Licensing (taxi and private hire) privacy notice

The data controller for the information we collect

This Privacy Notice is provided to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) to explain how we process your personal data in providing the Licensing (Taxi and Private Hire) service.

Leeds City Council is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 and other regulations, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, which means it determines what your data is used for and why it is collected. The purpose of this privacy notice is to tell you about what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information, and who we may share it with. The contact details of the data controller are Leeds City Council, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8BB.

The data we collect

To deliver the service, we will process the following data:

  • name
  • address
  • date of birth
  • national insurance number
  • proof of right to work in the UK
  • telephone number
  • email address
  • proof of identity (for example, copies of driving licenses, passports, bank statements, utility bills)
  • copies of insurance and vehicle documents

And special category data, such as:

  • personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin
  • data concerning health (group 2 medical)
  • data concerning title

And criminal offence data, such as:

  • applicants and licence holders are required to produce an enhanced DBS
  • copies of any reports of offences declared

How we collect information about you

We collect information about you from you directly.

We may also obtain your information from other sources, such as:

  • members of the public
  • elected representatives
  • other local authorities
  • internal council departments
  • other public authorities, including police

Why we process your data

We use your information:

  • to ascertain the suitability to be granted a licence and hold a licence
  • for service provision

All the data collected will be treated in strict confidence and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The data provided by you will only be used for the purposes specified.

Lawful basis for processing

We will process your data in accordance with UK GDPR Article 6(1). The processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that the following applies:

Article 6(1)(c): processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. 

We have a legal obligation under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Sections 47, 48, 51, 55, and 57, which require us to collect and process information to be compliant with this Act.

Article 6(1)(e): the processing is necessary for the performance of a public task. As a local authority, we have public task obligation to ensure whether a person is fit and proper to hold a taxi or private hire license.

We will process your special category data in accordance with UK GDPR Article 9(2)g)—processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

These are supported by the following conditions in Schedule 1 Part 2 of the DPA 2018 and the legal framework described above:

  • 6. Statutory and government purposes
  • 10. Preventing or detecting unlawful acts
  • 11. Protecting the public
  • 12. Regulatory requirements
  • 16. Support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition
  • 18. Safeguarding of children and individuals at risk

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. This is supported by Schedule 1, Part 3, Condition 6 (Statutory and government purposes).

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018, and supplements this privacy notice.

Data retention, storage and destruction

Our data retention policies and procedures are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention. This means that your information will be kept for 6 years after we cease to provide a service to you, unless the law says that we need to hold it for longer or if there is a business requirement to do so. After this, your information will be deleted or archived.

Who we share your data with

We share your data with the following organisations and agencies:

  • internal Leeds City Council departments
  • police, courts, and other licensing authorities
  • other public bodies (for example, the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency)

In addition, we will share your personal data:

  • where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject
  • in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person
  • for the purposes of security and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
  • where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure

Automated decision making

Your data will not be used for any automated decision-making, including profiling.

Your rights

The following rights under data protection law are available under the UK GDPR:

  • the right to access (where you can ask for copies of your personal data)
  • the right to rectification (where you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data)
  • the right to erasure (where you can ask us to erase your personal data)
  • the right to restrict processing (where you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data)
  • the right to data portability (where you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you)
  • the right to object to processing (where you can object to the processing of your personal data)
  • the right to complain to a supervisory authority (where you can complain about our processing of your personal data)
  • withdraw consent (to the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your personal data is consent, you can withdraw that consent)

Where we process your information under legal obligation, certain rights do not apply, such as:

  • erasure
  • data portability
  • objection to processing
  • the right to withdraw consent

Where we process your data under the public task basis, certain rights do not apply, such as:

  • erasure
  • data portability
  • the right to withdraw consent

These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about your rights and how to exercise them, with further details on the Information Commissioner’s Office website. You may exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data by writing to us using the contact details provided below.

If your data is sent to other countries

The information you provide will not be transferred to another country outside of the UK.

Contact us

Any queries in relation to this privacy notice should be forwarded to:

Email: taxiprivatehire.licensing@leeds.gov.uk 

Data Protection Officer

Aaron Linden
Head of Information Management and Governance - Data Protection Officer
Leeds City Council
Merrion House
110 Merrion Way
Leeds
LS2 8BB

DPO@leeds.gov.uk 

The council privacy notice is available online. 
 

Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled, you should speak with the specific service in the first instance. 
Any data protection complaints about how the council has processed your personal data will be handled in accordance with the council’s complaints policy.

You can find out how to submit a complaint.

If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can refer to the Information Commissioner if you consider that there has been an infringement of data protection legislation. Further details can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.

Changes to this notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will notify you of significant changes to this notice by email or other means as appropriate. This privacy notice was last updated November 2024.