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 General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (the “GDPR”).

 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’.

Types of personal data Details
Individual details Name, address, other contact details (e.g. email and telephone numbers), gender, marital status, date and place of birth, nationality, employer, job title and employment history, family details including their relationship to you.
Special categories of personal data Certain categories of personal data have additional protection under the GDPR. The categories are health, criminal convictions, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation.

 Why we collect your personal information

We process personal information to enable us undertake prevention, protection and emergency services to the communities that we serve. Personal data can be collected particularly for firefighting and emergency services which includes managing responses to fire, incidents and traffic accidents, maintaining our own records and accounts including the management of fire service assets. We also process personal information using a CCTV system to monitor and collect visual images for the purposes of security and the prevention and detection of crime. Other reasons why we collect personal data include:

  • 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 have the right to process your personal data if at least one of the following applies:
  • Processing is necessary for carrying out legitimate public duties of a Fire and Rescue Service as defined in the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004.
  • Explicit consent is required for carrying out incidental activities that help us in carrying out our public duty of improving, protecting and saving lives.
  • Processing is necessary for collaborating with public organisations such as the police and ambulance service in undertaking public safety functions.
  • For recruitment, employment, social security purposes or a collective agreement.
  • Processing is carried out by a non-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim provided:
    • the processing relates only to members or former members (or those who have regular contact with it in connection with those purposes); and
    • There is no disclosure to a third party without consent.

 How do we keep your information secure?

We are committed to ensuring that your personal 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 requirements of the GDPR on 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. 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 when we receive a request from you in writing. We would normally give you access to everything 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 GDPR, 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;
  • The right to request that the “Authority” to transmit your data another organisation where applicable.
  • 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.

 Contact Details

To exercise all relevant rights, queries of complaints please in the first instance contact Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Data Protection Officer at Tel: 01376576265, Email: informationgovernance@essex-fire.gov.uk
You can also contact the Information Commissioners Office at ico.org.uk, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or via email casework@ico.org.uk, https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

 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.