Other useful pages relating to data protection: Keeping Data Safe | Privacy Notice | Cookie Policy

1. Aims

Our Scout Group aims to ensure that all personal data collected about Volunteers, young persons, parents, governors, visitors and other individuals is collected, stored and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the expected provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) as set out in the Data Protection Bill.

This policy applies to all personal data, regardless of whether it is in paper or electronic format.

2. Legislation and guidance

This policy meets the requirements of the GDPR and the expected provisions of the DPA 2018. It is based on guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on the GDPR and the ICO’s code of practice for subject access requests.

It also reflects the ICO’s code of practice for the use of surveillance cameras and personal information.

3. Definitions

Term	Definition
Personal data	Any information relating to an identified, or identifiable, individual.This may include the individual’s:Name (including initials)Online identifier, such as a username
Special categories of personal data	Personal data which is more sensitive and so needs more protection, including information about an individual’s:Racial or ethnic originReligious or philosophical beliefsHealth – physical or mental
Processing	Anything done to personal data, such as collecting, recording, organising, structuring, storing, adapting, altering, retrieving, using, disseminating, erasing or destroying.Processing can be automated or manual.
Data subject	The identified or identifiable individual whose personal data is held or processed.
Data controller	A person or organisation that determines the purposes and the means of processing of personal data.
Data processor	A person or other body, other than an employee of the data controller, who processes personal data on behalf of the data controller.
Personal data breach	A breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to personal data.

4. The data controller

Our Scout Group processes personal data relating to members, their parents, emergency contacts, volunteers, visitors and others, and therefore is a data controller.

The Scout Group is not required to be registered as a data controller with the ICO, but the Executive Committee will regularly review this requirement.

5. Roles and responsibilities

This policy applies to all volunteers of our Scout Group, and to external organisations or individuals working on our behalf. Volunteers who do not comply with this policy may face disciplinary action.

5.1 Group Executive Committee

The Executive Committee has overall responsibility for ensuring that our Scout Group complies with all relevant data protection obligations.

5.2 Data Protection Officer

We are not legally required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

5.3 Group Scout Leader

The Group Scout Leader acts as the representative of the data controller (data protection champion – DPC) on a day-to-day basis and can be contacted on the dpc@11th.org.uk email address.

5.4 All Volunteers

Volunteers are responsible for:

• Collecting, storing and processing any personal data in accordance with this policy
• Informing the Scout Group of any changes to their own personal data, such as a change of address
• Contacting the DPC in the following circumstances:
  • With any questions about the operation of this policy, data protection law, retaining personal data or keeping personal data secure
  • If they have any concerns that this policy is not being followed
  • If they are unsure whether or not they have a lawful basis to use personal data in a particular way
• If they need to rely on or capture consent, draft a privacy notice, deal with data protection rights invoked by an individual, or transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area
• If there has been a data breach
• Whenever they are engaging in a new activity that may affect the privacy rights of individuals
• If they need help with any contracts or sharing personal data with third parties

6. Data protection principles

The GDPR is based on data protection principles that our Scout Group must comply with.

The principles say that personal data must be:

• Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
• Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes
• Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it is processed
• Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date
• Kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed
• Processed in a way that ensures it is appropriately secure

This policy sets out how the Scout Group aims to comply with these principles.

7. Collecting personal data

7.1 Lawfulness, fairness and transparency

We will only process personal data where we have one of 6 ‘lawful bases’ (legal reasons) to do so under data protection law:

• The data needs to be processed so that the Scout Group can fulfil a contract with the individual, or the individual has asked the Scout Group to take specific steps before entering into a contract
• The data needs to be processed so that the Scout Group can comply with a legal obligation
• The data needs to be processed to ensure the vital interests of the individual e.g. to protect someone’s life
• The data needs to be processed so that the Scout Group can perform a task in the public interest, and carry out its official functions
• The data needs to be processed for the legitimate interests of the Scout Group or a third party (provided the individual’s rights and freedoms are not overridden)
• The individual (or their parent/carer when appropriate in the case of a young person) has freely given clear consent

For special categories of personal data, we will also meet one of the special category conditions for processing which are set out in the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

Whenever we first collect personal data directly from individuals, we will provide them with the relevant information required by data protection law.

7.2 Limitation, minimisation and accuracy

We will only collect personal data for specified, explicit and legitimate reasons. We will explain these reasons to the individuals when we first collect their data.

If we want to use personal data for reasons other than those given when we first obtained it, we will inform the individuals concerned before we do so, and seek consent where necessary.

Volunteers must only process personal data where it is necessary in order to undertake their role.

When Volunteers no longer need the personal data they hold, they must ensure it is deleted or anonymised. This will be done in accordance with the Scout Group’s records retention schedule.

