Parking and traffic enforcement privacy notice

This privacy notice sits beneath the Council’s top level privacy notice and provides information about how personal data is used by our parking service in respect of parking and traffic enforcement and the issuance of penalty charge notices (PCNs).

Please see the main privacy statement for details on your rights and who to contact about use of personal data.

 

What legally allows us to collect and handle information about you?

We are able to do this because certain laws say that we must do it and the processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations. The main rules are contained in:

  • Greater London General Provisions Act 1970
  • section 4 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
  • section 32 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
  • section 57 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
  • London Local Authorities Act 1996
  • London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003
  • Traffic Management Act 2004
  • London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2008

Information we collect, and sources of information

We collect the following information about you:

Vehicle registration mark (VRM)

We will record your vehicle registration mark when we believe a contravention has occurred, either by a civil enforcement officer recording it while on patrol, or by CCTV for enforcement of moving traffic or bus lane offences.

Name and address

We request details of the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time the alleged contravention took place from the DVLA or the person / company we believe to be the owner of the vehicle in order to pursue a penalty charge notice.

However if the vehicle is hired/leased then we request a copy of the hire/lease agreement from the registered keeper of the vehicle to enable the transfer of liability to hirer at the time the contravention took place.

If the registered keeper has sold the vehicle, then we can obtain details of the new keeper from the registered keeper at the time of contravention. At the debt registration stage our enforcement agents check their records to see if a more up-to-date address exists, which can lead to an updating of our records. Finally keeper details may be determined from an appellant’s correspondence details where they have said that they are the vehicle keeper.

If you choose to dispute a PCN we will record the following information:

  • name
  • address
  • telephone number
  • email address

When responding to parking disputes, we will also refer to personal information from other sources, including our parking permits system, and RingGo.

What purposes is your data used for?

The purposes for which your data will be used are as follows:

  • we use your VRM to request details of the registered keeper of the vehicle from the DVLA or the person / company we believe to be the owner of the vehicle in order to pursue a penalty charge notice
  • we use the registered keeper details provided by the DVLA, or other sources as set out above, to:
    • serve Statutory Notices to the vehicle keeper by post
    • we use appellants details to correspond with them about disputed PCNs
    • we create and send appeals packs to the Enforcement Traffic Appeals (ETA) and appellant where an appeal has been logged
    • we register any outstanding debt in line with legislation via the Traffic Enforcement Centre, and enforce on such debts via our contracted enforcement agents
    • we check the address details of a debtor with our enforcement agent to ensure that we enforce against the right people
    • we share information with TRACE towed vehicle tracing service, which helps car owners find where their vehicle has been moved to by any council in London
    • we share information with the police or security organisations to prevent or detect crime
    • we share information with third parties who process or print PCNs

How long is your data held for?

Data will be stored for a period of six years, or as long as cases remain outstanding.

Who your information may be shared with

This privacy notice sits beneath the Council’s top level privacy notice and provides information about how personal data is used by our parking service in respect of parking and traffic enforcement and the issuance of penalty charge notices (PCNs).

Please see the main privacy statement for details on your rights and who to contact about use of personal data.

What legally allows us to collect and handle information about you?

We are able to do this because certain laws say that we must do it and the processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations. The main rules are contained in:

  • Greater London General Provisions Act 1970
  • section 4 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
  • section 32 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
  • section 57 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
  • London Local Authorities Act 1996
  • London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003
  • Traffic Management Act 2004
  • London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2008

Information we collect, and sources of information

We collect the following information about you:

Vehicle registration mark (VRM)

We will record your vehicle registration mark when we believe a contravention has occurred, either by a civil enforcement officer recording it while on patrol, or by CCTV for enforcement of moving traffic or bus lane offences.

Name and address

We request details of the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time the alleged contravention took place from the DVLA or the person / company we believe to be the owner of the vehicle in order to pursue a penalty charge notice.

However if the vehicle is hired/leased then we request a copy of the hire/lease agreement from the registered keeper of the vehicle to enable the transfer of liability to hirer at the time the contravention took place.

If the registered keeper has sold the vehicle, then we can obtain details of the new keeper from the registered keeper at the time of contravention. At the debt registration stage our enforcement agents check their records to see if a more up-to-date address exists, which can lead to an updating of our records. Finally keeper details may be determined from an appellant’s correspondence details where they have said that they are the vehicle keeper.

If you choose to dispute a PCN we will record the following information:

  • name
  • address
  • telephone number
  • email address

When responding to parking disputes, we will also refer to personal information from other sources, including our parking permits system, and RingGo.

What purposes is your data used for?

The purposes for which your data will be used are as follows:

  • we use your VRM to request details of the registered keeper of the vehicle from the DVLA or the person / company we believe to be the owner of the vehicle in order to pursue a penalty charge notice
  • we use the registered keeper details provided by the DVLA, or other sources as set out above, to:
    • serve Statutory Notices to the vehicle keeper by post
    • we use appellants details to correspond with them about disputed PCNs
    • we create and send appeals packs to the Enforcement Traffic Appeals (ETA) and appellant where an appeal has been logged
    • we register any outstanding debt in line with legislation via the Traffic Enforcement Centre, and enforce on such debts via our contracted enforcement agents
    • we check the address details of a debtor with our enforcement agent to ensure that we enforce against the right people
    • we share information with TRACE towed vehicle tracing service, which helps car owners find where their vehicle has been moved to by any council in London
    • we share information with the police or security organisations to prevent or detect crime
    • we share information with third parties who process or print PCNs

How long is your data held for?

Data will be stored for a period of six years, or as long as cases remain outstanding.

Who your information may be shared with

We may share your information with:

  • law enforcement agencies in connection with any investigation to help prevent unlawful activity
  • environmental and Traffic Adjudicators, London Tribunals
  • the Traffic Enforcement Centre, Northampton County Court
  • companies that provide systems and services to us
  • DVLA
  • other local authorities

What rights do you have?

Please see our main privacy notice for more details on your right:

  • to be informed
  • to access your personal data
  • to rectify your personal data
  • to restrict our processing of your personal data
  • to object to processing of  your data

Contacting us

  • all requests to correct mistakes in relation to penalty charge notices should be made via a dispute – find out how to dispute a PCN
  • if we have shared your personal information with others, we will do what we can to make sure they comply with your request for erasure
  • for details on how to contact the Council’s data protection officer and the Information Commissioner’s Office about the way that we use your data, please see our main privacy notice
Page updated on: 4 August 2022