This notice is for people who use an Opscel Digital Fire Logbook without an Opscel account: people who keep the logbook for a building, their backups, Responsible Persons, and anyone who scans a logbook's QR sticker, such as a fire inspector. If you have an Opscel account, our main privacy policy also applies to you.
Who is responsible for your information
The logbook for your building is set up and kept by the fire safety company that looks after it. That company decides what the logbook is used for, so it is the controller of your information.
Opscel Limited (14 Chalfont Way, Luton, LU2 9RQ, United Kingdom; company number 17090049) provides the logbook service to that company and handles your information on its behalf, as its processor. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number ZC105961.
The logbook tells you the company's name. For questions about your information, contact that company first. You can also contact us at privacy@opscel.com, and we will pass your request on or help.
What we record
About you, from the company that invited you
- Your name and your role for the building (keeper, backup or Responsible Person).
- Your mobile number and/or email address, so the logbook can send you your link.
When you use the logbook
- Each test or event you record: what was checked, your answers, any note you add, the time you say it happened and the time it was recorded.
- Your signature: either your typed name or a signature you draw on screen. It is attached to every entry you sign.
- Photos you choose to add (up to three per entry). Before a photo leaves your phone we shrink it and remove the hidden information inside it, including any location it contains. A photo may still show people or places, so please take care what you photograph.
- Your location, once, at the moment you sign. This shows whether the entry was made on site. Your phone asks your permission first, and you can say no; the entry is still recorded and simply says the location was not shared. We never track you. The entry itself records only whether you were on site. The position and its accuracy are kept separately so the company can check them.
- A sign-in cookie. Opening your link sets one cookie that keeps you signed in on that device for up to 30 days. It is essential for the logbook to work. We use no advertising or analytics cookies, so there is no cookie banner.
- The type of device and browser you signed in with (shortened), kept with that sign-in.
When someone opens the logbook from its QR sticker
- We record that the logbook was viewed, or that a report was downloaded or checked, and when.
- Link previews (for example when the link is pasted into a messaging app) can be counted as a view.
- We do not store your IP address or anything that identifies you.
- To stop misuse we count requests using a scrambled (hashed) form of your internet address. These counts are deleted after one day.
Why we use it
- To keep the building's fire safety records. The Responsible Person for a building must keep its fire safety systems maintained, and recording tests is how that is shown. The logbook is that record.
- To show a record can be trusted. Entries are sealed with the name, the signature and whether the entry was made on site, so nobody can quietly change them later.
- To let the fire safety company respond to faults you report, and to let inspectors see that checks were done.
Our lawful bases are: helping the Responsible Person meet their legal obligation to keep fire safety records (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005), the legitimate interests of the building and the fire safety company in keeping reliable records, and the fire safety company's contract with us. We do not use your information for marketing, and we make no automated decisions about you.
Who can see what
| Who | What they can see |
|---|---|
| The fire safety company that keeps the logbook | Everything in it. This includes an access history: when the logbook was viewed, exported or checked from the sticker, and when the keeper opened it. The history does not show internet addresses or device details. |
| People invited to the logbook for the building | The entries and the photos attached to them. |
| Anyone who scans the QR sticker (for example a fire inspector) | The building's name and address, and each entry's date and time, what was checked, the result, and the name and role of the person who signed it, plus corrections and the company's visits and certificates. |
The sticker page and its downloadable report never show phone numbers, email addresses, signature images, photos or anything written in a note. Where a fault was reported, they say only that details are held by the fire safety company.
Please note: the sticker is usually in a place the public can reach, so anyone who scans it can see the names and roles of the people who signed entries.
A saved copy of the sticker page
We keep a copy of exactly what the sticker page shows, so an inspector can still read the logbook if the live service is down. The copy holds nothing the sticker page does not show. It is updated within a few minutes of every change to the logbook, replaced when a new sticker is printed, and deleted if the fire safety company stops the logbook service.
Anyone who has the sticker's link can read the saved copy at any time, not only when the live service is down, and those reads are not recorded in the access history.
Companies that help us
We use these service providers. Each acts only on our instructions under a written contract.
| Provider | What for | Where your information is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Vercel Inc. | Running the logbook website, storing photos and drawn signatures, and storing the saved copy of the sticker page | London, UK |
| Neon Inc. | The logbook database | London, UK |
| Resend Inc. | Sending emails, such as your invitation | Ireland (EU) |
| Sentry (Functional Software Inc.) | Error reports, with personal details removed | Germany (EU) |
Some of these companies are based in the United States and may access information from there, for example for support. Where that happens, the transfer is protected by the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum.
How long we keep it
- The logbook and its entries are kept for as long as the fire safety company uses Opscel. A fire safety logbook is a legal record that belongs to the building. If the company stops using Opscel, we will arrange for the logbook to be handed over, usually to the building's Responsible Person, before it is deleted.
- Photos you added but did not send with an entry are deleted after 24 hours.
- Your link stops working after 30 days without use, or as soon as the company issues you a new one.
- Scrambled request counts are deleted after one day.
- The saved copy of the sticker page is replaced within a few minutes of each change, and deleted when the sticker is replaced or the logbook service stops. Internet caches may still serve a deleted copy for up to a minute.
Your rights
You have the right to see your information, to have it corrected, to ask for it to be deleted, to object to or restrict how it is used, and to receive a copy in a common format.
Because entries are sealed, they cannot be edited:
- Corrections are made by adding a new entry that shows what changed and why. The original stays visible.
- Deletion: once you no longer look after the building's logbook, you can ask for your name and personal details to be removed. We remove your name, mobile number, email address, your typed and drawn signatures, the details of where you were when you signed (the record keeps only whether you were on site) and the device details. Photos you added are removed too if you ask. The record then shows "Name removed on request", and still proves the rest of the logbook is unchanged. What you wrote in your answers, notes and reasons stays part of the sealed record, because the building must keep its fire safety records. Quotes already made from a fault you reported are not changed, and emails or reports already sent or downloaded cannot be recalled. The saved copy of the sticker page is updated within a few minutes, so it may still show your name for a short time after your details are removed.
To use any of these rights, contact the fire safety company or us at privacy@opscel.com. We reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how your information is handled, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
Messages we send
The logbook contacts you by email: your invitation, and a new link when you need one. We will add text messages and reminders when a check is due; before we send any, we will update this notice and you will be able to switch off each channel from the link in any reminder. The duty to keep the building's records continues, so the company, your backup or the Responsible Person may still be contacted.
Changes to this notice
If we change this notice we will update the date at the top. If a change affects you significantly, we will tell you through the logbook.