Taxi licensing

  1. Summary

    This privacy notice explains what personal information is collected, what it is used for and who it is provided to. The notice also describes why the Council requires your data, and the legal basis on which it does this. This privacy notice relates to the Council’s taxi licensing service. It provides additional information that specifically relates to this particular service, and should be read together with our general privacy notice, which provides more detail.

  2. What personal information does this service use?

    We use personal information, such as: 

    • Name
    • Contact details (postal address, telephone number, email address, etc.) 
    • Date of birth
    • Gender
    • DVLA or overseas driving licence details
    • Photographs
    • Proof of identity
    • Nationality/country of origin
    • Proof of right to work in UK
    • National Insurance Number
    • Vehicle Registration Marks (VRMs) and Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs)
    • Complaints made about drivers or operators
    • The licence and/or badge number issued to you or your vehicle
    • Address history
    • Relevant employment history
    • Insurance details
    •  

    This service also uses the following special categories of personal data: 

    • Completed medical forms and any supporting medical information from general practitioners or specialists
    • Details of traffic or other criminal offences
    • Outcomes of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
    •  

    We may collect some or all of the following information about you as a member of the public if you engage with a licensing process, such as by raising a complaint about a licensed driver or operator; or by making a representation or objection in relation to a licence application:

    • Name
    • Address
    • Contact details
    •  

     

     

  3. What is your personal information used for?

    The Council uses your personal information to carry out its function and fulfil its legal obligations. The processing of your data is necessary for assessing your application and administering the licensing regime. This includes:

    • verifying the right to work status of licence applicants, and in the case of private hire operators, all of the individuals named on the operator licence. Where necessary, we will do this by verifying your information with the Home Office and/or the Department for Work and Pensions
    • verifying other information about you or your vehicle during the period that your taxi, private hire or operator's licence is valid. This is to ensure continuing fitness to hold a licence
    • being on a register for public inspection. This information may include your name, badge/licence number, licence status, start/expiry date of the licence, vehicle make and model and vehicle registration number
    • sending updates on issues relating to the licensing and operation of the taxi and private hire trades in Manchester via email service messages.
    • the prevention and detection of fraud as part of the National Fraud Initiative. The Cabinet Office requires councils to participate in data matching exercises for this purpose
    • the prevention or detection of crime and/or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders
    • for the purposes of assessing your application or continuing fitness to hold a licence
    • creating aggregated, depersonalised data and statistics which may be shared with a external stakeholders who have a role in supporting taxi and private hire enforcement and compliance in Manchester, or for carrying out research and analysis. Individuals cannot be identified using this data.
    •  

  4. What is the lawful basis we are relying on?

    We collect and use your personal information because it is necessary to perform our public task Article 6 (1) (e).

    We collect and use your special categories of personal data under Article 9 (2)(g) and if relevant personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences to perform our public task as required by law.  This includes the application process for both Disclosure and Barring Service and DVLA checks. 

    The Council has a statutory duty to regulate the taxi and private hire trades under the Manchester City Council Byelaws for Hackney Carriages (made under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 section 68 and Public Health Act 1875 section 171) and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 for Private Hire. This legislation covers the licensing of taxi and private hire drivers, taxi and private hire vehicles and private hire operators.

  5. Where has the personal information come from?

    Most of the personal information that we hold is provided by you in your licence application and the supporting documents you provided with it.

    Private Hire operators provide us with details of all drivers and vehicles registered with them at specified intervals. They also provide details of customer complaints they have received which includes personal information about drivers as well as customers.

    Taxi and private hire customers and members of the general public provide us with personal information about licensees when contacting us about the service they have received or where raising concerns.

    Information from the police about criminal offences committed by taxi/private hire drivers or operators, is shared with the Council and used by the Council to refuse, suspend or revoke a taxi or private hire driver, operator or vehicle licence. The Council may inform the police of any decision to refuse, suspend or revoke a licence.

  6. Who will we share your personal information with?

    Personal data is shared, and received, securely with other parties and organisations where it is both necessary and appropriate to do so as part of the licensing process and to ensure an individual's or vehicle's ongoing fitness to hold a licence.

    We may share your personal data with:

    • Police
    • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
    • Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
    • Home Office
    • Cabinet Office
    • Department for Work and Pensions
    • Department for Transport
    • Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
    • Motor Insurers' Bureau
    • Other Local Authorities
    • Other Government departments
    • Departments within the Council
    • Private Hire Operators
    • HM Courts and Tribunals Service
    •  

  7. Automated decision making and profiling

    All the decisions we make about you will be made by a person and therefore there will be no data processed by automated decision making.

  8. How long will we keep your information?

    Our retention schedule sets out how long we keep personal information for.

  9. Your personal information and your rights

    You can find out more about your rights regarding the personal information used for this service. Your rights apply to the information held by the Council as a data controller, and the information we hold on behalf of the other data controllers.

  10. Contacting us about your data and updates

    If you have any questions or concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer.

    You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you're unhappy about how we process your information.

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