Public Space CCTV Privacy Notice

This privacy notice sets out how Ashford Borough Council's (ABC) Monitoring Centre CCTV may collect, use and share your personal information.

ABC and its Data Protection Officer can be contacted at: The Data Protection Officer, Ashford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford, TN23 1PL or you can email FOI@ashford.gov.uk.

The processing of personal data is governed, in the UK, by the General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR") 2016 and any national implementing laws (Data Protection Act 18), regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, and the regional supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner's Office.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office with registration number Z8344724.

Processing activities

The primary purpose of the use of any overt surveillance equipment is to contribute to improving public safety and security, and in protecting both people and property.

It is the intention of the council to have regard to the guidance in the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice in all aspects of overt surveillance. Where it may be necessary to depart from the guidance it will give a clear reason for doing so. There are 12 guiding principles that systems operators should adopt:

Use of a surveillance camera system must always be for a specified purpose which is in pursuit of a legitimate aim and necessary to meet an identified pressing need.
The user of a surveillance camera system must take into account its effect on individuals and their privacy, with regular reviews to ensure its use remains justified.
There must be as much transparency in the use of a surveillance camera system as possible, including a published contact point for access to information and complaints.
There must be clear responsibility and accountability for all surveillance camera system activities including images and information collected, held and used.
Clear rules, policies and procedures must be in place before a surveillance camera system is used, and these must be communicated to all who need to comply with them.
No more images and information should be stored than that which is strictly required for the stated purpose of a surveillance camera system, and such images and information should be deleted once their purposes have been discharged.
Access to retained images and information should be restricted and there must be clearly defined rules on who can gain access and for what purpose such access is granted; the disclosure of images and information should only take place when it is necessary for such a purpose or for law enforcement purposes.
Surveillance camera system operators should consider any approved operational, technical and competency standards relevant to a system and its purpose and work to meet and maintain those standards.
Surveillance camera system images and information should be subject to appropriate security measures to safeguard against unauthorised access and use.
There should be effective review and audit mechanisms to ensure legal requirements, policies and standards are complied with in practice, and regular reports should be published.
When the use of a surveillance camera system is in pursuit of a legitimate aim, and there is a pressing need for its use, it should then be used in the most effective way to support public safety and law enforcement with the aim of processing images and information of evidential value.
Any information used to support a surveillance camera system which compares against a reference database for matching purposes should be accurate and kept up to date.

The council will operate and manage CCTV installed in public spaces to support achieving the following objectives:

To deter, prevent and detect crime.
To reduce the fear of crime, enhance and reassure the general public’s perception of safety.
To improve the safety and security of residents, visitors and the business community who use the facilities in the Borough.
Assist in the detection of crime by providing evidence in criminal proceedings.
Assist in the prevention and reduction of public disorder and anti-social behaviour.
Assist the tracking and apprehension of persons who are suspected of having committed a criminal offence.
Assist in identifying witnesses.
Promote the objectives of Kent Police and the Community Safety Partnership.
To enhance community safety, assist in developing the economic well-being of Ashford Borough and to encourage greater use of the town centres, shopping areas, car parks and similar locations.
To assist in supporting civil proceedings that will help detect crime and allow the Courts to determine liability in civil proceedings.
To assist in the councils management of their assets.

The council’s CCTV system for use in public spaces was approved and accredited by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner. The control room held the highest level of accreditation, which shows we adhere to their previous code of practice and the 12 guiding principles. The Surveillance Camera Commissioner became part of Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner in February 2022 and we are awaiting their new accreditation process to be introduced.

What personal information we hold

Ashford Borough Council is registered with the Information Commissioners Office under registration reference Z8344724.

All Data will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Principles of the UK General Data Protection Regulations and Data Protection Act 2018:

Lawfulness, fairness and transparency.
Purpose limitation.
Data minimisation.
Storage limitation.
Integrity and confidentiality.

Lawful bases for processing

The CCTV system will be operated in accordance with all the requirements and the principles of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The operation of the CCTV system will also recognise the need for formal authorisation of any covert ‘directed’ surveillance as required by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The CCTV system shall be operated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 at all times and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

The CCTV system shall be operated fairly, within the law and only for the purposes for which it was established and identified within the code, or which are subsequently agreed in accordance with the code.

The CCTV system will be operated in accordance with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) legislation.

The CCTV system shall be operated with due regard to the principle that everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life and their home.

This code is intended, as far as reasonably possible, to balance the objectives of the CCTV system with the need to safeguard the individual’s rights. Every effort has been made to indicate that a formal structure has been put in place, including a complaints procedure, by which it can be identified that the CCTV system is not only accountable, but is also seen to be accountable.

How we get your information and data sharing

All Data obtained by virtue of the CCTV system will be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, only be processed in the exercise of achieving the stated objectives of the CCTV system. Personal data will be processed with due consideration to a persons’ right to respect for their private and family life and their home.

Monitoring centre CCTV operators are only permitted to use our CCTV cameras to view public areas. They must not be used to look into the interior of any private premises or any other area where an infringement on the privacy of individuals may occur.

Where there are exceptional circumstances a CCTV operator may view private premises as set out below;

i) In response to an enforcement agency or an affiliated member of staff associated with that business requesting assistance following an incident being committed.
ii) If a CCTV operator, whilst operating the cameras in accordance with this code, observes an event which they believes indicates that a serious incident is being, or is about to occur, in a non-public area.

Operators will be required to justify their actions. Any breach of this condition of employment may result in disciplinary proceedings.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) will be undertaken prior to any new CCTV cameras being installed to assess whether a camera(s) unnecessarily impacts on people’s privacy. Where an infringement of privacy is identified action must be taken either to use a privacy zone to mask a particular area of an image or locate the camera in an alternative position. A PIA will be carried out on each camera annually.

Retention period

Images are received by camera and routed to the monitoring centre via fibre, broadband connection, microwave link or line of sight, and recorded digitally onto a hard drive system. Images are retained on the CCTV system for a maximum of 31 days.

Your rights

Unless subject to an exemption under data protection legislation, you have the following rights:

the right to access;
the right to rectification;
the right to erasure;
the right to restrict processing;
the right to object to processing;
the right to data portability;
the right to complain to a supervisory authority;
the right to withdraw consent.

For further information about your individual rights, including how to contact Ashford Borough Council's Data Protection Officer, please see our data protection pages.

Right to complain

We set ourselves high standards when it comes to protecting your personal data. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive from you about our use of your personal data very seriously and request that you bring any issues to our attention.

Where you are communicating with us for the purpose of making a complaint, we will only use your personal data to handle, investigate and respond to the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide.

If, having exhausted the complaint process, you are not content that your request or review has been dealt with correctly, you can appeal to the ICO to investigate the matter further by writing to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF