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Taxi Camera Systems

Privacy Notice for the use of cameras in licensed vehicles

Why do we collect and use this information?

In order to carry out this function, Southampton City Council (SCC) processes personal data about the following types of people:

  • Drivers and Passengers of Licensed Vehicles (Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles)

We hold this personal data securely and use it to:

  • Protect both the public and drivers 
  • Assist in the investigation of a crime, a complaint related to taxi licensing, or legitimate requests from an authority with an investigation linked to a licensed vehicle.

Unless stated, we are the data controller for your personal data, and the following sections provide detail about the information we process, and explains:

  • What allows us to do this (the lawful basis)
  • Who we may share it with
  • How long we keep it for (the retention period).

The categories of information that we collect, hold, and share

As a local authority, we only process data that is necessary for us to carry out our statutory functions. To carry out our duties in respect of licensing taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, the type of information we process is as follows:

Personal Data

  • Visual images, personal appearance and behaviour (visual images of inside licensed vehicles will be recorded once the ignition is turned on and up to 20 minutes after the ignition is turned off) 
  • Audio recordings (triggered for a period of 5 minutes on the pressing of a button accessible to the driver. The audio recordings will capture any conversation within the vehicle, including driver and passengers)

Special categories (or sensitive personal data)

In very limited cases, the actions of the individuals may lead to special category data being captured but will normally be incidental and inferred by their actions or comments.

This might include data relating to:

  • Religious or Philosophical Beliefs 
  • Trade Union Membership 
  • Sexual Orientation 
  • Criminal Record 
  • Criminal Proceedings 
  • Physical or Mental Health 
  • Racial or Ethnic Origin 
  • Political Opinions

The lawful basis on which we use this information

The use of your personal data is compliant with the following conditions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018):

  • Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR – It is necessary for us to process your information so we can carry out our official functions or public tasks.
  • Article 9(2)(g) of the GDPR and Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 6 of the DPA2018 – It is necessary for us to process your personal data as we believe there is substantial public interest in doing so.

We rely on these various processing conditions as we believe the processing for us to discharge our functions under a wide range of legislation, including:

  • Functions in relation to licensing taxis and Private Hire Vehicles: see the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and 1982, and the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and 1875.
  • Requirements to have regard to safety, crime and disorder. See section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 2017: duty of local authority to exercise its functions with due regard to the need to prevent crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour.

Under this lawful basis, we do not require your consent to process this information but we are required, through this privacy notice, to ensure that you are fully informed of why we are collecting this information and what we will do with it.

Please also note that no automated decision making (decisions taken without a person involved) occur for any parts of these procedures controlled by SCC and we do not use profiling to deliver our service to you.

You have the right to object to your data being processed in some circumstances. For information on your data, how we use it and how you can object, see The Data Protection Act 2018.

Storing and securing data

The information collected will be held in the following format:

  • Digital

The data is stored on a secure and encrypted hard drive within the vehicle. Any data downloaded is copied onto a DVD and kept secure.

The camera specification requires the storage device to be separate from the camera head and out of direct view. The encryption required has to meet FIPS 140(2) standard and more recently AES256 or equivalent.

The vehicle hard drives overwrite when storage is full, and the capacities are set so the average time on the disc is 31 days.

If downloaded onto a DVD, the data will be held in accordance with the Council’s Retention Schedule (see entries BD 7 – 9), and then it will be securely destroyed.

Who do we share information with?

We may share your personal information with external organisations, such as the Police, to prevent and detect crime, however, this would only occur when the law allows us to do so.

We may have to share your information with other teams and departments in the Council, in order to fulfil this, and other statutory duties, and to deliver a sufficient level of service, in the public interest, as a local authority.

In order to discharge our functions in relation to licensing taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, we may have to share this data with the following types of organisations:

  • Local Government Authorities, where they have a legitimate requirement to have access to the data requested to assist them in an investigation that involves a licensed vehicle or driver 
  • Ombudsmen and Regulatory Authorities, where they have a legitimate requirement to have access to the data requested to assist them in an investigation that involves a licensed vehicle or driver 
  • Police, where a crime report has been made involving the specific vehicle and they have formally requested