Disclosure Scotland's privacy statement

Disclosure Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. We provide criminal records checks under Part V of the Police Act 1997 and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (PVG).

Disclosure Scotland is committed to ensuring all personal information is collected and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 which requires information to be used only for business, regulatory or legal reasons.

Personal information is used by Disclosure Scotland:

• to assess eligibility and entitlement to certain levels of disclosures
• to prevent, detect and investigate crime
• to check Police Criminal History Systems for any relevant convictions you may have
• to apply the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and its updated/revised schedules and sections
• for audit purposes
• for statistical analysis and research
• to send you any certificates or communications
• to improve service levels

Sharing your information

The information you provide may be shared with other people to:

• process your application
• check it's correct
• verify your identity

We may also share information:

• to prevent, detect and investigate crime
• to apprehend and prosecute offenders
• to safeguard children and protected adults

We may share information with:

• police forces, to support application processing, and for the prevention and detection of crime and to protect vulnerable groups
• employing organisations who have a legal right to see such information under the Police Act 1997 and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007
• regulatory bodies who monitor professional competence and maintain standards for the profession(s) they regulate
• NHS Tribunal
• courts services
• Police Criminal Records Office
• UK or overseas government departments and law enforcement agencies
• Callcredit (a partner in the Disclosure Scotland service) to verify your identity

Protecting your information

Your personal information will be:

• handled fairly and lawfully
• only kept and used for limited purposes
• adequate, relevant and not excessive
• accurate and kept up to date
• not kept for longer than necessary
• processed in line with the data subjects' rights
• held securely
• not transferred to other countries without adequate protection

Your information will not be made available for commercial use without your permission.

Staff and systems

All our staff, suppliers and contractors are security vetted by the Scottish Government security unit. All staff are data protection trained and are aware of their responsibilities.

We carry out regular compliance checks to the standard set out by the Information Commissioners Office and make continual security checks on our IT systems.

Your individual rights

You have a number of individual rights which include:

• asking us to amend any data if it's incorrect
• asking us not to process information used for the disclosure certificate if it would cause substantial unwarranted damage or distress
• asking for non-automated decisions to be made regarding your data
• compensation for damage caused through a data protection breach
• access to the data we hold
• the right to stop unsolicited marketing

Read more about your individual rights from the Information Commissioner's Office.

Withdrawing your application

You can withdraw your application at any point until your certificate is printed. If you withdraw your application, Disclosure Scotland will delete the personal information you provided.

How to contact Disclosure Scotland

If you want to see a more detailed Disclosure Scotland privacy statement, or are unhappy with the way Disclosure Scotland handles your personal data, email them at DSadmin@disclosurescotland.gov.scot.

If you're unhappy with the answer you receive, or need any advice regarding the use of your personal data, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Read Disclosure Scotland's privacy policy.