Privacy: Environment and transport services

This privacy notice is designed to help you understand how we use personal information when delivering our environment and transport services. We have set out below the services types, the information we may use to deliver the services, who we may share it with, and how long we will keep it.

What services are covered by this privacy notice?

Blue Badge

Assess eligibility for a parking concession to park in defined parking spaces for disabled people.

Bus Lane-Gate enforcement

Enforces unauthorised use of bus lanes.

Bus Passes

Apply for or renew/replace an older or disabled person's bus pass (concessionary travel) in Essex.

China and International team

To promote economic links between Essex and the global trading community with emphasise on Jiangsu, China, by providing an business introductory service.

Country Parks

Give residents access to open spaces, woodland trails and historic parklands, and to protect and encourage rare and important plants and animals. We provide services such as Sky Ropes, mobility scooter loans, educational visits, Forest Schools, wedding services, fishing licences and help to small local businesses.

County Planning

Provide planning services in relation to mineral extraction and waste management.

Cycle training & Bikeability

Cyclist training for the 21st Century, designed to provide participants with the skills and confidence to ride bikes on today’s roads.

Energy and Low Carbon Programme

Promote and develop low carbon initiatives to deliver effective climate action.

Essex Highways

Improving and maintaining the counties road network in partnership with Ringway Jacobs.

Essex Highways enforcement

Undertaking enforcement action under Highways regulations for which the local authority is responsible.

Essex Housing

In-house property development team.

Haven Gateway partnership

Provides newsletters and contacts regarding business and growth opportunities.

Health and safety

Provides advice on health and safety management to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act and all subordinate regulations.

Love Essex

Provides ways to work together to reduce waste across Essex and encourage households to reuse and recycle more.

Minerals and waste

Provide planning services in relation to mineral extraction and waste management including waste management centres.

Place services

Provide charged services for consultancy concerning historic, built and natural environments.

Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant

Grants for residential homeowners whose property has been flooded internally within the past 3 years from ordinary watercourse, groundwater and surface water flooding

Safer Essex Roads Partnership

To reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads in Essex, Southend and Thurrock.

Solar Together Essex

Working with Ichoosr to offer a solar panel buying scheme to Essex residents.

South Essex Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP)

Provides the vision and strategic leadership to drive sustainable private sector-led growth and job creation in the area.

Sustainable Transport

For public opinion surveys, consultation, and engagement in delivering active and sustainable transport proposals, plans and schemes. 

Sustainable Travel Planning

Provide travel planning services and the rail discount scheme. #TravelEssex Provides public access to sustainable travel information and travel planning tools. Also provides a secure site for the exchange of personal data with transport providers.

Transportation and Smart Travel service

Promotes and develops sustainable travel initiatives through travel planning, promoting travel on our rural branch lines, bringing forward schemes and initiatives which promote sustainable travel and ensuring that planning applications provide sustainable travel measures.

TravelEssex

Provides public access to sustainable travel information and travel planning tools. Also provides a secure site for the exchange of personal data with transport providers.

Vehicle Lease Management/Car Provision scheme

Provides vehicle lease management for council staff for the Car Provision scheme which allows the use of a vehicle for three year or short term hires for business trips.

Waste & Refuse Sites

ANPR and CCTV cameras (including Body Worn Cameras) are operational on these sites. This is to help protect staff and the public, discourage aggressive and abusive behaviour, and provide evidence to support criminal investigations.

What personal information do we hold?

The services above may use some or all of the personal information below:

• names, address and contact details
• family relationships and friendships
• date of birth
• Employment and education details
• health information
• financial details
• licences and permits held
• goods and services information
• traffic offence information
• case file information
• business activities
• National Insurance Number
• photograph
• vehicle licence plate number
• audio & visual images, video footage, personal appearance and behaviour

We get most of this information from you, but we may also get some of this information about you from the police, other local authorities and other government agencies, e. DVLA, Planning Inspectorate.

How do we use your personal information?

We use your information to:

• deliver the service or handle your query
• plan and improve the service we offer
• detect and prevent crime or fraud
• do research, although this would be in anonymised form unless we ask for your consent to use your personal information for this purpose
• marketing
• administer and assess the Blue Badge application
• Blue Badge information may also be shared upon receipt of a disabled parking bay application
• for the purposes of waste management, we may use your information to monitor and restrict service access to waste management centres

Who else might we share your personal information with?

Sometimes we may need to share your information, but we will only do so where it is necessary or required by law. We will only share the minimum information for each circumstance. We may sometimes need to share some of your personal information with:

• police
• other government agencies eg DVLA, Department for Transport, Planning Inspectorate/Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
• other local authorities
• transport providers eg Greater Anglia
• general public for planning representations
• Ascenti for independent mobility assessments
• social care
• Counter Fraud team
• Highways notices
• iChoosr which supports our group buying schemes Solar Together Essex (for solar panels and battery storage) and Essex Energy Switch (for collective energy switching)

Data Processors supporting these activities include:

