The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) processes your personal data 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.
We will process your personal data in order to help with your attendance at the event.
We will use Microsoft Forms to collect information about you and your guest including information about any health requirements so that we can assist you, if required, during the event.
Read information about Microsoft forms
CCTV is also recorded in and around the building which may capture your personal data.
Please refer to our specific Privacy Notice relating to CCTV
We will collect information about you including name, date of birth, postal and email address and telephone number. For Local Heroes we will also collect the reason for your nomination and an image/photograph of you.
You have the right to ask us to stop using your personal information. If you do so we will need to decide whether to stop using your personal information. This will depend on the reasons why you do not want your personal information to be used by us.
We may receive **special category data about you in relation to your nomination as a Local Hero.
We may also receive and temporarily store special category data such as information about your health including any accessibility and dietary requirements, to assist you during the event.
*Criminal offence data consists of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures.
**Special category data consists of information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purposes of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
The information we receive about Local Heros is provided either directly by you or by the nominating Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP). Information we receive about a Local Hero guest is provided by the Local Hero.
Personal data is shared internally with other departments within the Scottish Parliament where necessary.
Your date of birth, place of birth and home address history for the past 5 years will be shared with Police Scotland for the purposes of carrying out security checks.
Local Hero names will be shared in the Order of Service for the event which you will receive a physical copy of and may be shared with the media.
Local Hero names will also be shown on a screen during the event. Media coverage of the Opening Ceremony may result in your name, image and reason for nomination being included in media coverage and shown on the Parliament’s social media channels.
The SPCB will take video and photography footage of the Opening Ceremony. Video footage from the Chamber will be live streamed on the Scottish Parliament TV and then kept as on-demand footage available on the Scottish Parliament website. Local Hero’s names will be shown on the screen during the Chamber event along with the photo you provided. Chamber proceedings and any meeting with Their Majesties may also be broadcast on national television which might include TV channels such as BBC or STV. Photographs of the Opening Ceremony 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. Video footage may be used on the Scottish Parliament’s other platforms including social media. We will also capture video snippets/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.
Read our privacy notice on broadcasting and photography
Special category data for any accessibility or dietary requirements will be destroyed within 28 working days of the event taking place. Information provided for criminal history checks and any criminal offence data shared by Police Scotland will be destroyed within 28 working days of the event.
Significant events such as the Opening Ceremony will go on to form part of the public record. Personal information contained within a public record will be retained in accordance with the Scottish Parliament records management policy and may be transferred to the Scottish Parliament archive at National Records of Scotland, where it will be publicly available at a point when any applied restrictions have expired.
The footage of your participation and/or excerpts of it may be used on our website or social media platforms indefinitely.
Data protection law states that we must have a legal basis for handling your personal data.
The legal basis for processing personal data for your attendance at the Opening Ceremony is for the purposes of a task carried out in the public interest (Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and section 8(e) of the DPA). The public interest is for the purposes of facilitating the event to mark the Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament and associated promotion of the event in order to promote democratic engagement.
If you provide us with any health-related information to facilitate your attendance at the event, the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (Article 9(2)(g) and paragraph 6 of Part 2 to Schedule 1 of the DPA). The substantial public interest is compliance with statutory equality requirements in terms of section 29(7) of the Equality Act 2010.
For special category data relating to health supplied as part of the nomination the processing relates to personal data which are manifestly made public by the data subject (Article 9(2)(e)).
For the processing of criminal offence data (which includes information about criminal allegations, offences and convictions) the processing is necessary for the prevention or detection of an unlawful act (Article 10 and paragraph 10 of Part 2 to Schedule 1 of the DPA).
For the transfer of personal data in relation to your attendance at the event to the National Records of Scotland, the legal basis is that it is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest (Article 6(1) and section 8(d) of the DPA). For the avoidance of doubt, this does not apply to personal data obtained for the purposes of criminal history checks.
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.
Further information on how to make a data protection subject access request
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.
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 are overriding legitimate grounds to continue.
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 that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information. Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.
Please contact us in any of the ways set out in the contact information and further advice sections below if you wish to exercise any of these rights.
Paper copies of the privacy statement may also be obtained using the contact information below.
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 without undue delay 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.
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]