Privacy Notice – Surveillance

This notice explains how Spelthorne Borough Council (SBC) collects, uses, shares, and protects images, audio and other information recorded through:

  • Fixed CCTV systems at Council sites and premises
  • Fleet vehicle cameras (dash and surround cameras)
  • Body‑Worn Video (BWV) devices used by authorised officers
  • Deployable cameras used for environmental crime and antisocial behaviour monitoring
  • Electronic access control systems (EACS) – systems that regulate, manage, and monitor entry to buildings or restricted areas
  • Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)

 

The purpose of using these technologies is to:

  • Protect staff, visitors, and the public
  • Prevent and detect crime, nuisance, disorder, anti-social behaviour, the fear of crime and environmental offences
  • Support enforcement activities
  • Investigate incidents, accidents, complaints, and insurance claims
  • Safeguard property and assets
  • Assist emergency and law‑enforcement services.

 

SBC is the Data Controller for the personal information it collects for the above. 

 

There is further information regarding the Council’s CCTV at Privacy Notice - CCTV | Spelthorne Borough Council

 

The lawful basis for processing the data is:

 

Legal obligation under:

  • Crime and Disorder Act 1998
  • Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
  • Traffic Management Act 2004
  • Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions Regulations 2022
  • Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
  • Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
  • Data Protection Act 2018
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Environmental Protection Act 1990
  • Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005
  • Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
  • Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
  • Section 163 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
  • In certain Circumstances - Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and Health & Safety at Work 1974

     

Public tasks:  Used around crime prevention, public safety, and functions related to our strategies, plans, and policies. 

 

Legitimate interests: Used where processing is outside legal obligation, such as:

  • Protecting Council buildings and assets
  • Access Control – eg entry to car parks and buildings

 

Who we may share your information with

We will only disclose personal data to third parties such as the police to comply with a legal obligation, or where legally permitted, such as for crime prevention and detection.

 

Information may be shared with:

  • Spelthorne Borough Council CCTV operators
  • Internal/External enforcement agencies Trading Standards, HMRC, Immigration
  • Police Forces
  • Fire and Rescue Services
  • we will also share information with Insurance Companies, but only when we have a lawful basis to do so

 

Accessing the information we hold about you

You have the right to request, in writing, details of the information that is held about you and also the right to access a copy of the footage. This may be by the Council providing copies of documents or by inviting you to view the footage at one of its offices, if appropriate.

Spelthorne Borough Council will not charge a fee to access your information. Sometimes there may be information that we are not allowed to show you, such as

  • details about other people – this is called third party information

If you wish to make a Subject Access Request, please see Making subject access requests | Spelthorne Borough Council or email our data protection officer (details at the bottom of this privacy notice). 

 

How long we keep information about you

For CCTV, Body worn cameras, and Fleet and vehicle cameras recordings are retained for a period of 31 days and automatically deleted thereafter. However, on occasions there may be a need to keep images for longer – for example where a crime is being investigated. In these instances, Spelthorne Borough Council will hold your data for up to 12 years after any relevant investigations have been undertaken and closed. 

 

ANPR information is deleted within 2 months of the user advising that they no longer need access to the car park. 

 

EACS information is deleted within 3 months of user returning their access card. 

 

Further Information:

You, as the data subject, have the following rights:

  • you have the right to be informed via Privacy Notices such as this
  • you have the right to request access to and to receive a copy of any information we hold about you (including in an electronic format) - to request a copy of this information you must make a subject access request in writing.
  • if you find that the information Spelthorne Borough Council holds about you is no longer accurate, you have the right to ask to have this corrected
  • you have the right - under certain conditions - to ask us to erase your personal data
  • you may request that Spelthorne Borough Council stops processing your personal data in relation to any council service (this may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you, we will seek to comply with your request but may be required to hold or process information to comply with our legal duties)

 

To exercise any of these rights contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@spelthorne.gov.uk. Please see Exercising your data protection rights | Spelthorne Borough Council for further information. 

 

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). This is an independent body responsible for making sure that organisations comply with Data Protection legislation.

 

The ICO will always expect you to have raised your concerns with us before submitting a complaint.

Last modified: 16/04/2026