Privacy Notice

The Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority “Hereafter referred to as “The Authority” is committed to protecting your personal data when you use our services. This privacy notice explains how the Service uses information about you and how we protect your privacy. The processing of personal data is governed by the Data Protection Act 2018.

The data we may collect about you

To deliver our services effectively, we may need to collect and process personal data about you. Personal data refers to any information with which a living individual can be identified. Individual identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with other information in the possession of the ‘The Authority’.

• Carrying out home safety visits
• For employment and staff training purposes
• Checking the quality and effectiveness of our services
• Investigating any concerns or complaints about our services
• Research and planning of new services
• Emergency contact information
• Agreements you may have with the fire and rescue service

Where might we collect your personal data from?

• You
• Your family members, employer or representative
• Other public bodies such as the police, ambulance service, local councils and the NHS
• Other organisations such as companies who you have given permission to share your information for security or key holding purposes

Legal basis for processing your personal data

We process personal data where it is necessary for meeting our legal obligations or delivering our public services.  Our statutory duties are underpinned by the following legislation:

1.  Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.
2. Civil Contingencies Act 2004. 
3. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Act 2005.
4. Fire & Rescue Services (Emergencies) (England) Order 2007.
5. Crime & Disorder Act 1998.

The legal conditions for processing we rely on are:

• Processing is based on your consent where we are not delivering our statutory services
• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract
• Processing is necessary to comply with our legal obligations
• Processing is necessary to protect individuals’ vital interests
• Processing is necessary for us to deliver tasks in the public interest

We sometimes need to use special category information, for example health information, when carrying out our duties or complying with the law. In such cases we will be relying on the following conditions for processing:

• Processing is necessary for the purposes of employment, social security or social protection
• Processing is carried out by a non-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim
• Processing is necessary for the exercise or defence of legal claims
• Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest on the basis of UK law

How do we keep your information secure?

We are committed to ensuring that your data is safe. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information that we hold about you. These include:

• Secure work areas
• Information security awareness for our staff
• Access controls on all systems
• Encryption of personal data
• Testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical security controls

Who will we share your personal information with?

We may engage the services of commercial companies to store and manage your information on our behalf. Where we have these arrangements, there is always a contract, memorandum of understanding or an information sharing agreement in place to ensure that the legal requirements for handling personal data are met. We may share your personal information with third parties that are commissioned to train our staff or volunteers.

Sometimes, it is in line with our legal duties and in the interest of public safety to share information with other organisations such as the police, the NHS or social services. The Home Office may require some of the data that we hold to undertake statistical analysis that informs government policies. We may also share your personal information when there is a justifiable public safety and security reason. Examples are:

• For the investigation, detection and prevention of crime or if we are required to do so by law
• Helping the police and relevant authorities to identify trends and issues relating to fires
• If there are serious risks to the public, our staff or other professionals
• To protect children or vulnerable adults

How can you access the information we hold about you?

You have the right to request all the information we hold about you. We would normally give you access to the data we have recorded about you. This applies to paper and electronic records. However, we will not share any parts of your details which contain:

• Confidential information about other people or
• If it is in the interest of public safety and security to withhold that information from you

Your rights and your personal data

Subject to an exemption under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• The right to request a copy of your personal data which the "Authority" holds about you;
• The right to request that the "Authority" corrects any personal information if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date;
• The right to erasure of your personal data where it is no longer necessary for the "Authority" to retain such data;
• The right to withdraw consent to the processing of your data at any time where we require your consent for the processing;
• The right to request that the "Authority" transfer your personal data electronically to another organisation, where it is processed purely by automated means. However, please note this rarely applies to processing carried out to deliver our services.
• Where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, you have the right to request a restriction is placed on further processing;
• The right to object to the processing of personal data where applicable. However, as the "Authority" will mainly be processing data based on the performance of a statutory duty in the public interest, there are limits to this right.
• The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Privacy Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Cookies for online users

To make this site simpler, we sometimes place small data files on your computer. These are known as cookies. They improve things by:

• Remembering settings, so you do not have to keep re-entering them whenever you visit a new page
• Remembering information you have given so you do not need to keep remembering it
• Measuring how you use the website so we can make sure it meets your needs

By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device. Cookies are not used to identify you personally. They are just here to make the site work better for you. You can manage and/or delete these small files as you wish.

Review date: April 2023

Information Sharing Protocol