Personal information charter

Our personal information charter contains the standards you can expect when we ask for, or hold, your personal information.

Data Protection Policy

For the purposes of data protection law, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is part of the Department for Transport. The Department has a Personal Information Charter which describes how it protects personal data. It can be found here.

The MAIB’s approach to the privacy of personal data conforms to the Department’s Charter with some additional provisions. The additions arise from the MAIB’s role as an independent accident investigator, governed by its own laws. The key additions to the Department’s Charter are described in the following sections.

The data we collect

The MAIB collects personal information in the course of its investigation of marine accidents. This will include personal information of those directly involved in the accident, as well as witnesses, company representatives, and people who work for third parties such as search and rescue organisations, the police, and port authorities. The MAIB also receives personal information from third parties, including from those outside of the EU.

As well as this the MAIB keeps personal contact details of those individuals who have voluntarily expressed a wish to be included on circulation lists for its publications including investigation reports and the Safety Digest.

The MAIB carries out its work under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012. These Regulations, and Sections 259, 260 and 267 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 under which the Regulations were made, allow the MAIB to obtain any information that is necessary to carry out its investigation.

This power to process personal data is compliant with the provisions of Article 6 1.(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) whereby “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”. This is explained in more detail in Section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Our use of personal data

The MAIB uses the personal information described above for the purposes of the efficient conduct of its investigations. This information is protected from release by section 259(12) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and the provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 Regulation 13.

Personal information cannot be published or made publically available by the MAIB.

Retention of personal data

The MAIB will retain personal data gathered during the course of its investigations beyond the date of the publication of the investigation report. This is because the information may be pertinent to subsequent investigations and there is a possibility that investigations may be reopened at a later date.

Investigation records are kept for 20 years after which they will normally be destroyed.

Your rights

Individuals have the right to ask the MAIB what personal information is held about them by making what is known as a subject access request directly to the MAIB. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days.

Due to the confidential manner in which its investigations are conducted, the MAIB will not notify individuals that information has been received about them from a third party.

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