Your privacy is important to us, and we are fully committed to keeping your personal information safe. This data protection statement is intended to provide you with information about the personal information we collect about you and how that information is used and shared. It also sets out your privacy rights. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with our privacy practices so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your personal data.

What is the Climate Toolkit 4 Business?

The Climate Toolkit 4 Business is an initiative of the Government of Ireland, jointly developed by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment – DETE and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. This Toolkit is designed to help your business get started on the journey to zero carbon and take some impactful steps to understand and address your environmental impacts.

Data Controller

For the purposes of this data protection statement, the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is the Data Controller for the Climate Toolkit 4 Business.

This means that we have certain responsibilities when we process or “use” your Personal Data. Part of these responsibilities include that we provide you with information about your personal data. This information is set out in this Data Protection Statement.

Our Data Protection Officer

We have appointed a Data Protection Officer, Ms. Celyna Coughlan for you to contact if you have any questions regarding this data protection statement, our privacy practices or if you wish to exercise your data rights.  Our Data Protection Officer can be reached by e-mail at: dataprotection@enterprise.gov.ie. We value your opinions. Should you have any questions or comments related to this data protection statement, please contact us at: dataprotection@enterprise.gov.ie.

Collection and use of your Personal Data

We fully respect your right to privacy and confidentiality. Any personal information which you input into the Climate Toolkit 4 Business will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

Data collected may include:

• Information you choose to input to the carbon calculator tool including: 

• your sector,
• the number of staff your business employs,
• whether you are the owner of your premises and, if so, the size of the heated space,
• your annual spend on and/or consumption of various fuel types, water and waste,
• the number of business flights undertaken by staff of your company,
• an estimate of the resource intensity of your operations.

• When you register the website will retain: 

• the name you register under,
• your company name,
• your email and password (note, the password is stored on a ‘hash’ format, meaning it is encrypted, so we store the encrypted password and then run a decryptor every time the user tries to login to see if the password is the correct one).
• The information that you have provided will be used (in time) to develop anonymised national carbon footprint benchmarks per sector.

• E-mail Subscription– if you subscribe to our e-mail Newsletter, we save your name & e-mail address in order to e-mail you with a copy of our Newsletter.

When you register, you will be asked if you are a client of some State Agencies, and we will ask for your consent to share with them the fact that your business has engaged with the Toolkit. The relevant State Agency may use this information to contact you for follow-up or for internal statistical purposes. This is optional and you can still register with the Toolkit without agreeing to this sharing of information.

Also, if your business is categorised as ‘Leisure and Hospitality’ you have the option of accessing international benchmarks hosted by Fáilte Ireland. Any data provided as part of requesting these benchmarks will not be shared with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, but will be used in time to develop anonymised national tourism carbon footprint benchmarks per sector.

Collection and use of technical information

To find out more about our Cookies Policy please see: Cookie Policy (EU) | Climate Toolkit 4 Business

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). For more information on the Privacy & Terms see: Privacy Policy – Privacy & Terms – Google

What is our legal basis for using your personal data?

We are required by data protection law to indicate to you the legal basis which relates to our use of your personal data. Our legal basis for the processing or “use” of your personal data for the Climate Toolkit 4 Business is:

Article 6(1)(e) GDPR – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise in official authority vested in the Controller (in this case the Controller is the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment) and our functions are set out in the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, as amended.

Who has access to your personal data?

Staff in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment with responsibility for the Climate Toolkit 4 Business.

This information will be provided by you when you insert details into the Climate Toolkit 4 Business website.

Your anonymised personal data may also be shared by us with third parties (e.g. other state agencies) to meet our legal obligations, applicable regulation or other lawful requests.

Data storage and retention

The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment – DETE stores your personal data securely and will not retain or use your personal information for any longer than is necessary.

The personal data provided by you on the Climate Toolkit 4 Business will be retained by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment – DETE for a period of 10 Years.

These personal data will be securely destructed in line with our records management processes after that date. However, if you have created an account, any data associated with that account will be destructed automatically after 3 years’ inactivity.

New Feature

We would ask you to note that previously, when you input data, you received a report on your emissions, which would then delete itself. The reports were not saved. The new Climate Tool 4 Business website automatically saves your yearly report, and you can then view it for the next 6 years.

International transfers

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

Your data rights

You have certain rights under data-protection law in relation to how we use your personal information. You have the right, free of charge, to:

• Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. You can do this by completing a Subject Access Request (SAR) form. A copy of the form is available here.
• *Rectify any inaccurate personal information we hold about you. If your personal data is incomplete, you have the right to have data completed, including by means of providing supplementary information.
• Restrict processing of your personal information in certain limited circumstances (e.g. if you have contested the accuracy of your personal data, for a period enabling us to verify accuracy).
• Not be subject to a decision which is based solely on automated processing where that decision produces a legal effect on you or otherwise significantly affects you. We do not make automated decisions of this nature.

We may take measures to verify your identity. We will do this by reference to copies of acceptable identification documentation supplied by you.

Making a complaint

In the first instance, we would ask you to contact us directly if you have concerns about how we process your personal data. You can do this by e-mailing us at: dataprotection@enterprise.gov.ie.

You can also Make a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (DPC) if you have concerns about how we process your personal data.

Changes to this data protection statement

If in the future we make any changes to our data protection statement, the latest version of our statement will be posted on our website. If you would like further information about this statement, please contact us at: info@climatetoolkit4business.gov.ie.