Privacy notices

Croydon council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.

Croydon council is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data-protection supervisory authority. This means we are responsible for deciding what information to collect about you and how it is used.

This privacy notice explains what personal information we collect about you, how and why we use it, who we disclose it to, and how we protect it in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and other data protection laws.

Type of personal information

CCTV captures visual images of persons of persons in or around our buildings and facilities, and public areas.

We will ensure that under our legal obligations your personal data is processed fairly and kept securely and for no longer than necessary in relation to the purposes for which the data was collected, as is listed in this notice.

Why we use CCTV data

Under data protection legislation, we are only allowed to use personal information if we have a proper reason or legal basis to do so. Croydon council considers the use of CCTV at our facilities and within the wider borough as a necessary tool for the purposes of maintaining the security of property and premises, to help prevent and investigate crime, to assist in the locating of vulnerable missing persons and to enhance the safety of staff and the public.

In all locations where our CCTV systems operate, prominent signs are displayed notifying you that CCTV is in operation and providing details of who to contact for further information about the scheme.

We have CCTV in and around the following locations:

• Croydon town centre
• New Addington
• Norbury
• Purley
• South Norwood
• Thornton Heath
• Upper Norwood

Who we share CCTV data with

To comply with the legal purposes specified in this notice, we may be required to share this data with certain organisations such as the police, emergency services and other law enforcement agencies (eg HM Customs and Excise) and other public bodies with regulatory functions (which also includes other services within the council).

CCTV images will not be released to the media or placed on the internet for entertainment or commercial purposes.

Retention period

Images captured by CCTV will not be kept for longer than 31 days. On occasions, however, there may be a need to keep images and footage for longer eg where a crime is being investigated or it may become relevant to an investigation. In such cases, images will be retained for a long as necessary (eg until the conclusion of any criminal proceedings arising from the incident).

For additional information about our retention periods, please email david.eastoe@croydon.gov.uk

The legal basis for using CCTV

The processing of CCTV data is carried out in compliance with statutory authority and does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the GDPR.

• comply with legal obligations
• carry out functions in the public interest
• if we are required to do so by any court, the police and other statutory agencies
• deter and assist in the detection of crime and anti-social behaviour
• reduce the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour
• improve public protection within the borough
• improve the safety and security of residents, visitors and the business community who use the facilities covered by the CCTV scheme
• facilitate the arrest and prosecution of offenders for civil, criminal and public order offences
• deter vandalism
• discourage anti-social behaviour, including alcohol and drug-related issues
• enhance the Croydon environment for the enjoyment and benefit of our residents
• statutory duties under traffic enforcement legislation and associated statutory guidance

• London Local Authorities Act and Transport for London Act 2003
• London Local Authorities Act 2006 (as amended)
• Traffic Management Act 2004

• statutory duties under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Croydon Council will not use its CCTV for:

• monitoring the general activities of individuals or groups for reasons of age, gender, religion or race who have not come to the attention of the operators of the system for one of the above reasons
• monitoring anyone lawfully going about their business unless circumstances are such that give rise to particular risk concerns for that person’s or the general public’s safety (such as searching for missing persons or observing individuals in obvious distress)
• intrusion into the privacy of any individual unless to comply with one of the above authorised uses

We comply with the 12 principles listed in the surveillance camera code of practice issued by the Home Office (which applies to local authorities and police forces in England and Wales) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/surveillance-camera-code-of-practice We also comply with In the picture: A data protection code of practice for surveillance cameras and personal information issued by the Information Commissioner's Office https://ico.org.uk/media/1542/cctv-code-of-practice.pdf.

Your request for CCTV data

You have the right to see CCTV images of yourself and be provided with a copy of the images. Make your request to information@croydon.gov.uk.

As CCTV footage is only generally kept for a very limited time, you should make your request without delay. You should provide as much information as possible about when and where the image or images were captured (that is, the specific date, time, location and by providing photographs or maps where possible.

Further information

Data protection law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us. Additional information about your data rights is listed in the council’s privacy notice at www.croydon.gov.uk/privacy.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we collect, store or use your personal information, contact in the first instance david.eastoe@croydon.gov.uk

For independent advice about data protection issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.

We reserve the right to amend this privacy notice at any time and will keep it under review. If we do make any changes, we will post the current version to our website at this address.

Last updated: May 2018