Some of the language used in privacy notices can be specialised. The Information Commissioner's website provides a useful introduction to key terms and concepts.
The purpose of the processing
Scottish Parliament committees invite people to appear before them to answer questions and share their views and experiences. These appearances are filmed and the videos are made publicly available on the Scottish Parliament website.
The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) also has a duty to record and archive all formal proceedings of the Parliament. A transcript of the meeting will be produced called “the Official Report” and this, alongside the video, forms part of the public record and will be transferred to the Scottish Parliament archive at National Records of Scotland.
Photographs of the committee session may also be taken and committee witnesses, or people whose experiences are shared in the form of a case study, may also receive requests to participate in media/broadcast interviews. Further information on the photography and recording at the Scottish Parliament is available in a separate privacy notice.
Collecting & holding personal data
The SPCB processes any personal data it holds under the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Personal data is information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. The SPCB will hold any personal data securely, will use it only for the purposes it was collected for and will only pass it to any third parties with your consent or according to a legal obligation.
Further information about the data protection legislation and your rights
Section 7 of the Code of Conduct for MSPs places obligations on Members of Parliament in terms of how they handle material containing personal data in the course of their committee work, for example rules around confidentiality.
Categories of information
If a child or young person appears before a committee, the SPCB will need contact information for the responsible adult accompanying the child or young person to manage administrative arrangements. This will usually include your name, email address and contact telephone number. Occasionally, this may include a mailing address if we receive information from you in hard copy. This is considered as standard or normal category personal data.
We will also ask for your name and relationship to the child on the consent form that we send together with the child’s name and age.
Committees are particularly aware of the need to be careful about the types of subject matter and questions that are put to children and young people and will not normally ask children to discuss sensitive information at a public meeting. It is, nevertheless, possible that the views and experiences your child shares may be considered sensitive or 'special category' personal data.
If you let us know about any accessibility requirements to help your child attend the meeting this will also be considered as special category personal data.
Special category personal data includes information revealing an individual’s
- race
- ethnic origin
- political or religious views
- sex life or sexual orientation
- trade union membership
- physical or mental health
- genetic or biometric data.
Legal basis for data processing
Data protection law states that we must have a legal basis for handling your child’s personal data. The legal basis for collecting, holding, sharing and publishing your child’s personal data for the purpose of recording, publishing and archiving formal parliamentary proceedings is that the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest (for normal category data) or substantial public interest (for special category data), in accordance with Art 6(1)(e) UK GDPR and section 8(d) DPA (for normal category data) and Art 9(2)(g) UK GDPR and section 10(3) and paragraph 6(2)(b), part 2, schedule 1, DPA (for special category data). The task is to facilitate evidence gathering for a parliamentary Committee which is part of the core function of the SPCB and therefore a Crown function in accordance with section 8(d) DPA. This includes video broadcast, written transcripts and photography of Committee proceedings.
For the transfer of data to the National Records of Scotland, the legal basis is that it is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest (Art 6(1)(e) UK GDPR and section 8(d) DPA or Art 9(2)(j) UK GDPR and section 10(2) DPA).
For video, photos and transcripts of the Committee meetings the legal basis for is that it is necessary for the purposes of a legitimate interest of the SPCB in accordance with Art 6(1)(f) UK GDPR. The legitimate interest is the aim of the Committee to engage with and inform the wider public, such as through news promotion.
Data sharing and retention of personal data
Your child’s name will normally appear on the agenda for the committee meeting which is available online as part of the committee papers. Personal contact details for accompanying adults will be stored securely on Scottish Parliament IT systems. As it is expected that these contact details will only be relevant to a specific inquiry they will be deleted on the conclusion of that inquiry. If it is likely that a witness may be asked to contribute to the work of a committee in the future, those contact details will be retained and will reviewed annually to ensure they are kept up to date and are accurate. These details may be shared internally with other offices areas within the Scottish Parliament.
The consent form that you will be asked to sign will be kept for two years from the date of the committee meeting in order to demonstrate that we have obtained the consent of a parent to the attendance at and participation in a committee meeting, and for any additional processing (such as photos or videos taken before or after the Committee meeting).
Photos and video
Video, photos and transcripts of public committee meetings form part of the public record. Personal information contained within a public record will be retained in accordance with the Scottish Parliament records management policy and may be transferred to the Scottish Parliament archive at National Records of Scotland where it will be publicly available.
