Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Introduc​​tion

The Public Service Centre (PSC) is a joint emergency services control room with staff from three partner organisations – South Wales Police (SWP), South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS).

This privacy notice aims to outline how the Joint Fire Control team covering SWFRS and MAWWFRS located at the PSC collect, protect and share your personal information including the use of shared Police / Fire technology. SWFRS and MAWWFRS are registered as ‘data controllers’ as each Service collects and processes personal information. The information may be collected by telephone, email or voice recording by a member of our Fire Control staff.

What personal information is​ collected by the Joint Fire Control team based at the PSC?

When you contact us directly using the 999 emergency number or a non-emergency number we ask for personal and location information such as name, address, date of birth, gender, contact details (telephone number or email), where you live and where you are at the point of contacting us. We will also collect anything relevant to preserving life or saving property, such as car registration details, or whether there are any flammable, or chemical materials stored at the location of the incident etc.

Some information is voluntary, such as your name and date of birth, but it may affect the service we provide if this information is not provided.

Some information may be collected automatically by our incident management system such as the phone number you are calling from and the location.

The information we collect will only be used to provide the appropriate public service(s) to you or others. That may involve contacting other emergency services personnel, for example if a road traffic collision is reported we are likely to inform the ambulance service and/or the police service to ensure that they get to you more quickly.

Why do we collect information about you?

We primarily collect and store information about you in order to:

​​Deliver appropriate public services and to enable us to undertake our statutory responsibilities

Confirm your identity to provide some services

Contact you by phone, text or email, should we need to obtain further information from you about the incident you reported

Ensure the ongoing safety of our crews whilst carrying out their duties

We may also contact you after we provide certain services, to obtain your opinion on those services

This helps us to understand your needs, so we can understand how to prevent further incidents and help to protect you in the future.

How we use you​r information

We will use and retain the information in a manner that complies with relevant legislation.  We will endeavour to keep your information accurate and up to date. We will not keep any information longer than is necessary for the purpose we collected it for, and, if we are disposing of information, we will ensure that we do so in a secure way (although, in some instances, the law sets the length of time the information has to be kept).

How we protect y​our information

Our aim is to be professional in the collection of your personal data and not to be intrusive, and we won’t ask irrelevant or unnecessary questions.  The information you provide will be subject to rigorous measures and procedures to ensure it can’t be seen, accessed or disclosed to anyone who shouldn’t see it.  We provide regular training to our Fire Control staff who handle personal information and treat it as a serious disciplinary matter if they misuse or do not look after your personal information properly.

Why we shar​e your information

In order to ensure you receive the best service - we may need to share your information, including voice recordings, with partners such as other emergency service providers, local authorities and other relevant agencies that support us in providing public services.

This may be done either to comply with a legal obligation, or where permitted under relevant data protection legislation.

Like us, our partners are obliged to keep your details securely, but we will make checks and have in place procedures that ensures this is the case.

During emergencies or major incidents, we work closely with our other emergency service partners, and will share key information to enable the appropriate response from each agency.

At no time will your information be passed to external organisations or our partners for marketing or sales purposes (or any commercial use) without your prior express consent.

Shared​ Technology

The Joint Fire Control Team will benefit from sharing emergency technology such as shared telephony and voice recording systems. 

This means when you call the 999 emergency number and request the Fire Service then you will be connected to the Joint Fire Control team.  The Fire Control Operator you speak to may be from either SWFRS or MAWWFRS. They have been extensively trained to deal with calls from both Fire and Rescue Service areas and use the same incident management system. 

Should we need to review a voice recording then this will be done by the Fire Control Management Team and will only be used for appropriate and relevant purposes such as incident management, training or quality assurance.

Where we need to share the relevant parts of your information with our service partners we will do so electronically (where possible) to ensure that it is accurately and quickly communicated. We will ensure that any electronic transfer of data is done so appropriately and securely.

Your rig​hts

You have a legal right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. Your request will be dealt with in line with Data Protection legislation.

We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and you have the right to request we correct or remove information which you think is inaccurate.

Please contact us if you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information we hold about you through the Joint Fire Control team. This privacy notice has been drafted by South Wales Fire & Rescue Service on behalf of both Fire & Rescue services, therefore any queries should be directed there in the first instance.

You also have the right to raise any concerns you have with the Information Commissioner, who oversees Data Protection Legislation. Further information can be found on their website - https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or you can contact them here:

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone -  0303 123 1113

Changes to ​this privacy notice

We will continually review and update this Joint Fire Control privacy notice to reflect changes in the law, our services and as a result of feedback.  This privacy notice was last updated on 25 September 2017.