Skip to content

Highways licence applications privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and it was last updated on 3 September 2024.

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 (KCC) 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 and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

As part of applying for a highway licence application (for example, for cranes and mobile working platforms on the highway, hoarding or site fencing, materials, scaffolding and skips) via a downloadable application form, emailed application form, or an online application form available either on the www.kent.gov.uk or www.gov.uk websites, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • name and contact details, such as address, phone number, mobile number, email address and postcode
  • location of where works are to be carried out.
  • identification details such as your signature.
  • insurance documents, such as your public liability insurance documents.
  • financial information to make a payment for the service to be provided. Payments can be made by BACS or card via KCC’s Streetworks Team. Card payments can also be made through GOV.UK Pay. Online payments for scaffold licence applications can be made through WorldPay, via a link on our Kent County Council website. WorldPay are a third party provider.

Read GOV.UK Pay's privacy notice and GOV.UK Pay's website cookie policy and WorldPay's cookie policy.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal data to:

  • help you apply for a highways licence and provide you with a service.
  • arrange payment of a licence application, or renewal of a licence application
  • investigate an enquiry or complaint
  • contact you regarding an enquiry or complaint
  • contact you regarding a change in service or inform you of a new service relevant to you.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information securely and retain it for 7 years in accordance with Kent County Council’s Retention Schedule.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The provision of personal information is required from you to enable us to provide you with a service in relation to applying for a highways licence application.

If you do not provide your personal information, we will be unable to process your application for a highways licence or contact you.

We rely on processing is ‘necessary for the performance of a public task in the public interest’ and in order to ‘comply with a legal obligation to which (Kent County Council) is subject’ (i.e. Highways Act 1980) being the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal information.

We rely on:

Article 6(1)(e) - necessary for the performance of a public task in the public interest.

Article 6(1)(c) – comply with a legal obligation to which (Kent County Council) is subject i.e. Highways Act 1980

The provision of personal information is required from you to enable us to process your highway licence application and provide a service to you.

Who we share your personal information with

We routinely share your information with commissioned providers of local authority services, such as payment services.

This information would be shared with other third-party providers such as insurance companies.

This data sharing enables us to check the validity of your insurance documentation.

We have data processing agreements in place with third party suppliers who process your data on our behalf.

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.

Your Rights

Under 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 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.

Who to 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 be contacted on 03031 231113.

For further information, read our privacy statement.