PRIVACY NOTICE | 

National Environment and Planning Agency Privacy Notice

Policy Owner	National Environment and Planning Agency
Policy Approver(s)	Chief Executive Officer
Related Policies and Procedures
Created by	Privacy & Legal Management Consultants Limited
Storage Locations
Effective Date
Next Review Date

 

INTRODUCTION

The National Environment and Planning Agency (hereinafter NEPA) respects your concerns about privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and share personal data we collect from you when you engage with us online, for the purposes of providing and maintaining our services.

For the purposes of this Privacy Notice, “personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.

WHO WE ARE

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation. The Agency became operational on April 1, 2001 as an Executive Agency under the Executive Agencies Act. It was founded to carry out the technical (functional) and administrative mandate of three statutory bodies, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), the Town and Country Planning Authority (TCPA) and the Land Development and Utilisation Commission (LDUC). NEPA is the lead Government Agency with the mandate for environmental protection, natural resource management, land use and spatial planning in Jamaica.

WHAT PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

We collect information from you depending on how you interact with us and our services. This information will be used for the sole purpose for which the information was provided to us and may include:

1. Personal Identification - Name, address, phone number, email address, and government-issued IDs, signature, TRN.
2. Application & Regulatory Data - Information submitted for permits, licenses, and approvals.
3. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses – Logged when visitors access the Agency’s website.
4. Browser type and Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Used for analytics and site administration.
5. Date and time stamps – Helps track user interactions.
6. Referring/exit pages and clicks – Used for trend analysis and demographic insights.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We use your personal data in order to ensure that we meet regulatory requirements, legal obligations and business-related requirements. We may process your Personal Data for the following purposes:

1. Processing, granting and administering of licences and permits;
2. Investigating environmental complaints;
3. Ensuring compliance with environmental regulations;
4. Developing policy and undertaking consultations;
5. Providing advice and information and undertaking research;
6. Maintaining our own accounts and records;
7. Delivering internal support functions, including corporate administration and the support and management of our employees; and
8. Responding to correspondence from the public.

LEGAL BASES FOR COLLECTING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The Data Protection Act, 2020 provides the legal bases for collecting personal data. The Legal Basis that we rely on for collecting and using personal data will depend on the specific context in which we collect it and includes:

1. Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations);
2. Consent: you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose; and
3. For the purposes of fulfilling a contractual obligation;  and
4. For the purposes of our own legitimate interests, granted that our interests do not override any of your own interests, rights, and freedoms.  

HOW DO WE SHARE AND DISCLOSE DATA TO THIRD PARTIES?

We share your personal data

1. with your consent;
2. to complete any transaction; or
3. provide any service you have requested or authorized such as providing permits, licenses, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) certificates.

Depending on the service provided, your Personal Data may be shared with different internal departments and third-party vendors when necessary to facilitate provision of services and/or for other legitimate interests. You may submit a Data Subject Access Request to obtain details regarding the sharing of your personal data with third parties. These third parties may include service providers, business partners, and legal authorities. For more detailed information, please refer to the list of third-party categories located the NEPA website and purposes in the “How Do We Use Your Personal Data” section of this Privacy Notice.

DATA RETENTION

We have policies in place that govern the retention of your Personal Data so it will be kept only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil its intended purpose or to satisfy legal requirements as specified in the Retention Schedule. These requirements also apply to third parties who work with us.

To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider different criteria, including the purposes for which we process your Personal Data, the need for maintaining your Personal Data to provide you information on our services, and all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. We may retain Personal Information beyond our designated retention periods if they are required to be a part of a legal proceeding or an investigation or to resolve a dispute.

SECURITY

The security of your information is important to us. All personal data you provide to us will be stored securely - both physically and electronically. We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent the unauthorized or unlawful processing of, or accidental loss or destruction of or damage to your personal data. This is done to protect the confidentiality integrity, and availability of your data.

Employees and third parties are provided only with Personal Data on a need-to-know basis and only the minimum amount that each individual requires to complete their specific job. We have agreements and controls in place with third party service providers, requiring them to safeguard any Personal Data we provide to them and to use the Personal Data only for the purpose of providing the service we have requested them to perform.

All employees are also subject to undergo annual training on the proper handling of personal data and sensitive personal data.

Data Held Outside Jamaica

Some personal data we control is held outside Jamaica. We, or processors acting on our behalf, will only store or process personal data in countries outside Jamaica when we are assured of the security of the data.

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

We ensure you can exercise your rights in relation to the personal data you provide to us. These rights include:

 

Your Right to	What does this mean?
Be Informed	You have the right to know whether we process your personal data
Access	You have the right to request all Personal Data we have collected about you, if any
Data Portability	You have the right to request the transfer of your Personal Data in a commonly used machine-readable format to another data controller that determines the purposes and means for which Personal Data is processed
Consent	You have the right consent to the processing of your personal data. Where you have provided us with your consent, you also have the right to withdraw such consent at any time
Prevent Processing	You can tell us when you do not want your Personal data to be on our grounds for legitimate interest, unless our reasons for undertaking that processing outweighs any prejudice to your data protection rights
Automated Decision Making	You have the right to ensure that no decision having significant impact on you, the data subject, is made solely by automated means
Rectification	You have the right to change any errors or omissions in the Personal Data we have collected about you

 

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us or our Data Protection Officer by email at dataprotection@nepa.gov.jm or Human Resources at hrm@nepa.gov.jm When we receive a request, we will take reasonable steps to verify the identity of the requestor in accordance with applicable law.

COOKIES AND WEB BEACONS

The National Environment and Planning Agency uses only strictly necessary cookies on our website. The cookies are used for the proper functioning of our website and enable core features such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. 

NEPA operates multiple platforms and linked websites to deliver its services and information to the public. These sites are managed by the Agency and share a consistent approach to the principles and standards outlined in this Privacy Notice for the collection, use, and protection of personal data.

As only essential cookies are used, there is no need for a cookie Preference Centre. You can choose to block these cookies through your individual browser settings, however, doing so may affect the functionality of the website.

LOG FILES

The National Environment and Planning Agency follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this as a part of hosting services' analytics. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users' movement on the website, and gathering demographic information. This information is not shared with third parties and is used only within the Agency.

CHILDREN’S INFORMATION

Another priority for us is to is ensure the protection of children while they use the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal data from anyone under the age of 12. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will endeavour to remove such information from our records.

ONLINE PRIVACY GUIDANCE

This Privacy Notice applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they share and/or collect in the National Environment and Planning Agency. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. In that case the ‘last updated’ date at the top of this page will also change. Any changes to this Privacy Notice will apply to you and your data immediately. If these changes affect how your personal data is processed, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are duly advised within 10 business days.

CONTACT US

If you have questions, requests, or concerns about this Privacy Notice and how we use your personal information, please contact us at Dataprotection@nepa.gov.jm or mail us at:

Data Protection Officer

National Environment and Planning Agency

10 and 11 Caledonia Avenue

Kingston 5, Jamaica

History of Changes

Revision Date	Revision Number	Changes	Revised By
	1	Cookies and Web Beacons	National Environment and Planning Agency