The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) processes any personal data you send in line with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Personal data consists of data from which a living individual is identified or is identifiable. The SPCB will only use your personal data for the purposes set out in this privacy notice and for which it was collected and in line with the legal basis for which it is being processed.
Information about you is your personal data. Personal data is anything that tells other people who you are, like your name or email address.
It can also be special types of information about your health, or what your religion is.
Keeping your information safe is very important. There are laws about how to look after your information. We have to do what these laws say.
One of these laws says we have to write a privacy notice. A privacy notice is a document that explains what we do with your information.
We will use your personal data (name, age, contact details and a photograph of you.)
If you are a young person who is attending the Opening Ceremony as a Local Hero, you are welcome to bring a guest with you (such as a parent, guardian or carer). To support their attendance at the event we ask for their date and place of birth and home address for the last 5 years. This is for security purposes so we can carry proportionate checks working with Police Scotland.
This information will be collected directly from you, your parent, carer or the organisation you are representing. If you are a Local Hero, we will use Microsoft Forms, a third-party survey tool, to collect information about you including your name, age, home and email address, the reason for your nomination and an image/photograph of you.
The survey also asks for accessibility and dietary requirements so that we can support you during the event.
If you are under 12 years of age, your parent, carer or the organisation you are representing will provide information on your behalf to us directly for the Opening Ceremony event.
If you are over 12 years of age, you, your parent, carer or the representing organisation will provide information on your behalf to us directly for the Opening Ceremony event.
If you are a Local Hero, your MSP will have completed a survey to nominate you as a Local Hero and to enable you to be part of the Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament.
Your MSP may also have collected the personal data of any guest who comes with you to the event, for example, your parent or carer.
Your personal information and your parents’ or carers’ information may also be shared with other departments within the Scottish Parliament. This will only be where it is necessary, for example, to make sure you can access the event, or have refreshments, or receive information about the event.
If you bring a guest (such as a parent or carer) with you as a Local Hero, we may need to provide information about the guest to Police Scotland.
If you are a Local Hero, your name will be shown in the Order of Service for the event which attendees will receive a copy of. Names of Local Heroes will also be shown on a screen during the event. Media coverage of the event may result in your name, image and reason for nomination being included in media coverage and shown on the Parliament’s social media channels.
Because the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament is an important public event, information about it and the people who take part or attend will form part of the history of Scotland. An organisation called National Records of Scotland keeps important records about important things that happen in Scotland. Information about the event and participations will become part of the public record and we will share this information with National Records of Scotland.
People who come to the parliament may find themselves part of the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony. The Scottish Parliament will take video footage and photography of the Opening Ceremony celebrations. Video footage may also be shown on TV channels such as BBC or STV. It will then be kept as on demand footage available on the Scottish Parliament website and held for archive with National Records of Scotland. Video footage may be used on the Scottish Parliament’s other platforms including social media. We will also capture video short extracts during the event which may be used on social media, the parliament’s website and other material promoting the Opening Ceremony and work of the Scottish Parliament. Photographs of the event will be used for promoting the role of the Scottish Parliament in educational material, on the Scottish Parliament’s website and social media accounts. They may also be issued to the media.
The footage of your participation and/or excerpts of it may be used on our website or social media platforms indefinitely.
If you do not want your picture taken, please tell one of our team in advance of the day. They will give you a sticker to show you do not want to be in photos.
We will not put photos of you on the Scottish Parliament’s social media channels. However, because this is a public event, press and media may take photos or videos which may include you. These might be shared online or in the news.
You might also appear in the background of some pictures. We are unable to control how other people use their photos or videos.
CCTV is also recorded in and around the parliament building which may take your image. There are cameras in place to make sure that the building and the people in it are safe. If you or a parent or carer would like more information about how these cameras operate, please let us know and we would be happy to provide further information. There is a CCTV privacy notice available on the Scottish Parliament website.
The personal information that is provided so that you can participate in the event and be included in the order of service will be destroyed by us within 28 days of the event.
The Order of Service is a paper document which will be given to all attendees so your name will continue to appear there. The footage of the Opening Ceremony, including your participation, will remain on Scottish Parliament TV after the event. Footage of your participation may be used on our website or social media platforms.
Footage of the Opening Ceremony will be transferred to the Scottish Parliament archive at National Records of Scotland. This will become publicly available when any restrictions on the information are lifted.
Information about the Opening Ceremony celebrations will also be kept for 15 years following the end of the current parliamentary session in accordance with the Scottish Parliament records retention schedule. The information will then be passed to the National Records of Scotland where it will be kept permanently as historical data.
Data protection laws say that we must have a “legal basis” for holding and using your personal data. Our legal basis is that processing the personal data is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest (for your name, age, postal and email address and for the local heroes, the reason for your nomination and a photograph of you) or in the substantial public interest (for any special information such as medical or religious information provided to us). “Public interest” means that your participation in the workings of the Parliament is important. It is important that all of the people of Scotland, including you, feel that the Parliament is a place you can come to and be a part of and promote democratic engagement. It is also to make sure that you can access and safely participate for the purposes of the Opening Ceremony event.
In line with the principles underlying the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland, our staff may report a concern to the relevant authorities if they come across an issue during their work which causes them to think that a child may be at risk of abuse or harm.
Data protection law sets out the rights which individuals have in relation to personal data held about them by data controllers. Applicable rights are listed below, although whether you will be able to exercise data subject rights in a particular case may depend on the purpose for which the data controller is processing the data and the legal basis upon which the processing takes place.
The following rights apply:
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold.
Find out more information about making a Subject Access Request
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up-to-date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you.
You can ask us to correct any information about you.
Where we use your personal information to perform tasks carried out in the public interest then, if you ask us to, we will stop using that personal information unless there is a good legal reason not to.
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 about you or considering any objection you have made to our use of your information. If we agree to your request we will only use your personal information with your permission or in response to any legal claims or where there is a good reason to do so.
Please let us know if you would like to ask about using these rights.
You can ask for a paper copy of this document.
This privacy statement was last updated on 21 May 2026.
If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your personal information you can make a complaint to the Information Governance Team of the Scottish Parliament at the following address: [email protected].
We will respond to your complaint and your complaint will be acknowledged within one month. If, having made a complaint, you are still unhappy with the way that your personal information has been handled, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office who can be contacted at Information Commissioner's Office, you can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office by telephone to make your complaint using this number: 0303 123 1113.
If you have any further questions about the way in which we process personal data, or about how to exercise your rights, please contact the Head of Information Governance and Data Protection Officer at:
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Email: [email protected]