A homeowner has accused the managers of the refuse tips and recycling centres in Berkshire of invading the privacy of himself and fellow residents.
Chris Wright from North Ascot has complained that re3, the waste management company in Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell, is unnecessarily taking personal information in order for the public to use its waste sites.
Users of the recycling centres at Smallmead in Reading and Longshot Lane in Bracknell have to book a time slot and provide their name, address and show ID to prove they are a resident of Reading, Wokingham or Bracknell.
Mr Wright has argued that having to provide your exact address is excessive, and could be used by council officers to unduly monitor the amount of tip visits made.
He said: “I’m not anti-booking systems. I understand you need to give information, such as an ID and the ward you live in. My problem is that you have to give the address as well.
“It means they can monitor you. You could get enforcement officers visiting your home to ask ‘why are you using the tip too much?’
“It’s a very nasty slippery slope.”
Mr Wright also pointed to an extract from the re3 terms and conditions which states: “The re3 Partnership will use the data provided at the time of application to administer the permit scheme, and to review the number of visits made to the recycling centre by individual residents and/or vehicles.
“We may contact residents if it appears that the number of visits suggests activity more like that of a trader than a householder.”
For its part, a spokesperson for re3 stated that monitoring equipment is used to ensure that the centres are not being used illegally by trade waste businesses.
The spokesperson said: “The re3 Councils do not analyse data following residents’ visit at the Recycling Centres.
“The councils have a duty to receive household waste, only from our residents, at the Recycling Centres, not trade waste.
“To help protect our tax-payers, we ask anyone visiting our sites in a commercial vehicle (such as a van or sign written vehicle) to review and accept a declaration, confirming that they are not depositing trade waste.
“The declaration asks users to confirm that they understand that suspected misuse of permits will be investigated.
“In cases where suspected misuse is identified, we reserve the right to use the data, about commercial vehicle visits alone, as described in the re3 Privacy Notice which is available on the Reading Borough Council website.”
