Website privacy policy

Information on the Privacy Policy used on the site.

Confidentiality/security

As our website and online services are delivered using https you can rest assured that any personal information you may submit is protected by a secure connection. 

If you choose to access our online services your information may be shared with other council services and partner organisations to ensure our records are kept accurate and help us to identify services or benefits you may be entitled to or interested in. We may also need to share your information for the prevention and detection of fraud and/or other crimes or as the law requires.

Any email including its content may be monitored and used by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council for reasons of security and for monitoring internal compliance with Council policy. This includes the content of emails and attachments. For instance inappropriate or offensive content would be blocked. The contents of any e-mails to the Council may have to be disclosed to third parties under Data Protection legislation. 

If you are using a public computer and do not wish others to be able to go back to view the details you have typed into a form on the web it is advisable to clear the contents of the form and your internet history before leaving the computer.

Virus protection

We make every effort to check and test the material on our site but its good practice to have an anti-virus programme on your device. We cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or to your computer system, which may occur as a result of using material from our site.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files. When you visit a site for the first time a cookie downloaded onto your device. If you return to the site your device will let the site know you have a cookie or cookies from your last visit. The site then 'knows' that you have been there before, and in some cases, tailors what appears on the site to your personal preferences. 

Are they good or bad?

Cookies can help by recording your site preferences and any stored information (e.g. what's in your online shopping cart).

What can be viewed as the downside of cookies is the fact information about you is stored by a website and may be used for marketing purposes without your full consent. 

There are two types of cookies that can be set, session cookies and persistent cookies:

• session cookies are set for a small amount of time, usually while your browser is open, and get deleted when you close your browser
• persistent cookies are stored on your computer for a longer period of time and can store things like login details, website preferences and information about what you were looking at

How to block cookies

The following websites tells you how to block cookies using your browser:

• Chrome
• Edge
• Firefox
• Safari