Introduction
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 your 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 your 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 share 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 rights
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.
Mrs Jackie Evans
Information Governance & Compliance
Officer
South Wales Fire & Rescue Service
Forest View Business Park
Llantrisant
CF72 8LX
|
j1-evans@southwales-fire.gov.uk
|
01443 232213 |
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.