available, you can request a copy by contacting us.

We do not carry out any automated decision making in relation to this information.

You have legal rights over your information. For details of those rights, see our corporate privacy notice. Your rights will differ depending on our lawful basis for processing your data.
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 0300 131 6000.
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to the Data Protection Officer. You can also then complain to the ICO if you remain unhappy with how we have used your personal information.
Date of publication/last update: June 2026