This notice provides clarification on the use of body worn CCTV by our staff and what information is collected through body worn CCTV recordings, provided by our Regulatory Services which comprises Environmental Health and Trading Standards.
It also provides information on the purpose of such recordings, how images are stored and retained and who you can contact should you require further information on your rights under data protection.
Body worn CCTV is required by our staff to protect them against potential anti-social behaviour, conflict, false accusations and for corroboration of incidents occurring during investigations.
The CCTV units are worn overtly by our staff and are only utilised when required. In other words, they do not continually capture images but are switched on by staff interacting with you when necessary.
Responsibility for your information
All personal information is held and processed by East Ayrshire Council as Data Controllers in accordance with Data Protection law.
For information on the role of the Data Controller, Data Protection Officer and contact details for the Council, please refer to our Privacy Statement.
What personal information we need and why
Images of individuals may be collected on body worn CCTV units in the East Ayrshire area. It is necessary to collect such images for the following purposes:
- to deter threatening or anti-social behaviour against our staff
- corroboration of incident occurring when a member of staff is on duty for investigation purposes
- to reduce the scope of false allegations against staff
- to protect lone working staff
- to gather evidence of offences committed
How we will use your information
The information captured on body worn CCTV units may be used in the following ways:
- to pass to the police when criminal incidents occur
- to corroborate incidents or offences in the absence of a third party witness
Lawful basis for processing personal information
Local authorities such as East Ayrshire Council are authorised to employ the use of video recording to promote the prevention of crime or the welfare of victims of crime.
This power is contained in section 163 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
The processing of the images captured by body worn CCTV units is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. The body worn CCTV units may capture more sensitive information about individuals, including:
- health details
- race or ethnic origin
- criminal behaviour
The processing of this information is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest and for the prevention or detection of unlawful acts and to carry out a key function as set out in law, namely the Council’s obligations under the:
- Environmental protection Act 1990
- Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003
- Refuse Disposal Amenity Act 1978
- Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005
- Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
- Trade Marks Act 1994
- Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006
Who we will share your information with
Where necessary your information will be shared with:
- Police Scotland and other emergency services
- The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
- our service provider Pinnacle
We will also make any disclosures required by law and may also share information with other bodies responsible for:
- detecting or preventing fraud, or
- auditing and administering public funds
We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.
We will ensure that any external agency which received disclosed information is fully aware of and accepts it responsibility as outlined in within the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.
How long we keep your information
We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary.
After this time, information is deleted/destroyed in accordance with our Council approved Retention Schedule (PDF 814 KB) which explains how long we keep information for.
Providing accurate information
It is important that we hold accurate and up-to-date information.
If any details have changed, or change in the future, then individuals should ensure that they inform Regulatory Services as soon as possible so that they can update their records accordingly.
Individuals' data protection rights
Under data protection legislation, individuals have a right to request access to information about them that the Council holds.
Individuals also have the right to:
- object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing damage or distress
- prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing
- object to decisions being taken by automated means
- in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
- in certain circumstances, transfer their data to another organisation (data portability)
How to contact us
Individuals can contact us:
- regarding their data protection rights and the processing of their data
- if they have a concern about the way the Council is collecting or using their personal data
They should raise their concern with our Data Protection Officer in the first instance. Contact details can be found on our Privacy Statement.