Wales National Travel Survey - Privacy Notice

The Wales National Travel Survey is being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) on behalf of Transport for Wales. The survey will collect data on travel attitudes and behaviour from people living in Wales. The results will help Transport for Wales and Welsh Government develop policies and decide how services are delivered.

Each year the survey involves around 15,000 random households across Wales being invited to participate online, via telephone or through a face-to-face interview in their home. We anticipate that around 5,000 adults aged 16+ will participate in the survey annually.

Transport for Wales is the data controller for the research and receives the information collected by NatCen. The information is used for research and statistical purposes only, to produce statistical bulletins and research reports. The bulletins and reports are about the population of Wales in general, not about individual people.  The survey will collect personal data as well as data which is not considered personal data under UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Survey publications and statistical reports will be produced in an anonymised form. Reports will not contain any information that makes individuals identifiable. Reports are published at https://tfw.wales/projects/wales-national-travel-survey.

Your participation in the survey is completely voluntary. However, your views and experiences are important. Transport for Wales and Welsh Government will use the results of this research to improve transport services in Wales.

The contact details for the Wales National Travel Survey team at Transport for Wales are:

E-mail address: travelsurvey@tfw.wales
Telephone number: 03333 211 202

The contact details for this research at NatCen are:

E-mail address: WNTS@natcen.ac.uk
Telephone number: 0800 652 9296

Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.

Participant addresses are randomly selected from the Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File, a publicly available list of all addresses in Wales, with selected households being sent an invite letter.

If you do not complete the survey online you will be invited to participate by telephone. If you wish to participate in the survey by telephone you will need to provide NatCen with your telephone number and first name or initial, and optionally your full name and email if you are content to provide them at this stage.

Your participation in the survey is voluntary and if you do not wish to take part or be sent reminders then please reply using the contact details on your invitation letter and your details will be removed.

If you take part in the survey, we will be collecting the following personal information for analysis purposes: 

• Home address
• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Ethnic group
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Welsh language ability

The survey also includes a travel diary where we ask you to record certain trips that you have made during the previous 48-hour period.

This information is collected using an Ordnance Survey map and includes the start and end location for each trip. TfW will receive the location details for each trip including postcodes and/or geographical co-ordinates.

We will only use this information for research and analysis purposes and we will not publish information on individual trips or link any trips to individuals.

Survey respondents are offered a £10 Love2Shop voucher as a thank you for taking part in the survey. If you choose for the voucher to be sent to you by email, we will need to capture your email address.

As part of this survey respondents are asked if they would be willing to take part in further research conducted by Transport for Wales or Welsh Government. If you agree to take part in any future research, then the contact details you provide will be held by the NatCen for 1 year following the conclusion of the survey.

If you raise a query or complaint through NatCen and provide personal data requesting a response, the researcher will forward the request to the NatCen complaints officer and the data processed will be deleted within one year of your complaint being resolved. Any queries or complaints will not form part of the survey data at any point. If you raise a complaint directly with Transport for Wales, any personal information you provide in relation to the complaint will be handled as described in Transport for Wales’ privacy policy.

Your answers to the survey are linked anonymously to other data sources as part of the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank for non commercial research purposes (unless you ask for this linkage to not take place).

The SAIL Databank is a collection of anonymised data about the population of Wales, which is internationally recognised for the robust secure storage and use of anonymised person-based data for research to improve health, well-being and services.

In order to link your data to the SAIL Databank the following personal information will be collected and used to link your National Travel Survey responses to other data in the SAIL Databank. 

• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Postcode

Transport for Wales will not be provided with your name or date of birth. 

Respondents are able to opt out of having their answers linked when completing the survey. For more information on the process of data linking, please visit Find out more about the Wales National Travel Survey.

Anonymised survey data may also made available via the UK Data Service for research projects carried out by accredited researchers such as academics and NHS researchers. The anonymised survey data is held securely and is only ever used for non-commercial research purposes. We do not share or use your information for commercial or marketing purposes.

