Waste management - Privacy notice

Who the council is and what the council does

West Oxfordshire District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the council collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide services and meet their statutory and regulatory obligations.

The council provides a range of Waste Management Services to make sure that we meet our obligations. This notice explains why the council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
West Oxfordshire District Council
Council Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861194

Why the council needs your information and how the council uses it

The council does not need, and does not use, information about you for routine bin collections. Information about you will only be used to:

investigate a reported enquiry, complaint or comment regarding our Waste Management services
record a compliment
deliver waste management services and support to you
apply for an assisted collection
contact you regarding your garden waste subscription
train and manage the employment of our workers who deliver those services
help investigate any worries or complaints you have about your services
keep track of spending on services
check the quality of services
gain your views about your current waste service and future service delivery
make contact should an exceptional circumstance outside of our control, mean we are unable to provide you and others with a service

The council does not sell your personal information to anyone else.

What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b) you have entered into a contract with us. For example, if you have paid for the garden waste service, ordered a container to be delivered, commercial waste service and/or a bulky waste collection.
UK GDPR Article 6 (1) (e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the council.

The lawful basis on which we collect and use special category data is that:

Article 9(1)(a) of the Data Protection Act - Processing special category data due to Explicit consent

What type of information is collected from you

Personal details, which may include:

Name
Address
Other contact details – email address and telephone number
Photographs and film images of individuals**

** our contractor’s vehicles are equipped with video recording and footage is recorded on the hard drive in the vehicle and is automatically overwritten after 28 days.

Cameras are fitted to recycling and refuse vehicles for the purposes of Health and Safety of employees and members of the public.

Downloaded images are only retained if an incident occurs and will only be held for the duration of any incident/investigation.

Special categories of personal data

Special category personal information, such as health data, may be required for assisted collections or in order to receive a larger capacity bin on medical grounds.

The above list is not exhaustive. The council will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services.

In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate. However, you should note that, this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.

We collect your information from you directly by asking you to complete one of our online forms or if you telephone our customer service centre. We may also inadvertently collect images of you through use of CCTV cameras which are fixed onto our waste collection vehicles. These images are only collected for the purpose of Health and Safety and to monitor whether bins have been presented.

Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Ubico: This is a company wholly owned by both Cheltenham Borough and Cotswold District Councils who provide a range of environmental services - including garden waste collection.

We may share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required to do so by applicable law. This data sharing enables us to then investigate any reported waste management complaints or enquiries.

The council will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

How long the council keeps your information (retention period)

We retain your information whilst you have a current garden waste subscription.

Otherwise information is retained for a maximum period of seven calendar years (six years plus current) from the date you first applied to join the scheme.

Once your data is no longer needed it will be securely and confidentially destroyed or disposed of the data in line with retention schedules.

How the council protects your information

Your data is stored securely on our systems and accessed only by authorised officers using their own username and password created in line with pre-defined user credentials. Personal data is also held in electronic files on the council’s network drives. These are only accessible through personal logon credentials and access privileges to specific drives. Access to our council sites require a personal electronic pass to access staff only areas. The council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.

If you use your credit or debit card to make payments, the council passes your card details securely to our payment processing partner as part of the payment process. The council does this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard and does not store the details on its website. The information you give to the council when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment

The council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.

The council have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration or destruction.

Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

The council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Your rights

You have the following rights under the Data Protection Legislations:

To access your personal data
To be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
To have your personal data corrected
To have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
To object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
To have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
To be told if the council have made a mistake whilst processing your data and the council will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.

How you can access, update or correct your information

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'.

If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection Officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:

West Oxfordshire District Council
Council Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: customer.services@westoxon.gov.uk
www.westoxon.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/

Further information

If you would like to know more about how the council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk

For more information about data protection please visit: www.westoxon.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection/

If you are concerned about the way the council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

The council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.