South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
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Your information – privacy notice

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) is committed to protecting your personal information and privacy. We recognise that ensuring the accuracy and security of your personal information is essential to retaining your confidence and trust. The information you provide to us will only be used for the purposes that you provide it for and will never be used for third party marketing and will be processed in accordance with the UK data protection laws.

Why and how we collect your personal information

As a Fire and Rescue Service we deliver a number of services that, by law, require us to acquire and process personal information:

We collect your personal information to allow us to carry out various business functions such as:

  • responding to 999 calls and incidents;
  • investigating the cause of fires;
  • completing Home Safety Checks (HSCs);
  • completing Safe and Well visits;
  • delivering and managing education/engagement/training programmes;
  • recruiting new staff;
  • employment purposes and providing staff development;
  • completing Fire Safety Audits.

In addition, we collect information when you complete and submit:

  • complaints and compliments;
  • freedom of information requests;
  • subject access requests; and
  • when you enquire about services

We collect information in a number of ways including in person, via email, online forms or on the telephone. We also operate CCTV on our fire engines and premises. These capture and store images. Where we use CCTV we provide signs to inform you that we are using it.

How we use your information

How we use your information depends on which of our services you have used. We have to hold the details of people who have requested a ‘service’ from us in order to provide them with that service and for other closely related purposes.

For example we may use your information to:

  • investigate fires and incidents;
  • offer relevant safety services such as Home Safety Checks and Fire Safety Audits;
  • help you to contact other services such as health agencies, social care, the police, your local council and other voluntary organisations;
  • deliver and manage education/engagement/training programmes;
  • manage your application through the recruitment and selection process;
  • manage your employment;
  • respond to your enquiry.

We will:

  • only use the information we hold about you for the purpose you provided it; and
  • only collect the minimum information necessary to fulfil that purpose.

To ensure fairness and transparency, when we collect your personal information we will tell you what your information will be used for and who it may be shared with. Please see individual Privacy Notices below or statements on our collection forms.

Note:  In emergency situations we will need to deal with the emergency and so will not be able to tell you about any data handling at the time. For further information, please see ‘999 Calls and Emergency Incidents’ under the ‘How we use your information’ section.

  • 999 Calls and Incidents

Please see Privacy Notice – 999 Calls and Emergency Incidents 

  • Business Fire Safety

Please see Privacy Notice – Business Fire Safety

Please see Privacy Notice – Business Fire Safety Information (Petroleum and Fireworks Inspections)

  • CCTV

Please see Privacy Notice – CCTV

  • Creditors and Debtors

Please see Privacy Notice – Creditors and Debtors

  • Fire Investigations

Please see Privacy Notice – Fire Investigations

  • Children and Young People with Fire Setting Behaviours

Please see Privacy Notice – Children and Young People with Fire Setting Behaviours

  • Home Safety Checks (HSCs)/Safe and Well Visits

Please see Privacy Notice – Home Safety Checks (HSCs)/Safe and Well Visits

  • Photographs Sound Recordings and Videos

Please see Privacy Notice – Photographs Sound Recordings and Videos

  • Prince’s Trust

SYFR Privacy Notice – Prince’s Trust

  • Recruitment:

Please see Privacy Notice – Recruitment

  • Operational Risk Information (ORI)

Please see Privacy Notice – Operational Rise Information (ORI)

  • Website and Social Media

Please see Privacy Notice – Website and Social Media

  • Local Resilience Forum

Please see Privacy Notice – Local Resilience Forum

  • Cadets

Please see Privacy Notice – Cadets

  • Signing In

Please see Privacy Notice – Entry Sign

  • Swipe Card

Please see Privacy Notice – Swipe Card

SYFR have a legal requirement to provide operational crews responding to incidents with critical information relevant to the location, risks, and potential hazards they may face on arrival that will inform their dynamic risk assessment and actions to help keep them and the public safe. This is achieved by recording potential hazards and risks at properties using their Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). This information is gathered in a number of ways including from other services such as the police, responsible persons such as building owners or directly from our staff.  Data held by SYFR will not include information that identifies a natural person as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018. However, there is a need to ensure operational crews are aware of hazards that will help protect their safety and that of others, and this sometimes involves descriptive phrases or use of reference codes without naming directly or revealing more personal information than is needed. This system involves acceptance of a low level of information risk associated when giving information to Operational crews for this purpose. We believe you would reasonably expect that we process critical information in this way with a legitimate interest to protect our staff and the public we serve.

Why we may need to share your information

To deliver a fire and rescue service and meet our responsibility to promote social wellbeing and safeguard the communities we serve, we often need to work with partners. To ensure you receive relevant services we may need to share your personal and special category information with other authorities and partners such as:

  • Community organisations;
  • Health Service;
  • Local councils;
  • South Yorkshire Police;
  • Voluntary services;
  • Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

This list provides examples only; there may be other organisations we need to share your information with.

