‘A Practical Guide to Data Protection in Social Housing for Data Protection Practitioners – Second Edition’ by Clare Paterson

Description

Data sits at the heart of social housing; every day, housing providers rely on information about people to make decisions, deliver services and support residents. Ensuring that personal data is used responsibly is fundamental to building trust, improving services and fulfilling the sector’s social purpose.

Fully updated to reflect the latest changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act, this second edition also includes Awaab’s Law, the Consumer Standards and the use of AI in the housing sector.

This edition also includes more detail on Records of Processing Activities (RoPAs), DSARs, personal use of CCTV, data breaches, customer insight and EDI work, and reflects the evolution of the author’s own thinking. Drawing on the practical frameworks she has developed through her work, the book helps readers understand not only what the law requires, but how to make good decisions about data in everyday practice.

Written specifically for the social housing sector, this book goes beyond explaining the legal requirements. Clare Paterson demonstrates how data protection begins with clarity of purpose, becoming the foundation for better decision-making, stronger governance and more effective services, helping individuals and organisations develop the clarity, capability and confidence to use data responsibly.

Whether you are a data protection officer, consultant, housing professional or organisational leader, this book will help you move beyond compliance and put responsible, purposeful data use at the heart of social housing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clare Paterson is a data protection strategist and practitioner with more than 20 years’ experience working in and alongside the UK social housing sector. Across her almost 30-year career, one question has remained constant: how can organisations make better decisions that genuinely improve people’s lives?

That question has taken Clare from quality assurance and risk management in manufacturing, into social housing development helping to deliver new homes, back into quality and risk management in housing, and ultimately into data protection and information governance.

Since launching her consultancy in 2017, Clare has worked with housing providers and other purpose-driven organisations of all sizes across the UK. Alongside supporting her own clients, she spent five years as a consultant with Anthony Collins Solicitors, contributing to a wide range of strategic projects across the housing, charitable, education, and commercial sectors. This breadth of experience reinforced her belief that good governance, risk management, data protection and service delivery are not separate disciplines, but parts of a whole, that is achieving the organisation’s purpose.

Clare believes that data protection should never be treated as a bureaucratic exercise or as something separate from an organisation’s purpose. Wherever people are involved, data is involved too. That means responsible data use is not an additional task, but an integral part of delivering good services, making good decisions, and managing risk well.

Her work is underpinned by the practical frameworks she has developed, including the PURPOSE framework, the DECIDE model and the concept of the Purpose Paradox, all of which encourage organisations to begin with a simple question: What are we really trying to achieve?

That thinking has evolved her consultancy further in recent years, into Data in Safe Hands (DiSH), a community bringing together people who care about responsible and effective data use, across all sectors. Through DiSH, Clare supports data protection officers, consultants, information governance professionals, and sector leaders to develop the clarity, capability and confidence needed to lead good data practice.

Whether speaking, writing, advising, coaching, or hosting events, Clare is known for her clear, practical, and refreshingly candid perspective on how data protection law works – and sometimes doesn’t – in reality. Her starting point is always the same: clarity of purpose. She believes that when organisations are clear about what they are trying to achieve, better decisions naturally follow; for the organisation, for its colleagues and, most importantly, for the people it exists to serve.

CONTENTS

Chapter One – Introduction to Data Protection in Social Housing
Chapter Two – The DUAA
Chapter Three – Personal Data
Chapter Four – The (UK)GDPR Principles
Chapter Five – Lawful Bases for Data Processing
Chapter Six – Data Subjects’ Rights
Chapter Seven – DSARS: Data Subject Access Requests
Chapter Eight – Complaints
Chapter Nine – International Data Transfers
Chapter Ten – Data Sharing and Data Processors & Controllers
Chapter Eleven – Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs)
Chapter Twelve – Data Security and Data Breaches
Chapter Thirteen – Profiling and Automated Decisions
Chapter Fourteen – AI Use and Digital Transformation
Chapter Fifteen – CCTV and Other Recording Devices
Chapter Sixteen – Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Management
Chapter Seventeen – Insight and EDI Work
Chapter Eighteen – Contacting People (Including PECR and the TSMs)
Chapter Nineteen – Data Protection Officer Role & Responsibilities
Chapter Twenty – What Next?