CCTV - Privacy notice
Who the Council is and what the Council does
For the purposes of Data Protection, Forest of Dean District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as we collect and process personal information about you. Your privacy is important to us and we are committed to handling your personal information securely.
Under the Data Protection Legislation (UK GDPR, DPA 2018 and DUAA 2025, we are required to protect any personal information we hold about you.
CCTV stands for closed circuit television and is the term used to cover various types of video monitoring, still image capture and security cameras. This information may be about staff, customers and clients, offenders and suspected offenders, members of the public and those inside, entering or in the immediate vicinity of the area under surveillance. There are signs in place to inform you where cameras are in use. Our Enforcement Officers may use body worn cameras and will verbally advise members of the public when it is switched on to record.
Council vehicles may have dashboard, external and internal passenger seating area cameras which capture footage of passengers, pedestrians, and other vehicles while in use. All these vehicles have notices displayed to indicate that they are equipped with cameras.
Cameras at household waste recycling centres are owned and operated externally by Ubico.
The Council is committed to compliance with the Information Commission’s code of practice for surveillance cameras and the council’s own CCTV policy.
This notice explains why the Council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.
Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:
Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices, Coleford GL16 8HG
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01993 861194
Why the Council needs your information
- to ensure the health and safety of employees, service users and visitors to the sites
- to detect, prevent or reduce the incidence of crime
- to discourage aggressive or violent behaviour towards staff and reduce staff’s fear of such behaviour
- to prevent and respond effectively to all forms of possible harassment and disorder
- to reduce the fear of crime and create a safer environment
- to provide emergency services assistance
- To comply with legal obligations and assist with the investigation of any allegations or complaints
- for the defence of the council or its employees with regards to legal or insurance claims
How the Council uses it
The Council operates CCTV to maintain the safety and security of property, premises, and people, and for preventing and investigating crime. It may also be used to monitor staff when carrying out work duties and to assist in connection with disciplinary procedures in cases of serious misconduct
From time to time, CCTV on entry points to council premises may be used for monitoring purposes, to see if there are any issues with security or access. At no time will individuals be the focus of this monitoring.
What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data
The following is the lawful basis Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) for processing your personal information:
- Article 6(1)(c) that it is necessary to meet a legal obligation
- Article 6(1)(e) that it is necessary to perform tasks in the public interest
- Article 6(1)(f) that we have a legitimate interest in processing this information
Our basis for processing special category persona data is:
- Article 9(2)(g) there is a substantial public interest in processing this information, for the purposes of detecting and preventing crime
Where personal data relating to criminal allegations or offences is processed, this will be carried out only if authorised under UK law in compliance with GDPR Article 10 and will meet one or more of the following conditions set out Schedule 1, Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018:
- Sch 1 para 33: Legal Claims
- Sch 1 para 36: Substantial Public Interest
- Sch 1 para 37: Insurance Claims
What type of information is collected from you
- Static and moving images of people, including facial features
- vehicle registration numbers (where cameras car parks)
- behavioural information e.g. movements, actions, interactions
- location data (inferred from position of camera)
- time and date of recordings
Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)
We may share CCTV footage with third parties where it is lawful, necessary, and proportionate to do so.
We do not plan to share it with anyone else or use it for anything else. When it is necessary, we may disclose footage to specific partners.
We may be asked to provide footage to assist the police with any criminal damage or their investigations. We may also be asked for footage from insurance companies should there be an incident involving car accidents or damage to cars parked on council premises.
How long the Council keeps your information (retention period)
The Council’s CCTV cameras automatically overwrite footage between 28 and 31 days after it is captured, unless required to be retained as evidence. Where authorised bodies are granted access to data collected via CCTV in order to carry out their statutory functions, then copies of the data may be made and retained securely for this purpose. Recordings required as evidence will be kept for a maximum of 6 months or until the evidence is no longer required, whichever is longer, at which time it will be securely destroyed.
Does the service make decisions using fully automated processes?
No.
Data captured by an ANPR camera will be matched against the DVLA national database in order to identify car owners. However, the decision to contact that owner and/or take action will always be made by a human.
Marketing
At no time will your information be used or passed to others for marketing or sales purposes, or for any commercial use without your express consent.
How the Council protects your Information
All recordings will be securely held in accordance with agreed data protection procedures. The cameras will encrypt all recordings so that there can be no unauthorised access to any data recorded. Access to recordings will be restricted only to authorised personnel.
The Council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.
The Council have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration or destruction.
Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
The Council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.
Your rights
You have the following rights under the Data Protection Legislations:
- To access your personal data
- To be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
- To have your personal data corrected
- To have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
- To object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
- To have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain
circumstances
- To be told if the Council have made a mistake whilst processing your data and the Council
will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.
How you can access, update or correct your information
The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'. You can request footage under article 15 of the UK GDPR. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month. In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person. To make a request, please go to www.fdean.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection/
The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The Council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the Council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at: [email protected]
Further information
If you would like to know more about how the Council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at [email protected]
For more information about data protection please visit: www.fdean.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection/
If you are concerned about the way the Council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commission (IC): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
The Council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website