Situations where your consent is not required

In almost all cases, we will not pass on your information to third parties without first obtaining your consent, unless we have a legal duty or power to share information with other statutory bodies from statute or from common law such as:

  • for the detection, prevention and prosecution of crime or the apprehension of offenders;
  • if there is a public interest that outweighs the duty of confidence to the individual (e.g. health and safety);
  • if there is a risk of serious harm or threat to life;
  • in the substantial interest of an individual’s health;
  • in the vital interests of an individual;
  • we are directed by a court of law

There are situations where we are required by law to provide information to other organisations without your consent such as:

  • Central government;
  • Auditors;
  • Suppliers employed to process our data;
  • Other crime and disorder partners.

Where possible, your information is made anonymous to protect your privacy leaving only key elements to enable us and our partners to work effectively.  The exceptions to this include:

  • Information provided to crime agencies relating to prevention and detection of crime;
  • Information which is necessary to prevent serious risk to individuals;
  • Information which is necessary for auditors to meet the required function;
  • Information which is necessary for auditing and administering public funds. This is for preventing and detecting fraud. You can obtain further information on our ‘National Fraud Initiative’ page.
  • Our duty under the Children’s Act 2004;
  • Provision of data to organisations that process data on our behalf; an example of this includes our pension provider South Yorkshire Pension Fund (SYPF).

In all cases transfers are made in a secure manner.

Information provided to us

NHS Exeter Health Data

Following work by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC). NHS England and all English Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) now have access to data that enables SYFR to identify people over the age of 65 in order to offer Home Safety Checks (HSCs). These checks provide advice on fire safety within the home, which is leading to a reduction in domestic fire related deaths and injuries.

NHS England

NHS England, the Royal College General Practitioners and Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) in England work together to offer preventative resources to those who may benefit most. This is achieved by referrals and the sharing of information (where relevant, appropriate and necessary) to allow fire service personnel to offer and conduct Safe and Well visits.

If you require more information about how NHS England use and share your information, please click on the following link https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/your-information/.

Research has shown that those at high risk from fire death and injury are most likely to impact on a range of NHS services. Safe and Well visits are developed between local health practitioners and FRSs to meet local health-risk priorities. They therefore represent an intervention improving people’s quality of life while reducing demand on critical services.

The majority of fire deaths in the UK occur amongst the elderly population. However, older people are most vulnerable to fire and a number of other risks.  A Safe and Well visit from the FRS is proven to make them safer and can reduce risk significantly across a range of factors.

The FRS and NHS will continue to work together in the future to ensure the visits undertaken by the FRS are effective in helping to make people ‘safe and well’.

Access to and security of your information

Information collected and held electronically, is securely stored on databases located on SYFR’s network and access is given on a role requirement basis. We also take appropriate steps to make sure we hold paper records in a secure way, and will only make them available to those who have a right to see them.

We have an Information Security Policy that staff adhere to and all staff also receive annual data protection training.

We also have the necessary controls in place with external organisations that process data on our behalf or provide IT expertise surrounding our systems, to ensure that the organisation complies with the UK data protection legislation.

How long do we keep your information for?

We will collect, process and retain your information in accordance with data protection legislation and our policies on data retention – this varies according to statutory requirements and other legitimate business reasons. We have set out these retention periods within our Retention Schedule.

Visitors to our website

This website and its owners take a proactive approach to user privacy and ensure the necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of its users throughout their visiting experience. This website complies with all UK national laws and requirements for user privacy.

Further information can be found on our  ‘Use of Cookies’ page

How to access and control your personal information:

Information Rights

UK Data Protection law gives you a number of rights relating to your data. These include:

  • Where we hold your personal information we will provide records of what we hold when you request this
  • Correct information if it is inaccurate. You should let us know if you disagree with something written on your record.  We may not always be able to change or remove the information.  However, we will correct factual inaccuracies and may include your comments in the record.
  • Stop processing personal information where we can. Where possible we will seek to comply with your request but we may need to hold or process information in connection with one or more of the Service’s functions. You would be informed of the outcome to your request and the rationale behind the decision.
  • Stop sending you mailing information when you ask us to (opt out)

You can read about more about these rights on the Information Commissioners website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/

If you wish to exercise these rights please complete the Application Form for the Data Subject carefully, providing as much detail as possible.

To ensure that personal data does not fall into the wrong hands SYFR needs to be satisfied with the identity of the requester. Consequently you are asked to provide evidence of your identity and address by supplying a full valid driving licence, or a birth certificate, or a full valid current passport and a gas, electricity, water or telephone bill in your name for the last quarter.

Completed forms (together with proof of identification) should be returned to our Data Protection Officer:  Email: dataprotection@syfire.gov.uk or write to us at: Data Protection Officer, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, 197 Eyre Street, Sheffield, S1 3FG

You can find out more about your personal data rights at the Information Commissioner’s Office website, contact them on telephone: 0303 123 1113 or write to them at: Information Commissioner’s Office , Wycliffe House , Water Lane , Wilmslow , Cheshire , SK9 5AF.

Changes to our Privacy Notice

SYFR will update this policy from time to time. To keep up-to-date with SYFR’s policy, please check this page periodically.

This content was last updated on August 03rd, 2023