• Allied Publicity Services (APS) are responsible for printing, distributing and manufacturing blue badges
• Biffa supports our waste and environment service
• BLUEPRINT to a Circular Economy supports programmes for low carbon technologies and natural & cultural heritage, coastal and transitional water ecosystems
• Bristow and Sutor (Debt recovery agency) SEA (CCTV cameras and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras)Traffic Penalty Tribunal (Appeal Decisions) and Traffic Enforcement Centre, Northampton County Court, (Registering non-payment of notices) support our Bus Lane-Gate Enforcement service
• CapitaPay 360 for taking payments and issuing SMS receipts. For SMS receipts, this information will be retained in GOV.UK Notify for 7 days then deleted. This information will not be used for any other purpose.
• Essex, Kent and East Sussex Growth Hubs support SELEP
• E-shot for email communications and marketing
• Euclid Ltd - Bus pass applications are managed by Euclid Ltd.
• Flowbird supports our Country Parks
• IEG4 is used to process Blue Badge applications
• Greater Anglia support sustainable travel planning
• Greenredeem supports our programmes for low carbon technologies
• Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions (to administer the process including registered keeper checks)
• Lakeside Flood Solutions who manage the ECC Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant
• Mailchimp supports our Haven Gateway Partnership
• Mitie for our utilities and CCTV management
• Pinnacle Response supports the Council by providing the Cloud Based system within which audio/visual body cam footage would be downloaded to
• Pitney Bowes (Confirm system) provides system support for Highways issues
• Podaris is an analytical tool used to make calculations based on infrastructure paths and system designs
• Ringway Jacobs work in partnership for Essex Highways
• RMC for the ANPR cameras at Thorndon Country park
• SendGrid for communications and marketing
• Stennik Ltd supports the Safer Essex Roads partnership
• Valtech is responsible for administering the Blue Badge system
• Vello process data within the Essex Recycling Centre Vehicle Booking System
• Bridewell supports the Council by providing Incident response and enhanced expertise, enabling Essex County Council to protect its network from cyber security risks

Who is the data controller for this processing?

Essex County Council is the Data Controller for this processing with the exception of SELEP where Essex County Council is a Joint Data Controller with Southend Borough Council and Tendring District Council.

We may use your information for the prevention and detection of fraud and crime, this may include sharing your personal information with external agencies that could lead to some services being declined. Read more about how your information is processed.

What is the legal basis for our use of your personal data?

View the tables which show the legal basis we rely on to use your personal or special category (sensitive) personal information.

View a list of the full legal conditions we may rely on by looking at our full privacy notice.

View a list of the legislation we rely on when using your personal information to meet our legal obligations or public tasks.

Where we are relying on your consent to use your personal information you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us. Let us know which service you are using:

Will my personal information be accessible outside the UK?

When joining our Haven Gateway Partnership your data will be stored in the United States but will be protected by the US Privacy Shield which affords the same level of Data Protection as the UK.

When supporting local business through our China and International team, names and email addresses may be stored in China, but only with the consent of individuals.

No other personal information is routinely sent or held outside the UK. Should the transfer of personal information outside of the UK become necessary, it will only take place if permitted by law, and then only where there are appropriate safeguards in place to protect the data.

How long will we keep your personal information?

We will only use your personal information whilst delivering the service to you and to deal with any questions or complaints that we may receive about this, unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period. In practice, this means that your personal information may be retained for a limited period of time, depending on the relevant service.

Bikeability

We will stop using and delete your personal information after six years, however your health information will be deleted immediately after your course has been completed.

Blue Badge

We will stop using your personal information when you no longer have a valid badge and it will be deleted after seven years.

Bus Lane-Gate Enforcement

We will stop using your personal information after the conclusion of your case and delete it seven years after we stop using it.

Bus Passes

We will keep personal data for as long as required by the Local Authority. In certain instances we may need to keep personal data for a longer period. Such as for combating fraud where it relates to a legal case or claim, when we are under instruction from the police, or there is a legal or contractual obligation to do so.

China and International team

We will stop using your personal information after five years and it will be deleted immediately after we stop using it.

Country Parks

We will delete your personal information two years after we stop using it.

County Planning

We will stop using your personal information after 15 years as mandated in planning legislation. After review it will be securely destroyed.

Energy and Low Carbon Programme

We will stop using your personal information at the end of the funding and it will be deleted after 6 years.

Essex Highways

Will stop using your personal information after seven years and it will then be deleted.

Essex Highways Enforcement

Will stop using your personal information when your case or penalty is concluded and it will be deleted after seven years.

Essex Housing

We will stop using and delete staff personal information seven years from termination of employment. Other personal data will be deleted after two years.

Haven Gateway Partnership

We will stop using and delete your personal information after three years.

Health and Safety

We will stop using your personal information when your case concludes and it will be deleted after five years.

Minerals and Waste

We will stop using your personal information after 15 years as mandated in planning legislation, and it will then be deleted. For information relating to waste management centres we will stop using your personal information after one year.

Place Service

We will stop using your personal information after two years and it will then be deleted.

Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Grant

We will stop using your personal information after 5 years and it will be deleted immediately after we stop using it.

Transportation and Smart Travel Service

We will stop using your personal information after 15 years as mandated in planning legislation, and it will then be deleted.

Safer Essex Roads partnership

We will stop using your personal information after two years after you stop accessing the service and it will then be deleted.

Solar Together Essex and Essex Energy Switch

We will share data regarding queries and complaints with iChoosr, and data will be kept for the period of the query. For any data used, iChoosr will already have it on file.

South Essex Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP)

We will stop using personal information data after two years after you stop accessing the service and it will then be deleted. If you unsubscribe from our newsletter your information will be deleted immediately from our mailing list.

Sustainable Travel Plan

We will stop using your personal information when we no longer require it to support your travel discount needs. For cycle schemes and car parking we will stop using and delete your personal information after five years.

Vehicle Lease Management / Car Provision Scheme

We will stop using personal information once the lease / hire car is returned. Your personal information will be kept for taxation purposes and deleted after seven years for Lease vehicles, and deleted after one year for hire vehicles.

Your rights

The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.

You can obtain further information about these rights from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint in relation to this summary notice, the full privacy notice or our processing activities with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Contact us

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact our Data Protection Officer.