Transparent Reporting

We observe and report. That's it.

Glasgow Streetwatch has no enforcement powers and we are clear about that at every turn. Our role is safer streets through observation, safeguarding and partnership — never enforcement. This page sets out exactly what we record, how we anonymise it, what we publish to the public, and your rights over any data we hold.

Our reporting principles

Observation, not enforcement

Volunteers have the same legal powers as any other member of the public — and we never imply otherwise. We do not stop, search, detain or instruct anyone.

Reporting, not investigation

We pass concerns to Police Scotland, the council or specialist services. We do not run our own investigations, name suspects, or publish allegations.

Lawful intelligence handling

All notes, logs and footage are handled under UK GDPR with a documented lawful basis, retention period, and access controls audited by the Oversight Board.

Proportionate recording

We record what is necessary for safeguarding, partner referral or our own accountability — and nothing more. Casual surveillance of the public is prohibited.

What we record

Minimum necessary, structured fields.

  • Date, time and approximate location (street-level, not exact address where avoidable)
  • Patrol team identifier (not individual volunteer names in public exports)
  • Category: safeguarding, ASB, environmental, transport, medical, other
  • Brief factual description of what was observed
  • Action taken and which agency, if any, was contacted
  • Outcome at point of handover (we do not track outcomes after handover)
What we never record

The lines we don't cross.

  • Names, addresses or identifying details of members of the public — unless required for a safeguarding referral
  • Protected characteristics (ethnicity, religion, sexuality) as descriptors
  • Vehicle registration plates outside a specific safeguarding context
  • Photographs or video of identifiable individuals on public channels
  • Speculation about motive, criminality, or immigration status

What we publish to the public

Aggregated, anonymised, and audited by the Oversight Board before release.

Quarterly Transparency Report

Every 3 months

Patrol hours, incident categories, safeguarding referrals, complaints received and outcomes.

Annual Public Report

Every March

Full year activity, audit findings from the Oversight Board, finances, and policy changes.

Anonymised Hotspot Dashboard

Live, refreshed monthly

Aggregated incident density by ward and category — no individuals, no addresses.

Community Impact Briefings

Ad-hoc, per ward

Plain-English updates to local community councils on what we've seen and what we've referred.

Latest community impact snapshot

A sample of what a quarterly report looks like.

Illustrative figures shown until the first live quarter publishes. All counts are aggregated city-wide and contain no personal data.

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Patrol hours

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Safeguarding referrals

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Calls placed to 999 / 101

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Complaints upheld

First live quarterly report publishes after the initial operational period and Oversight Board sign-off.

Your rights

If you think we hold data about you.

Contact our data team

Subject Access Requests, deletion requests, and questions about our lawful basis go to our data protection inbox. The Oversight Board is copied on every response.

info@streetwatch.org.ukEscalate to Oversight Board