Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service privacy notice

What this page is for

This privacy notice provides information on how Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service uses your personal information to provide emergency response, fire prevention and fire protection to the communities that we serve. By 'use' we mean the various ways your personal information may be processed including storing and sharing the information.

Further details

We also provide the following details in our general privacy notice on our web site:

Who we are
How long we use your information for
Your rights under the GDPR and
How to exercise them

You can ask us for a copy of this information.

What we use your personal information for

We use your personal information primarily to manage Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service including:

Emergency response - firefighting, road traffic collisions and other emergency situations
Delivering advice and home fire safety visits in respect of fire safety in the home
Delivering fire safety education to schools
Working to reduce arson and deliberate fire setting including conducting investigations, delivering arson reduction advice and working with individuals
Investigating, recording and mitigating fire risks raised by safeguarding concerns.
Providing Home Fire Safety Visits
Delivering business fire safety advice
Carrying out regulatory inspections
Acting as the licensing or enforcement authority for regulatory, licensing and enforcement actions for business fire safety
Acting as the licensing authority for the storage and sale of explosives, petroleum and fertiliser
Working in partnerships with other agencies and organisations such as the Safer Roads Partnership and the Norfolk Resilience Forum
Managing water hydrants including collecting reports of damage
Monitoring and securing Fire Stations (CCTV in operation at Fire Stations)
Protecting our staff and documenting decision making (Body Worn Cameras).

We also use this information to assess the quality of our services and evaluate and improve our policies and procedures.

We may also use information in other ways compatible with the purposes listed above.

The information we collect and use

The information we may collect and use may include your:

Name, date of birth, gender, marital status and number of children
Contact details including your address and phone number
Social relationships including your dependents, other family or other relationships
Personal and social history including immigration status, information about number and ages of children and information about any other adults in your home or whether you live alone
Housing situation including whether you rent or own your home
Your child's school
Safeguarding concerns (where this creates a potential fire risk)
CCTV Footage (at Fire Stations and Body Worn Cameras).

We also collect information about the following which is classed as "special category data" under the GDPR:

Racial or ethnic origin
Religious or philosophical beliefs
Health data including disabilities

We also collect information about criminal convictions and offences.

The GDPR includes safeguards to protect the use of your special category data and criminal conviction data. Further details can be found on our website in the document named 'Special category data and criminal offences data policy' which sets out our procedures for compliance with the principles of the GDPR and the retention and erasure of this information.

Who provides this information

The information we hold includes information you have provided to us.

We may also receive information from:

Your family members, employer or representative
Your landlord
Other departments of Norfolk County Council - Trading Standards, Registration Services
Other public bodies such as the police, ambulance service, local councils and the NHS
Law enforcement agencies - in relation to our enforcement responsibilities
Charities and support services who you have given permission to share your information for fire safety reasons
Companies who have your permission to share your information for security or key holding purposes

With specific reference to fire safety in the home:

NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners and fire and rescue services in England work together to share information to allow fire service staff to offer home safety visits for people who have a higher risk of experiencing a house fire. This is by sharing data that lets NFRS identify the home address of people over 65 who statistically present a higher fire risk. For more information about how NHS England use and share your information see their website.

How the law protects you and the legal basis for processing your information

We have legal grounds to process this information because it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. This includes tasks under the:

Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005
Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 2014
Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002
Health and Safety At Work Act 1974
Environment and Safety Information Act 1988
Children's Act 1989 (in relation to safeguarding concerns)
Care Act 2014 (in relation to safeguarding concerns)
Fire and Rescue National Framework for England 2018

We also process personal information where it is necessary for the performance of a contract (e.g. lease, licence, service and maintenance contract).

We have legal grounds to process special category data and criminal convictions data where it is in the exercise of a statutory function and it is in the necessary for reasons in the substantial public interest. The statutory functions are as set out above.

We may also seek specific consent to share your information in certain ways. This will normally be where the use of the data is not necessary for the above purposes but there are other services that may be useful or helpful to you or your family. You have a free and genuine choice about the way in which your data is used (for example where we know of services that could be helpful to you or your family) and withholding consent will not affect the basic services that we provide.

Who we share your information with

We may also share your personal information with other organisations and public bodies, in particular:

Other departments of Norfolk County Council including Trading Standards, Adult Social Services, Children's Services
Other local authority such as district or city councils
Special statutory agency, the Broads Authority
Law enforcement agencies including the police
Health bodies including the NHS England, the Royal College of General Practitioners, NHS trusts
Government department or agency - Home Office for anonymised information about our activities used for national fire statistics, HMRC, Environment Agency
National independent bodies - the Health and Safety Executive
Other businesses and employers - public utilities (for example to cut off a power supply in an emergency), insurance companies and loss adjusters
Judicial or legal agencies including courts, prosecuting authorities, solicitors, probation
Voluntary organisations and charities - RSPCA
Other emergency services - ambulance, coastguard
The National Fire Chief's Council

Any information which is shared will only be shared on a need to know basis, with appropriate individuals. Only the minimum information for the purpose will be shared.

We may also share your information, subject to contractual and other legal safeguards, with organisations contracted by us to provide a service to the council or directly to you. These service providers are known as data processors and have a legal obligation under GDPR and to us to look after your personal information and only use it for providing that service.

How long we will keep your personal information for

When the information is no longer needed for the above purposes, it will be securely deleted.

If we need to use your information for research or reports, your information will be anonymised and any information taken from notes (handwritten or typed) during any consultation sessions will be securely destroyed. The information will continue to be used in a summarised and anonymised form in any research reports or papers that are published. The anonymised information in the papers may be of historic interest and may be held in public archives indefinitely.

How we keep your information

The information is stored electronically, on our records management systems known as Fortek Vision, CFRMIS and IRS. Additionally, information is securely stored in other mediums, including email accounts and in paper files. We do not process your information outside of the European Economic Area.

Automated decision making

We do not make automated decisions about you and your family.

Date of notice

This notice was updated in October 2024.