Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is a ‘data controller’ under Data Protection legislation and is responsible for controlling how your personal data is used.
We are required by law to have a Data Protection Officer, who can be contacted as follows:
- ICO registration: ZA171812
- Address: Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, Five Rivers Community Health & Wellbeing Centre, Hulse Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3NR
- Email: [email protected]
- Tel: 01722 691000
This notice explains how we use and share your information. We will continually review and update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our services and feedback from service users, as well as to comply with changes in the law.
Why do we collect information about you?
We need to collect and hold information about you, in order to:
- deliver public services
- confirm your identity to provide some services
- contact you by post, email or telephone
- understand your needs to provide the services that you request
- obtain your opinion about our services
- update your customer record
- help us to build up a picture of how we are performing at delivering services to you and what services the people of Dorset and Wiltshire need
- allow us to undertake statutory functions efficiently and effectively
- make sure we meet our statutory obligations
To process your information, we need to comply with one of six lawful reasons. As a Public Authority, our reasons will typically be because we have a legal obligation or we are carrying out a task under our official authority, in the interest of the public. Please see the specific privacy notices of our services below for more information on our legal reasons for processing data.
- Delivering an emergency response service
- Delivering home safety advice
- Working with young people and vulnerable adults
- CCTV (including body worn cameras) and/or drones
- National Fraud Initiative
- Business safety
- Employee and volunteers
- Processing of special category and criminal offence data
More information about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Home Office is available here.
How do we keep your information safe?
Our aim is 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 make sure it can’t be seen, accessed or disclosed to anyone who shouldn’t see it. We have an Information Governance Framework that includes a Data Protection and Privacy Policy and a set of Information Security policies. These define our commitments and responsibilities to your privacy and cover a range of information and technology security areas.
We provide training to staff who handle personal information and treat it as a disciplinary matter if they misuse or do not look after your personal information properly. We will not keep your information longer than it is needed or where the law states how long this should be kept. We will dispose of paper records or delete any electronic personal information in a secure way.
Who do we share information with?
To fulfil our responsibilities and functions as a fire and rescue authority, it will be necessary for us to share some or all of your personal data with other organisations. When we share data we will be doing so knowing that we have legal basis to do so and that it is necessary for that purpose.
In general terms, we will only share information with another organisation where;
- They are responsible for providing services and care during emergencies
- They can help to prevent you from dying, or from becoming injured or ill, or prevent harm to the environment
- The information can be used to prevent or detect crime, including the prevention of fraud
- The information is necessary for any stage of legal proceedings
- They are processing data on our behalf and we have contract specifying the details
The categories of organisations who we might share personal data with include; emergency services, local authorities, health providers, government agencies, legal services, regulators, employers & businesses and appropriate adults.
Your rights
Under data protection legislation, you have several rights, including the right to access the information an organisation holds about you. Please see Your Data, Your Rights to find out more about your rights, and how to exercise them.
Further information
If you have concerns about the use of your personal data, you can make a complaint. If you are still not satisfied after using our internal complaints procedure, you can contact the Information Commissioners Office: or their helpline on, or in writing to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF – www.ico.org.uk – Tel: 0303 123 1113
Last updated – November 2019