Privacy notice: Rental e-scooter trials research

Privacy Notice

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are certain things that we need to let you, a research participant, know about how your information will be processed. In this privacy notice, we explain the legal basis for data processing, who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

Who is collecting my data?

The national evaluation of e-scooter trials is collecting information to assess the use and impact of e-scooters during the e-scooter trials running across England. The research will provide evidence to inform whether and how the Government will legislate for e-scooter use in future.

NatCen and Arup are jointly carrying out this evaluation on behalf of the Department for Transport. To find out more about NatCen and what we do, visit our website: www.natcen.ac.uk. To find out more about Arup, visit www.arup.com.

NatCen have partnered with two external research organisations to carry out the resident research. Dynata will carry out the resident survey and iThoughts Research will help us find residents who meet our criteria to take part in the resident interviews.

Your personal data will only be used for research purposes. This means you will never receive any sales or marketing calls as a result of taking part.

How do I know this research is genuine?

If you wish to verify the authenticity of any texts, emails or telephone calls that you receive from external research organisations about this research with NatCen, you may contact us using the details below:

You can also verify the authenticity of this research by contacting the DfT at: micromobility@dft.gov.uk.

What is the legal basis for processing data?

This research is being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT). For the purpose of data protection legislation, the DfT is the data controller for the personal data processed as part of this research. This means the DfT is responsible for deciding the purpose and legal basis for processing data from this study. NatCen and Arup will be the data processors and will be responsible for processing the data from this study on behalf of the DfT. For this project, the legal basis for processing data is “public task”. This means that processing is necessary to carry out a task conducted in the public interest. The legal basis for processing prize draw entry is “consent”.

How we will use your information

Personal data (such as age, gender etc.) and special category personal data, including data on ethnic group and health conditions or disabilities, will be collected during this research. Collection of special category data will allow the Department for Transport to meet obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, as set out under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. However, all responses will be stored securely and only the research team at NatCen and Arup will have access to them.

The interviews will be audio recorded and transcribed in accordance with UK GDPR and data protection regulations governing the handling of personal data. Only the research team at NatCen and Arup will have access to the recordings or transcripts, which will be kept securely and then destroyed when the research study is complete.

As part of this research, NatCen has also sub-contracted Dynata to collect questionnaire data from residents local to some of the areas where e-scooter trials are taking place. NatCen will not have access to any personal identifiable data collected by Dynata and will only receive data at an aggregate level for reporting purposes.

iThoughts Research are an external research agency who will be recruiting individuals to take part in the resident interviews. iThoughts Research are on NatCen’s approved supplier list and compliant with all of NatCen’s information security policies.

The research teams at NatCen and Arup will use the information provided by all research participants to write a report for the Department for Transport. This report will provide evidence to inform the Government’s future decisions about e-scooter service delivery in England. Your participation will be anonymous, this means we will not tell anyone else that you took part, and we will remove any personally identifying information from our report before it is shared with the DfT. Anonymised survey or interview responses may be shared or published for reporting and analysis purposes.

How long we will keep your personal data

We will only keep your personal data for as long as we need it for the purpose(s) of this piece of work, after which point it will be securely destroyed. All personal data will be securely destroyed after one year of the e-scooter trials ending.

Your data protection rights

You have rights with regard to your personal data. These include:

  • The right to request copies of your personal data.
  • The right to ask us to correct any personal data that we hold about you that’s inaccurate or incomplete.
  • The right to ask us to delete personal data that we hold about you.
  • The right to object or restrict how we’re processing your personal data.

For more information on how our research partners and the DfT handle data, please see:

Arup’s privacy policy. 

The DfT’s e-scooter trials privacy statement.

The DfT’s personal information charter.

Dynata’s privacy policy.

iThoughts privacy policy.

Who can I contact with a query or a complaint?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, you can contact
NatCen’s Data Protection Officer: dpo@natcen.ac.uk;

Or

the Department for Transport’s Data Protection 
Officer: DataProtectionOfficer@dft.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you have the right to raise any concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their website at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.