8. Sharing personal data

We are required to share information with The Scout Association and the Scouting District of Folkestone & Hythe and County of Kent as defined by Policy, Organisation & Rules.  We will not normally share personal data with anyone else, but may do so where:

• There is an issue with a young person or their parent(s) that puts the safety of our volunteers at risk
• Our suppliers or contractors need data to enable us to provide services to our Volunteers and young persons – for example, IT companies. When doing this, we will:
  • Only appoint suppliers or contractors which can provide sufficient guarantees that they comply with data protection law
  • Establish a data sharing agreement with the supplier or contractor, either in the contract or as a standalone agreement, to ensure the fair and lawful processing of any personal data we share
  • Only share data that the supplier or contractor needs to carry out their service, and information necessary to keep them safe while working with us

We will also share personal data with law enforcement and government bodies where we are legally required to do so, including for:

• The prevention or detection of crime and/or fraud
• The apprehension or prosecution of offenders
• The assessment or collection of tax owed to HMRC
• In connection with legal proceedings
• Where the disclosure is required to satisfy our safeguarding obligations

We may also share personal data with emergency services and local authorities to help them to respond to an emergency situation that affects any of our members or volunteers.

Where we transfer personal data to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area, we will do so in accordance with data protection law.

For Squirrel Scouts

From August 2021, we are required to share all information about members directly with The Scouts through the provision of Online Scout Manager.

Information includes the following:

• name and contact details
• details of any youth badges and awards
• details of Scouts events and activities you’ve taken part in
• details of next of kin or parents details (in the case of youth members)
• age/date of birth
• details of any health conditions
• details about your role(s) in Scouts

Further optional personal data may also be processed to assist Scouts in monitoring its impact, such as:

• race or ethnic background and native languages
• religion
• nationality

All of this data is processed and held under the provisions of the Scouts HQ Data Protection Policy in conjunction with the measures outlined in this policy.

9. Subject access requests and other rights of individuals

9.1 Subject access requests

Individuals have a right to make a ‘subject access request’ to gain access to personal information that the Scout Group holds about them. This includes:

• Confirmation that their personal data is being processed
• Access to a copy of the data
• The purposes of the data processing
• The categories of personal data concerned
• Who the data has been, or will be, shared with
• How long the data will be stored for, or if this isn’t possible, the criteria used to determine this period
• The source of the data, if not the individual
• Whether any automated decision-making is being applied to their data, and what the significance and consequences of this might be for the individual

Subject access requests must be submitted in writing, either by letter, or email to the DPC. They should include:

• Name of individual
• Correspondence address
• Contact number and email address
• Details of the information requested

If volunteers receive a subject access request they must immediately forward it to the DPC.

9.2 Young personren and subject access requests

Personal data about a young person belongs to that young person, and not the young person’s parents or carers. For a parent or carer to make a subject access request with respect to their young person, the young person must either be unable to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request, or have given their consent.

Young people below the age of 13 are generally not regarded to be mature enough to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request. Therefore, most subject access requests from parents or carers of young persons at our Scout Group may be granted without the express permission of the young person. This is not a rule and a young person’s ability to understand their rights will always be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Young peonle aged 13 and above are generally regarded to be mature enough to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request. Therefore, most subject access requests from parents or carers of young people at our Scout Group may not be granted without the express permission of the young person. This is not a rule and a young person’s ability to understand their rights will always be judged on a case-by-case basis.

9.3 Responding to subject access requests

When responding to requests, we:

• May ask the individual to provide 2 forms of identification
• May contact the individual to confirm the request was made
• Will respond without delay and within 1 month of receipt of the request
• Will provide the information free of charge
• May tell the individual we will comply within 3 months of receipt of the request, where a request is complex or numerous. We will inform the individual of this within 1 month, and explain why the extension is necessary

We will not disclose information if it:

• Might cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the young person or another individual
• Would reveal that the young person is at risk of abuse, where the disclosure of that information would not be in the young person’s best interests
• Is given to a court in proceedings concerning the young person

If the request is unfounded or excessive, we may refuse to act on it. A request will be deemed to be unfounded or excessive if it is repetitive, or asks for further copies of the same information.

When we refuse a request, we will tell the individual why, and tell them they have the right to complain to the ICO.

9.4 Other data protection rights of the individual

In addition to the right to make a subject access request (see above), and to receive information when we are collecting their data about how we use and process it (see section 7), individuals also have the right to:

• Withdraw their consent to processing at any time
• Ask us to rectify, erase or restrict processing of their personal data, or object to the processing of it (in certain circumstances)
• Prevent use of their personal data for direct marketing
• Challenge processing which has been justified on the basis of public interest
• Request a copy of agreements under which their personal data is transferred outside of the European Economic Area
• Object to decisions based solely on automated decision making or profiling (decisions taken with no human involvement, that might negatively affect them)
• Prevent processing that is likely to cause damage or distress
• Be notified of a data breach in certain circumstances
• Make a complaint to the ICO
• Ask for their personal data to be transferred to a third party in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format (in certain circumstances)

Individuals should submit any request to exercise these rights to the DPC. If volunteers receive such a request, they must immediately forward it to the DPC.

