Body worn camera privacy notice

This privacy notice is designed to help you understand how and why North Yorkshire Council processes your personal data. This notice should be read in conjunction with our corporate privacy notice.

Who are we?

North Yorkshire Council is a ‘data controller’ as defined by Article 4(7) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Body-worn video cameras will be worn by our civil enforcement officers (at all times whilst on duty) and community link officers (as required), to allow them to carry out their responsibilities safely and to provide an open and transparent service.

They are also used for personal safety reasons and are intended to act as a deterrent to acts of aggression or verbal and physical abuse towards officers, to give them confidence to carry out their duties (usually as lone workers) without fear of abuse. Bodycams can also act as a deterrent against crime and anti-social behaviour and can change the behaviour of potentially aggressive individuals.

 The council has appointed Veritau to be its data protection officer. Their contact details are:

Information Governance Office

Veritau

West Offices

Station Rise

York

North Yorkshire

YO1 6GA

Email: infogov@northyorks.gov.uk

Tel: 01904 552848

What personal information do we collect?

The council will collect the following personal data:

  • name and address
  • date of birth
  • contact Information e.g. telephone number and email address
  • gender
  • photographic/video images and any verbal information that is recorded

The following special category information may also be collected (or inferred) from any recordings:

  • religion
  • ethnic origin
  • physical and mental health information
  • criminal conviction information

Why do we collect your personal information?

Body-worn video cameras can assist in the identification and prosecution of offenders by providing evidential video. Camera footage recorded while issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) can then be used to make sure that appeals are dealt with as openly and transparently as possible.

Who do we obtain your information from?

Your personal information is collected through the operation of a body-worn camera.

Who do we share this information with?

Any data captured could be used as part of enforcement proceedings. This data may be shared with third parties where it is lawful to do so. These may include:

  • North Yorkshire police
  • legal services
  • magistrates courts

How long do we keep your information for?

Data held

Retention period

Non-evidential camera footage

Max 30 days.

Evidential camera footage

Max 6 months(or until court date and appeals process has expired, whichever is the longest)

What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

North Yorkshire council relies on the following lawful basis to process your personal data:

  • UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
  • UK GDPR Article 6(1) (e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

When processing special category data, the council will rely on the following lawful basis:

UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) - The processing of your special category data is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law), meeting Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 as below:

  • (6) Statutory and government purposes and
  • (10) Preventing or detecting unlawful acts

The legislation that relates to this include but is not limited to:

  • anti-social behaviour crime and policing act 2014
  • environmental protection act 1990
  • town and country planning act 1990

Human rights act 1998 - Article 6 provides the right to a fair trial. All images captured through the use of a body worn camera have the potential to be used in court proceedings and must be safeguarded by an audit trail in the same way as any other evidence. Article 8 of the Act concerns the right for private and family life, home and correspondence. Recordings of individuals in a public place are only public for those present at the time and may still be regarded as potentially private. Any recorded conversation between individuals should always be regarded as private and users of body worn cameras will ensure that they refrain from recording anything which is beyond necessary with respect to a confrontational situation.

For more information about how we use your data, including your privacy rights and the complaints process, please see our corporate privacy notice.