General Information

This privacy notice tells you what Scottish Forestry will do with the personal information we will collect as part of any enforcement actions we take in our role as Forestry regulator in Scotland, and how we will protect your privacy.

This privacy notice will tell you:

• Which personal information we will collect and use
• Why we need this personal information and what we will use it for
• How we will get this information
• How long we will store it for
• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information
• Whether we intend to transfer it to another country

We are the controller for any personal information you give to us.

Controller Contact Details

Scottish Forestry
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh
EH11 3XD

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please mark any correspondence with ‘Privacy Notice – Enforcement Action’.

Data Protection Officer’s Contact Details

Contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mark the email FAO Data Protection Officer.

The personal information we collect and use

As part of our enforcement action activities, we will collect the following personal information on the registered owner(s) of the land:

• Title
• Forename
• Surname
• House number or name
• Street
• Town
• County/Region
• Postcode

Lawful basis for processing

The lawful basis we rely on to process personal data for the above purposes is article 6 (1) of the UK GDPR:

(c) Legal obligation
(e) Perform a public task

Why do we need this personal information?

Scottish Forestry is the Scottish Government appointed agency to deliver the requirements laid on them by the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) 2018 Act (FLM Act) which includes the requirement for SF to issue a Restocking Direction, Felling Direction or Remedial Notice or Notice to Comply in relation to offences committed. Enforcement notices can also be sent by SF under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Forestry) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and the Plant Health (Official Controls and Miscellaneous Provisions)(Scotland) Regulations 2019.

The personal information is required to ascertain the owner(s) of the land and to ensure that any enforcement action notices and associated correspondence are sent to the relevant persons.

How do we get your personal information?

We will get your personal information from various sources, including:

• Previous applications through SF
• Rural Payments and Inspections Division
• Registers of Scotland

The information we get is collected at the point of application for either a grant or a felling permission.

Who we share your personal information with

As part of enforcement activities, we may share your personal information with Sherrif Officer Service and related process servers. We have a data sharing agreement in place with the Sherrif Officer Services we use.

This data sharing allows us to pass on an enforcement notice to the Sheriff officer; for them to process and deliver (including the use of third party process servers where agreed) the document and the recording of this information.

How we store your personal information

Your personal information is stored in hard copy form. Original hard copies of the enforcement actions are kept as wet signatures are required for our records. Hard copies will be kept in secure file storage at our local offices in filing cabinets with access limited to office staff, as is necessary only.

Personal information will be stored electronically, on secure networks and/or our electronic records and documents management system, accessible only through the use of an encrypted laptop. Case management systems are also used and will be password protected.

Any information that is shared with the Sheriff Officer service, would be transferred by email. This will be marked with the correct Government Security Classification labels (Official, Secret and Top Secret, and should be labelled Official Sensitive or Official Personal). These will also be marked Legal. This will be put into the email subject line and on the document. Hard copies will be marked the same.

The data sharing agreement in place with the Sheriff Officer service will describe how the personal information will be stored and kept secure.

How long we keep your personal information

Your personal information will be kept for a minimum period.

Scottish Forestry has a retention schedule for records, as does the Sheriff Officer Service. In some systems this is automated and in others it requires regular housekeeping to be undertaken by those responsible for the records.

Your rights

You can exercise any of the following rights by emailing the Data Protection Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Your rights in relation to your personal information are:

• You have a right to request access to, and copies of, the personal information that we hold about you by making a "subject access request"
• If you believe that any of the personal information that we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have a right to request that we correct or complete your personal information
• You have a right to object to and/or request that we restrict the processing of your personal information for specific purposes

Any requests received by us will be considered under applicable data protection legislation.

Your right to complain

We are committed to protecting your personal information and privacy. If you have queries or concerns, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have a right to raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office.

The Information Commissioner’s Office
Queen Elizabeth House
Sibbald Walk
Edinburgh
EH8 8FT

Telephone: 0303 123 1115

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was first published November 2023. We will keep this privacy notice under annual review to make sure it is up to date and accurate, or whenever a change is required.