Photographs and Videos

The categories of the information that we collect, process, hold and share include:

Images and moving images (including voice recordings, video and ‘You Tube’ footage) of people are classed as personal data when a person can be identified.

Why we collect and use this information

Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) uses photography and moving images:

To educate and inform staff and communities
To recruit staff
To promote the wide range of work we are involved with
To promote safety campaigns
For identification and security purposes
For training purposes
For fire investigation purposes (see Fire Investigation Privacy Notice)
For meetings of the Fire Authority (but not its committees), which are video recorded and uploaded to our ‘YouTube’ channel for public viewing

The lawful basis on which we use this information

Our lawful reason to collect and use this personal information is with the consent of the data subject or the parent or carer of the data subject (Article 6(1) (a) of the General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR).

The exceptions for this are for:

images required for corporate identification such as ID Cards for staff, which is a requirement of their Contract of Employment and for site security reasons; and
video recordings of public meetings in order to make the meetings accessible to members of the public and to aid transparency for our decision making process, which we process in association with our duties under a public task (Article 6(1) (e) of the GDPR.

Collecting this information

All AF&RS staff must ensure that anyone being photographed or filmed is aware of this. We ask permission when taking images of members of the public in which they are clearly identifiable. In particular, when taking photographs of those under the age of 16, staff will gain written consent from their parent, guardian or carer.

However, gaining permission is not always practical at large events, such as at station open days and public events, neither is gaining permission of those in the background of a photo. On such occasions, posters or leaflets are displayed to inform members of the public that photographs are being taken. If someone does not wish for their image to be used, we request that they try to stay out of shot where possible.

Your rights in relation to photos

If you believe you may have been photographed and would rather not be, please inform the photographer on the day who will delete the photo. After the event you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting a member of the Corporate Communications Team by completing a general enquiry web form https://www.avonfire.gov.uk/contact-us/non-emergency?id=174 or call us on 0117 926 2061. You will need to provide a date and description of the photo to help them find it and delete it. Please be aware that it is not always possible to recall all instances of a photo once it is published for practical reasons.

Storing this information

All rights to the images belong to AF&RS. Images may be cropped or modified for quality or combined with other images, text and graphics.

All images will be stored on Fotostation software and access is restricted to the Corporate Communications Team who may need to use photos to carry out their duties. They are held in accordance with AF&RS’s Information Security, Data Protection and Photographic Policies. They will be kept indefinitely for legitimate reasons (such as historical accounts of events and Fire Service history), along with any signed consent form, subject to not infringing on the rights and reasonable expectations of the individual.

Images posted on Social Media are not routinely deleted, but would be upon request.

Staff images for identification purposes are kept in line with our Service Retention Schedule.

Who we share this information with and why

We may publish photos or videos via our internal staff intranet site or public AF&RS website, YouTube channel, social media, or on leaflets, publications or press releases. We do this to help with promoting our work, recruitment, press and journalism, training and debrief, promoting safety messages and encouraging engagement with the Service.