Environmental Protection privacy notice

This Privacy Notice should be read in conjunction with Colchester City Council’s Privacy Policy.

This policy covers all aspects of Environmental protection. This includes: 

• Contamination land 
• Environmental Prosecution Notices 
• Environmental Protection Act Permits 
• Noise Complaints 
• Statutory nuisances Complaints (these include): 
  • noise from premises or from vehicles, equipment or machinery in the street 
  • smoke from premises 
  • smells from industry, trade or business premises (for example, sewage treatment works, factories or restaurants) 
  • artificial light from premises 
  • insect infestations from industrial, trade or business premises 
  • accumulation or deposits on premises (for example, piles of rotting rubbish) 

Information collected

• Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Email address

Agencies we might share your information with

• Essex Police
• Essex Social Services
• Community Mental Health Teams
• Housing Providers
• University of Essex
• Environment Agency
• Anglian Water

The purpose and lawful basis for processing

The lawful basis for the processing of your personal data is GDPR Article 6(1)(c) legal obligation.  The Council has a requirement to process the above information for the investigation of complaints under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (amended 2015) and other legislation and regulations such as the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

Length of time we keep your information

We will only hold your personal data for as long as necessary and in line with our retention schedules. You have the right to contact us and ask for your information to be removed where there is no obligation or statutory requirement for it to be kept. You can exercise this right by contacting Environmental.ProtectionTeam@colchester.gov.uk.

How we protect and store your personal data

We take the confidentiality of personal information very seriously and use recognised security and access controls to protect your information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have procedures and processes in place to ensure that your personal information is managed appropriately. 

Your information may be held outside of the UK.  Where this is the case, we ensure that additional measures are in place to protect your data and to ensure that we continue to comply with data protection requirements.

Updates to this privacy notice

We will continually review and update this privacy notice to reflect changes in our processes and procedures, as well as to comply with changes in the law. When such changes occur, we will revise the "last reviewed" date on this notice. We encourage you to periodically review this notice and to be informed of how we are protecting your information.