Information about our privacy notice and how Hammersmith & Fulham registration service processes your data in accordance with legal requirements.
Privacy notice
This policy explains how the information we collect about you is used and your rights in relation to that information.
Personal information
Personal information collected from you in order to register an event is required by law. The main legislation which governs the collection of registration information is the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, the Marriage Act 1949, and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. You may be legally obliged by these acts, and other pieces of legislation, to provide certain pieces of information. If you fail to provide information you are required to give us you may, amongst other things, be liable to a fine, or we may not be able to provide the service you are applying for, such as a marriage or a civil partnership.
Personal information may also be collected from you if you are make an application to this office, for example for a certificate or to correct information contained in a register entry.
The information you provide will be held and processed by registration officers for this registration district.
Data controllers
The Superintendent Registrar is a data controller for birth, marriage and death registrations and can be contacted at Hammersmith & Fulham Register Office, Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU.
The local authority is a data controller for civil partnership registrations and can be contacted via Hammersmith & Fulham Register Office, Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU.
The Registrar General for England and Wales is a joint data controller for birth, marriage, death, and civil partnership registrations and can be contacted at the General Register Office, Trafalgar Road, Southport PR8 2HH.
Data protection
The contact details for the Data Protection Officer of the Hammersmith & Fulham Council are also available upon request from Hammersmith & Fulham Register Office, Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU.
Copies of entries
A copy of any register entry will be provided by this office in accordance with the law to any applicant, provided they supply enough information to identify the entry concerned and pay the appropriate fee. The copy may only be issued in the form of a paper certified copy (a "certificate"). An application for a certificate may also be made to the General Register Office.
Indexes for events registered at this office are publicly available to help members of the public identify the registration record they might need. Indexes are available in manual format.
A copy of the information collected by a registration officer will also be sent to the Registrar General for England and Wales so that a central record of all registrations can be maintained. This includes marriage registrations occurring at religious building registered for marriages in the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.
Sharing information
Registration information held at this office may be shared with other organisations while carrying out our functions, or to enable others to perform theirs.
We will only share information where there is a lawful basis to do so for the following reasons:
- Statistical or research purposes
- Administrative purposes by official bodies e.g. ensuring their records are up-to-date to provide services to the public
- Fraud prevention or detection, immigration, and passport purposes
Access to your personal information
Further information on data held by the registration service and a full list of the organisations with whom registration data is shared, the purpose and the lawful basis for sharing the data are displayed on the list of processing activities (pdf 145KB) for Registrars, Superintendent Registrars, and Registration Authorities. Alternatively, staff at this office will be able to provide the information.
You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to be informed about the collection and use of your personal information, for incorrect information to be corrected (where the law permits) and to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information. In certain circumstances you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. Your information will not be subjected to automated decision-making.
Registration information is retained indefinitely as required by law. The retention periods for specific documents are outlined below:
- marriage notices – 5 years
- superintendent registrar's certificates and certificates and licences for marriage – 2 years from date of marriage
- counterfoils of certificates and forms:
- standard certificates of birth, marriage, death, and still-birth – 2 years
- certificates of registration of births and still-births – 2 years
- forms of report of death to coroner by registrar – 1 year
- certificates for disposal:
- before or after registration of death – 5 years
- still-births – 5 years
- routine correspondence:
- relating to registration of births, marriages and deaths, correction of errors, birth re-registrations not made and irregular burials – 3 years
- relating to false information given to registration officers, falsification and forgery of certificates of birth, marriage, or death; marriage of foreigners and persons divorced abroad – 3 years
Further information
If you have any questions or concerns about the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information please write to or email the Superintendent Registrar, Hammersmith & Fulham Register Office, Hammersmith Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU or registeroffice@lbhf.gov.uk
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office about the way we are handling your personal information. Details on how you can do this can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website.