Road Safety Privacy Notice

1. Introduction

This notice provides additional privacy information regarding how South Tyneside Council Road Safety team collects, uses, and stores personal data, the legal basis of processing it, how long we keep it, and who it may be shared with in accordance with relevant legislation. Examples of the Road Safety services in which personal information may be gathered are:

  • Collision Investigations.
  • Public Reports or Enquiries.
  • Road Safety Education initiatives.
  • Speed Management and Enforcement Support.
  • Temporary Traffic Management and Road Closures relating to Events on the Highway.
  • Requests for H-Bars and payments relating to H-Bars.
  • Responding to correspondence.
  • Requests for Advisory' Disabled Bays.

We will keep our privacy notice under regular review and will advise you of any updates on our website.

This Notice was last reviewed in (March 2025).

2. Who we are

For the purposes of Data Protection legislation, South Tyneside Council is the Data Controller.

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

We may collect the following types of personal information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Any correspondence in relation to a Road Safety Enquiry, General Enquiry, Request for H-Bar, Request or Complaint.
  • Call recordings and notes/transcripts of telephone calls made to the Council.
  • Emails, correspondence in relation to any dealings with you.
  • Some transaction information if you have paid for a Road Safety service by credit or debit card.

4. How do we collect personal information?

We may collect your personal information in a number of ways, for example:

  • In person.
  • In writing - for example letter or email.
  • Telephone calls.
  • Online forms.
  • Referrals from another department.
  • Family members acting on your behalf.
  • Solicitors or insurance companies acting on your behalf.
  • Third parties acting on your behalf - Such as Citizens Advice.
  • Enquiries received from external organisations such as Police Forces.

5. Why do we collect your personal information?

To effectively process and respond to your requests, South Tyneside Councils Road Safety team need your contact details such as name, address and email address. The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations require us to collect a name for every request. This allows us to investigate concerns, provide appropriate advice and implement Road Safety measures where necessary.

We also receive enquiries from various organisations listed in section 4 above who will provide personal details of the individuals they are making enquiries about.

We may also need to collect personal information to allow for us to carry out necessary investigations and processes in relation to H-Bar Applications, 'Advisory' Disabled Bay Applications, and other Road Safety related requests.  

The Council and its partner organisations may use your data, among other things, to:

  • Process applications for H-Bar requests.
  • Process applications for 'Advisory' Disabled bay requests.
  • Ensure that the service you receive is efficient and effective.
  • Account for our decisions and investigate complaints.
  • Conduct research and analysis, including the preparation of statistics for use in reports. Your personal data may be converted ('anonymised') into statistical data in such a way that ensures that you cannot be identified from it.

Furthermore, we may need to keep addresses to comply with our statutory duties under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and Road Traffic Act 1988.

6. Who might we share your personal information with?

We will not share your personal information with any other third parties unless you have specifically asked us to, or if we have a legal obligation to do so.

For example, we may share information with Police or other enforcement agencies and law enforcement agencies.

7. How long will we keep your personal information?

We will hold your personal information relating to Freedom of Information Requests, Environmental Information Requests, Subject Access Requests and Enquiries for 3 years.  At the end of this period, it will be deleted unless there is any special reason for keeping it.

8. What is our legal basis for using your personal information?

To use your personal information there must be a lawful basis to do this, such as, through a contract, performing a public task or where there is a legal obligation. 

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

(a) Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting trafficandroadsafety@southtyneside.gov.uk

(b) We have a contractual obligation.

(c) We have a legal obligation.

(d) We have a vital interest.

(e) We need it to perform a public task.

(f) We have a legitimate interest.

9.   How do we keep your personal information secure?

Information provided to Information Governance is held securely on our network.  Only officers working within Information Governance and system administrators have access to these records.

10. Is your personal information used overseas?

We will not process your personal information outside of the United Kingdom.

11. What are your rights?

Your individual rights are set out in law.  Subject to some legal exemptions, you have the following rights:

  • Right to be informed
  • Right of access
  • Right to rectification
  • Right to erasure
  • Right to restrict processing
  • Right to data portability
  • Right to object
  • Rights in relating to automated decision making and profiling

12. Contact us

If you would like to exercise your rights in relation to your personal information, or you feel that something has gone wrong with your personal information, you can contact us in either of the following ways:

By email: data.protection@southtyneside.gov.uk

By telephone: 0191 424 6539

In writing:

South Tyneside Council
Information Governance
Town Hall and Civic Offices
South Shields
NE33 2RL

If you feel that the Council has not handled your information correctly you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).  The ICO is the Government's Independent Body responsible for overseeing data protection.  In most cases the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council's internal procedures.

The ICO's contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF. More information can be found on the ICO's website at www.ico.org.uk.