Blue Badge applications privacy notice

First published

29 Aug 2024

Last updated

29 Aug 2024

Blue Badge applications privacy notice

Find out how Stirling Council uses personal data by checking the Council’s website at the following address:

https://www.stirling.gov.uk/privacy-statement/

Our website contains a Register of Data Processing which lists all the different ways
in which the Council uses personal data.

This Privacy Notice provides more information about just one of those processes.

Who do I contact about my personal information?

The Council has a Data Protection Officer to make sure it is complying with data protection laws.

They can be contacted at:

Data Protection Officer
Stirling Council
Old Viewforth
14-20 Pitt Terrace
Stirling
FK8 2ET

Email: dataprotection@stirling.gov.uk
Telephone: 01786 404040

Why does the Council process personal information?

The Council issues Blue Badge parking badges to eligible individuals and organisations to comply with The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) Regulations 1982 and The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (as amended). Blue Badges are available to disabled people and organisations providing transport for disabled people who live, or are based, within the Stirling Council area. The Blue Badge Scheme helps people with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport, and organisations providing transport for them, to park close to where disabled people need to go.

The type of personal information we collect

Applicants who believe themselves to be eligible for issue of a Blue Badge provide the following information: Personal Data

  • Name
  • Address
  • Other contact details
  • Age
  • Nature of infirmity 

“Special Category” Data

  • Health (physical or mental)

This information can be provided online or by means of a paper form.

The details appearing on each badge are:

  • Issuing Authority (i.e. Stirling Council)
  • Start and expiry dates, Badge No.
  • Badge holder’s name, surname and photograph.

What makes it lawful for the Council to process this personal information?

Blue Badges are issued under the terms of The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) Regulations 1982 and The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (as amended).

Where does the Council obtain personal information from?

Applicants submit personal data to the Council online or by means of a paper form.

Information may be requested from Social Security Scotland in order to support an individual’s disability benefit entitlement.

We may also receive information directly from the DWP or HMRC. 

Where does the Council keep personal information?

The information from all applicants is entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Details of people who have not applied online are entered into the online UK Government Blue Badge Portal at https://apply-bluebadge.service.gov.uk/applicant . This system is maintained by Valtech UK Ltd. The badges, complete with the successful applicant’s details, are produced by Allied Publicity Services (Manchester) Ltd, known as APS.

APS and Valtech provide these services under a UK Government contact managed by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Online data is stored in the Blue Badge system managed for the DfT by Valtech Ltd.

Data from online and paper applications is stored in a password-protected Excel spreadsheet on the Council network. The password is known only to the Admin Officer who processes Blue Badge applications and to the Public Transport Team Leader and Service Delivery Officer.

Paper applications are stored in locked cabinets at Stirling Bus Station for four years, after which they are disposed of in accordance with the Council’s Data Retention Policy.

How long does the Council keep personal information?

Personal data is retained for four years and then destroyed in accordance with the Council’s policies and procedures for disposal of confidential waste.

Who does the Council share personal information with?

Personal data is shared with the DfT, Valtech and APS to the extent required in order to maintain the UK-wide Blue Badge Scheme.

Your rights

You have the following rights under data protection laws. If you have a request under any of these rights, you can make a subject access request.

Access to your information

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. This is known as a subject access request and is free of charge.  We must respond within one month, although this can be extended to three months if the information is complex.

Correcting your information

We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date. Therefore you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.

Deleting your information

You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:

  • you think that we no longer need to hold the information for the purposes for which it was originally obtained
  • we are using that information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent - see the 'withdrawing consent to using your information' section below.  Please note that in general we do not rely on consent as the legal basis for processing your personal information
  • you have a genuine objection to our use of your personal information - see 'objecting to how we may use your information' below
  • our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations.

Objecting to how we may use your information

You have the right at any time to tell us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, profiling or research purposes. 

Restricting how we may use your information 

In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information.  This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information that we hold about you or we are assessing the objection you have made to our use of your information. 

This right might also apply if we no longer have a basis for using your personal information - but you don't want us to delete the data.  Where this right is realistically applied will mean that we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.

Withdrawing consent to use your information

Where we use your personal information with your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.

Your request to transfer your data

If we are processing your personal information with your consent or as part of a contract with you, and it is held in an accessible and machine-readable format, you have a right to ask us to transmit it to another organisation. This is known as the right to data portability.

Our profiling or automated decision-making processes

We make some use of automated decision-making processes but very little use of profiling.  Where these techniques are used, this will be explained in the specific privacy statements relating to those functions, together with a description of the reason involved in any automated decision-making.

Complaints and comments

If you want to complain about or comment on how we have processed your personal information, you should email dataprotection@stirling.gov.uk

If you are still unhappy with how the council handled your complaint, you can contact the UK Information Commissioner's Office at:

The Information Commissioner,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113

You can find further information on the Information Commissioners Office website.

Contents