10. CCTV

There is CCTV in various locations around the Scout Group’s site to ensure it remains safe for the benefit of Shop4Scouts Ltd. We will adhere to the ICO’s code of practice for the use of CCTV.

We do not need to ask individuals’ permission to use CCTV, but we make it clear where individuals are being recorded. Security cameras are clearly visible and accompanied by prominent signs explaining that CCTV is in use.

Any enquiries about the CCTV system should be directed to Shop4Scouts Ltd. as the owners and operators of the CCTV equipment

11. Photographs and videos

As part of our Scout Group activities, we may take photographs and record images of individuals within our Scout Group.

We will obtain written consent from parents/carers for photographs and videos to be taken of their young person for communication, marketing and promotional materials. We will clearly explain how the photograph and/or video will be used to both the parent/carer and young person.

We will obtain written consent from young persons aged 18 and over, for photographs and videos to be taken of young persons for communication, marketing and promotional materials.

Where we need parental consent, we will clearly explain how the photograph and/or video will be used to both the parent/carer and young person. Where we don’t need parental consent, we will clearly explain to the young person how the photograph and/or video will be used.

Uses may include:

• Within the Group’s HQ on notice boards and in Scout Group magazines, brochures, newsletters, etc.
• Outside of Scout Group by external agencies such as newspapers
• Online on our Scout Group website or social media pages

Consent can be refused or withdrawn at any time. If consent is withdrawn, we will, where possible, delete the photograph or video and not distribute it further.

When using photographs and videos in this way we will not accompany them with any other personal information about the young person, to ensure they cannot be identified.

See our safeguarding policy for more information on our use of photographs and videos.

12. Data protection by design and default

We will put measures in place to show that we have integrated data protection into all of our data processing activities, including:

• Appointing a DPC, and ensuring they have the necessary resources to fulfil their duties and maintain their knowledge
• Only processing personal data that is necessary for each specific purpose of processing, and always in line with the data protection principles set out in relevant data protection law (see section 6)
• Integrating data protection into internal documents including this policy, any related policies and privacy notices
• Regularly training volunteers on data protection law, this policy, any related policies and any other data protection matters; we will also keep a record
• Regularly conducting reviews and audits to test our privacy measures and make sure we are compliant
• Maintaining records of our processing activities, including:
  • For the benefit of data subjects, making available the name and contact details of our Scout Group and DPC and all information we are required to share about how we use and process their personal data (via our privacy notices)
  • For all personal data that we hold, maintaining an internal record of the type of data, data subject, how and why we are using the data, any third-party recipients, how and why we are storing the data, retention periods and how we are keeping the data secure

13. Data security and storage of records

We will protect personal data and keep it safe from unauthorised or unlawful access, alteration, processing or disclosure, and against accidental or unlawful loss, destruction or damage.

In particular:

• Paper-based records and portable electronic devices, such as laptops and hard drives that contain personal data are kept under lock and key when not in use
• Papers containing confidential personal data must not be left unattended on view, pinned to notice/display boards, or left anywhere else where there is general access
• Where personal information needs to be taken off site, volunteers must have this approved by the DPC, (Assistant) Group Scout Leader or Group Chair
• Passwords that are at least 8 characters long containing letters and numbers are used to access Scout Group computers, laptops and other electronic devices.
• Encryption software is used to protect all portable devices and removable media, such as laptops and USB devices
• Volunteers who store personal information on their personal devices are expected to follow the same security procedures as for Scout Group-owned equipment
• Where we need to share personal data with a third party, we carry out due diligence and take reasonable steps to ensure it is stored securely and adequately protected (see section 8)

14. Disposal of records

Personal data that is no longer needed will be disposed of securely. Personal data that has become inaccurate or out of date will also be disposed of securely, where we cannot or do not need to rectify or update it.

For example, we will shred paper-based records, and overwrite or delete electronic files. We may also use a third party to safely dispose of records on the Scout Group’s behalf. If we do so, we will require the third party to provide sufficient guarantees that it complies with data protection law.

15. Personal data breaches

The Scout Group will make all reasonable endeavours to ensure that there are no personal data breaches.

In the unlikely event of a suspected data breach, we will follow the procedure set out in appendix 1.

When appropriate, we will report the data breach to the ICO within 72 hours.

16. Training

All volunteers are provided with data protection training as part of their induction process and updated annually to account for changes to legislation, guidance or the Scout Group’s processes.

17. Monitoring arrangements

The DPC is responsible for monitoring and reviewing this policy.

This policy will be reviewed and updated if necessary when the Data Protection Bill receives royal assent and becomes law (as the Data Protection Act 2018) – if any changes are made to the bill that affect our Scout Group’s practice. Otherwise, or from then on, this policy will be reviewed every 2 years and shared with the full Executive Committee.