Guidance

People and Nature Surveys for England privacy notice

Updated 13 November 2024

Applies to England

Background to the research

The People and Nature Surveys for England are social surveys that gather evidence about:

• how people in England enjoy, access and understand the natural environment
• the benefits derived from engagement with nature (including nature’s contribution to wellbeing)
• environmental attitudes and actions taken to preserve the natural environment

Since 2020, Natural England has delivered 2 annual surveys of:

• 25,000 adults, collected throughout the year
• 4,000 children, collected in two waves, one during the summer holiday and one during term time

Each survey is nationally representative of the population of England and data is published as official statistics.

Collecting data through the People and Nature Surveys contributes to the delivery of Natural England’s statutory duties and informs the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) policy, natural capital accounting and helps underpin the Environmental Improvement Plan Indicator Framework.

Who collects your personal data

The data controller is:

Natural England
Foss House
Kings Pool
1-2 Peasholme Green
York
Y01 7PX

If you have questions about the project or how the data will be used, please contact the People and Nature Surveys team at people_and_nature@naturalengland.org.uk

Send questions about how we use your personal data and your associated rights to the Natural England Data Protection Manager at foi@naturalengland.org.uk or to:

Natural England
County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP

The Defra group Data Protection Officer is responsible for checking that Natural England complies with legislation. You can contact them at defragroupdataprotectionofficer@defra.gsi.gov.uk or at:

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
SW Quarter
2nd floor Seacole Block
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

The survey is carried out for Natural England by Verian Ltd.

What personal data is collected and how it is used

To deliver this research, Verian will collect your:

• ethnicity
• age
• health
• postcode
• sexual orientation
• gender
• education
• marital status
• number of children
• number of vehicles
• dog ownership
• economic data (work status, student work status, income)

Your personal data will be used to:

• understand how people in England engage with the natural environment and how this differs between groups
• the benefits people get from the environment and how this differs across groups
• develop an evidence base on the values, understanding, behaviours and attitudes of society towards the natural environment
• inform Natural England’s practice and contribute to policy aimed at improving access to the natural environment based on robust evidence

The legal basis for processing your personal data

The legal basis for processing your data is your consent to participate in this research.

Consent to process your personal data

You can withdraw your consent to participate in this research at any time. You can do this by stopping the survey at any time or contacting our approved third party. To do this, participants can contact the Verian Compliance Team via email at uk-compliance@veriangroup.com or in writing to:

Compliance Officer
Verian Ltd
4 Millbank
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JA

However, you may not be able to withdraw your data once Natural England has received the data from Verian as it will not be possible to identify individuals from the data we receive.

Who Natural England shares your personal data with

Apart from Verian, who collects the data on our behalf, Natural England will not share anything which makes you identifiable with third parties.

Data that has been made anonymous

Your anonymised information will be shared in the form of:

• processed data
• reports
• presentations
• academic publications
• anonymised datasets

Natural England publishes anonymous data in aggregate form on GOV.UK and publishes anonymised versions (with your personal data removed) of the full dataset via the UK Data Service. The anonymised data is also presented via a data viewer, data from which is stored on the R Shiny server.

Natural England respects your personal privacy when responding to access to information requests. We only share information when necessary to meet the statutory requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Natural England will not be able to identify you from the data it holds.

How long Natural England holds personal data

The full dataset will be held for 10 years following the end of the project. Data that has been made anonymous may be kept for longer as it has been published via the UK Data Service and GOV.UK and will enable long-term monitoring of how people in England engage with the natural environment.

What happens if you do not provide the data

You will not be able to participate in the survey and as such Natural England will not be able to gather your views and you will not be able to contribute to the specific goals of the research. Natural England will not be able to take your views into account when developing new policy and programmes.

Use of automated decision-making or profiling

The information you provide is not used for:

• automated decision making (making a decision by automated means without any human involvement)
• profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual)

Transfer of data outside of the UK

Natural England only stores or transfers your data to countries that are deemed adequate for data protection purposes.

Your rights

Find out about your individual rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Complaints

You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time.

Natural England’s personal information charter

Natural England’s personal information charter explains more about your rights over your personal data.