Anonymised survey data may also be shared with Public Health Wales for non-commercial research projects. Public Heath Wales holds the data securely and does not share or use your information for other purposes.

Details of postcodes and/or geographical co-ordinates for start and end locations for any trips recorded in the travel diary section of the survey will not be shared with any third parties.

The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task; that is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of Transport for Wales. Some of the information we collect on the survey is called ‘special category data’ (information about ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and health) and the lawful basis for processing this information is that it is for statistical or research purposes.

While we exercise the collection of your information as part of public task, you are not obligated to participate and provide this information.

The information collected will be used to help us understand:

• How we can help people make sustainable travel choices, to contribute to our Net Zero targets and ambitions;
• What actions we can take to remove barriers to different groups of people using public transport or active travel to move around;
• How different people experience travel and transport across Wales; and
• The average distance travelled by different transport modes

Personal information provided to NatCen is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of researchers working on this project.

NatCen will only use this data for research purposes. NatCen is accredited as meeting both ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus standards.

NatCen use a survey software programme called Blaise 5 to collect data including survey responses and contact information. We have ensured that Blaise 5 is UK GDPR compliant and meets our expectations in terms of the security of any data collected via the software.

NatCen have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breaches. If a suspected breach occurs that affects your information, NatCen will report this to Transport for Wales who will notify you and any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.

Any personal data provided to Transport for Wales is held on secure servers, and for this project a database has been created that has access restricted only to the Wales National Travel Survey research team. The information collected will only be used to check how the survey is working, not to draw conclusions about individual people.

Anonymised survey data is made available to researchers via the UK Data Service. Officially recognised researchers, such as academics and NHS researchers, and other public sector bodies in Wales may also request access to data not available through the UK Data Service. These requests are scrutinised by the Chief Transport Planning and Development Officer at Transport for Wales and - if approved - are governed by Data Access Agreements issued by Transport for Wales. These formal agreements set out strict requirements for the processing and safekeeping of personal data.

NatCen will hold personal data during the contract period, and will delete any personal data, including your contact details, according to the following schedule:

• Personal data stored in the Blaise 5 system is deleted within one month of data delivery to Transport for Wales.
• Personal information relating to a complaint to NatCen is deleted within one year of the complaint being resolved.
• Any remaining data are retained by NatCen for up to three years after the survey year closes.
• Personal data is retained by Transport for Wales for up to five years after the survey year closes.

The main survey fieldwork period runs from April each year to the following March. Sign-off of the dataset takes place within six months of the end of the fieldwork period with data delivery to Transport for Wales.

NatCen will provide Transport for Wales with the full dataset including the data listed above, as well as contact information for those respondents who have agreed to be re-contacted. 

• Where you agreed to be recontacted Transport for Wales will delete your name, telephone number, postal address, email address and date of birth from the separated recontact list within three years of dataset sign-off.

Personal information relating to a complaint to Transport for Wales will be handled as described in Transport for Wales’ privacy policy.

Digital Health and Care Wales, which provides a secure linkage service is accredited under ISO27001, also has access to some of the personal data, including name, date of birth, sex and postcode for a period of three months, solely to allow data linking with the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank at Swansea University.

Under UK GDPR, in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this survey you have the following rights:

• To access a copy of your own data; 
• For us to rectify inaccuracies in that data;
• To object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances);
• For your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances); and
• To lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is the independent regulator for data protection.

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:

Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Phone: 03031 231 113
Website: ico.org.uk

If you have any further questions about how the data provided as part of this study will be used by Transport for Wales or wish to exercise your rights using the UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

The National Travel Survey Team at Transport for Wales:

E-mail address: travelsurvey@tfw.wales
Telephone number: 03333 211 202

If you have any questions around accessing your personal information or exercising your “right to be forgotten” Transport for Wales’ Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:

Transport for Wales, 
3 Llys Cadwyn, 
Pontypridd, 
Rhondda Cynon Taf, 
CF37 4TH

Email: dataprotection@tfw.wales.