Photos will also be stored in our secure photo storage system Third Light Ltd.
More information on Third Light’s privacy policy
Photos taken at committee meetings may also be used by the media alongside any articles which are written about committee proceedings. They may also be used on the committee’s web pages and social media accounts.
Personal data is also used to prepare a Witness List for each business day. The Witness List is held online by the Scottish Parliament and is used by the Visitor Information Desk to register the arrival of committee witnesses and advisers. Witness Lists are prepared on the morning of each business day for that day and deleted at the end of that day. Witness List content may be shared internally with other Scottish Parliament offices and will only be passed to any third parties in line with any legal obligation.
Possible media interest
The SPCB Media Relations Office can be contacted by the media to invite your child to take part in a media interview or photo opportunity or be part of a case study. If this happens the request will be discussed with the accompanying responsible adult who will be able to decide if it would be appropriate for the child to participate.
If the responsible adult decides that their child can take part in a media interview or be part of a case study, contact with the journalist can be organised by a Scottish Parliament Media Relations Officer. Once the interview/broadcast has been completed and the committee’s work concluded, contact details for the responsible adult will be securely deleted from the Parliament’s IT systems. Contact details for an adult will only be provided to a journalist with that person’s consent and direct contact details for a child or young person under 16 will never be provided to a journalist.
Any case study or media interview that your child undertakes may be made available of social media and other channels for an indefinite period.
Children and young people safeguarding and child protection
In line with the principles underlying the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland (2014), published by the Scottish Government, our staff may report a concern to the relevant authorities if they come across an issue during their work which causes them to think that a child may be at risk of abuse or harm.
Your child's rights
Data protection legislation sets out the rights which individuals have in relation to personal data held about them by data controllers. Applicable rights are listed below, although whether you will be able to exercise data subject rights in a particular case may depend on the purpose for which the data controller is processing the data and the legal basis upon which the processing takes place.
The following rights may apply:
Access to your information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold. For further information, have a look at our page on Making a Subject Access Request.
Correcting your information
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
Objecting to how we may use your information
You have the right at any time to require us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes. In addition, where we use your personal information to perform tasks carried out in the public interest then, if you ask us to, we will stop using that personal information unless there are overriding legitimate grounds to continue.
- Please note that the right to object to the processing of personal data does not apply where the data subject has consented to the processing, subject to the right to withdraw consent.
- The right to object to the processing of personal data for the purposes of a public interest task is restricted if there are legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interest of the data subject.
- The right of erasure and the right to object to processing of personal data do not apply where personal data is processed for the performance of a legal obligation. This will be considered on a case by case basis and depends on what personal data is involved and the risks further processing of that data could pose to you.
Deletion of your information
You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
- You consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained
- We are using that information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent – see Withdrawing consent to using your information below
- You have validly objected to our use of your personal information – see Objecting to how we may use your information above
- Our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations
- Please note that the right allowing for deletion or erasure of personal data (right to be forgotten) does not apply in cases where personal data is processed for the purposes of the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. The right of erasure and the right to object to processing of personal data do not apply where personal data is processed for the performance of a legal obligation. This will be considered on a case by case basis and depends on what personal data is involved and the risks further processing of that data could pose to you.
Restricting how we may use your information
In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information. This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information about you that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information. The right might also apply where this is no longer a basis for using your personal information, but you don't want us to delete the data. Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.
Withdrawing consent to using your information
Where we use your personal information with your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.
Please contact us in any of the ways set out in the Contact information and further advice section if you wish to exercise any of these rights.
Changes to our privacy statement
We keep this privacy statement under regular review and will place any updates on this website. Paper copies of the privacy statement may also be obtained using the contact information below.
This privacy statement was last updated on 8 December 2020.
Contact information and further advice
If you have any further questions about the way in which we process personal data, or
about how to exercise your rights, please contact the Head of Information Governance
at:
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Telephone: 0131 348 6913
(Calls are welcome through the Text Relay service or in British Sign Language through contactSCOTLAND-BSL.)
Email: dataprotection@parliament.scot
Please contact us if you require information in another language or format
Complaints
We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle personal information but you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office online at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Or by phone at: 0303 123 1113