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Blue Badge services privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 9 February 2022.

This privacy notice is in relation to Blue Badge applications.

Kent County Council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Who we are

Kent County Council collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018.  We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The Blue Badge service is designed to enable disabled people who have a condition which impacts their mobility to access goods and services, by allowing them to park close to their destination.

Under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (1970), we have a statutory obligation to maintain a register showing the holders of badges issued by the authority. We are responsible for determining and implementing administrative, assessment and enforcement procedures in accordance with the governing legislation, Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) Regulations 2000, as amended.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of delivering the Blue Badge service, we collect the following personal information when you (or others on your behalf) provide it to us:

  • name
  • date of birth
  • contact details
  • gender
  • place of birth
  • National Insurance number
  • contact details for members of your family and support network if you wish them to advocate for you
  • copies of documents showing your proof of identity (for example, passport, birth certificate)
  • copies of documents showing your address (for example, council tax bill, benefit letter, driving licence, pay slips)
  • your photograph
  • financial information to process your application, if you pay by credit/debit card

We also collect the following special category data:

  • medical information you provide in support of your claim
  • if applicable, copies of documents showing your eligibility to a benefit which automatically qualifies you for a Blue Badge

We may also obtain your personal information in applications forwarded from GOV.UK where an application is submitted via that web site.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

  • create a secure and comprehensive record of your paper application by uploading the information onto the national Blue Badge Improvement Service  database
  • assess which criteria your application will be assessed under, either in receipt of an automatically qualifying benefit or being assessed as a discretionary application
  • use the information for an Independent Mobility Assessment (IMA) if being assessed as a discretionary application
  • process your application to come to an appropriate decision based on the information provided throughout the application process
  • facilitate and process any credit/debit card payment
  • confirm your Blue Badge status with internal partners to enable passported benefits including, but not limited to, Kent Country Park season ticket concessions
  • investigate claims of Blue Badge misuse
  • to respond to Blue Badge enquiries from others on your behalf
  • work with the Department for Transport, and their service providers where necessary, to improve online application systems

The sharing of information facilitates a joined-up approach with partner agencies, to provide you with the best possible customer experience.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will only hold your personal information for as long as necessary. To work out how long we need to keep your information for we use our retention schedule (See section AS4 1.3) which provides a breakdown of the retention periods relied on the Blue Badge service. The criteria for determining retention periods are statutory or other industry requirements.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

For the collecting and use of your personal information we rely on:

  • Article 6(1)(b) - processing is necessary for the performance of a contract (for payments made by credit/ debit card)
  • Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
  • Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data.

For collecting and using your special category data we rely upon:

  • Article 9(2)(g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (statutory and government purposes)
  • Article 9(2)(h) - processing is necessary for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.

We rely on the health or social care purposes from Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 when relying on Article(9)(2)(h) to process your special category data.

We take the following appropriate safeguards in respect of your special category data when relying on the condition above:

  • We have an Appropriate Policy for Lawful Processing which explains how the data protection principles are secured when using special category information. This policy is retained throughout the time we use your data and for six months after we cease to use it.
  • We have a retention schedule which explains how long data is retained.
  • We maintain a record of our processing in our ‘Record of Processing Activities’ and record for any reasons deviating from the periods in our Retention Schedule.

As we have a statutory basis for collecting your personal data, we do not need to ask for your permission to share it, however we will only ever share your data on a basis of need, in line with legislation and will work transparently with you at all times.

If you do not provide your data, we will not be able to process your application.

Who we share your personal information with

In the course of working with you, we may share your personal information with some of the following 3rd parties (non-exhaustive list).

  • your name, address, date of birth, contact information and Blue Badge details will be shared with the Cabinet Office for data matching under the National Fraud Initiative
  • your name, address, date of birth, contact information and Blue Badge details will be shared with the Kent Intelligence Network (KIN) to detect, prevent and deter fraud and corruption affecting Kent authorities’ public services. View the KIN privacy notice for more information.
  • internal teams to carry out an Independent Mobility Assessment (IMA), if required
  • commissioned providers of local authority services (call centre and payment services)
  • other local authorities who administer or enforce the Blue Badge service if you move to their area or use the Blue Badge in their area
  • others in relation to enquiries raised on behalf of applicants (such as local councillors, family members, voluntary organisations
  • partner agencies for the processing of applications
  • police for parking enforcement and the prevention and detection of crime

This data sharing enables us to process and safeguard the Blue Badge scheme for yourself and other applicants.

Each organisation listed above will ensure they have the relevant agreements in place to be able to process your personal information.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law or in connection with legal proceedings.

We will share personal information with our legal and professional advisers in the event of a dispute, complaint or claim. We rely on Article 9(2)(f) where the processing of special category data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.

NHS and care services

We have processes in place for considering requests for data disclosures for purposes beyond direct care which is consistent with national data opt-out policy. Our organisation is compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

To find out more about the NHS’ wider use of confidential personal information and to register your choice to opt out if you do not want your data to be used in this way, visit the NHS website. If you do choose to opt out, you can still consent to your data being used for specific purposes.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which allow you to:

  • know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
  • ask to see what information we hold about you (subject access request)
  • ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
  • object to direct marketing
  • make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office
  • withdraw consent at any time (if applicable)

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

  • ask us to delete information we hold about you
  • have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
  • object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
  • object to how we are using your information
  • stop us using your information in certain ways

We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note, your request may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you.

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Contact

Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.

You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk.

The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who may also be contacted by telephone 0303 123 1113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.