Privacy & Data Policy

1. About this policy

This Privacy & Data Policy explains how Project S.W.A.N. collects, uses, stores and displays data. It applies to the public website, school dashboard, sponsor pages, wildlife monitoring nodes, environmental sensors, BirdNET-related bird detection features, BirdWeather-related public data displays, and any future wildlife camera or wider species detection features used by the project.

The project is designed around responsible, low-impact wildlife monitoring. The main purpose is to help people learn about birds, wildlife, habitats and biodiversity. The project is not intended to be a security system, CCTV system, people counter, staff monitoring system, pupil monitoring system or public surveillance system.

This policy may change as the project grows. For example, it may be updated if Project S.W.A.N. adds school accounts, teacher accounts, sponsor dashboards, new wildlife camera nodes, extra environmental sensors, new third-party services or additional ways to submit wildlife information.

2. Who is responsible for the project?

The person or organisation operating Project S.W.A.N. is responsible for deciding how the project is run, how nodes are placed, what data is collected, what is displayed publicly, and how privacy concerns are handled.

Until a formal organisation or company name is added, references in this policy to “we”, “us” and “our” mean the Project S.W.A.N. project owner.

Privacy contact: [email protected]

Before launch, this contact address should be replaced with the final email address used for privacy requests, safeguarding concerns, school enquiries and data removal requests.

3. What Project S.W.A.N. does

Project S.W.A.N. uses wildlife monitoring nodes to collect information about nature. Depending on the type of node and where it is installed, a node may include:

• a microphone for passive outdoor bird and wildlife sound monitoring;
• local processing AI software for identifying likely bird species from sound;
• public BirdWeather station and detection data;
• temperature, humidity, pressure or other environmental sensors;
• battery, solar, power and network monitoring;
• general station information, such as node name, node ID and approximate site area;
• educational dashboard content for schools and children;
• sponsor recognition where a person, business or organisation sponsors a node;
• future wildlife camera features where a site has specifically agreed to camera-based wildlife monitoring.

The project may display detections on public or semi-public dashboards. These dashboards are intended to show wildlife activity, not personal activity.

4. Core privacy principles

Project S.W.A.N. is built around the following privacy principles:

• Wildlife first: monitoring should focus on birds, wildlife and habitat conditions.
• People last: nodes should be placed and configured to avoid capturing people where possible.
• No human identification: the project must not use voice recognition, facial recognition or person tracking.
• Minimal collection: only information that supports the wildlife, education or node maintenance purpose should be collected.
• Short clips where possible: audio clips should be short and linked to wildlife detections rather than long continuous recordings.
• Responsible public display: public dashboards should not show private conversations, identifiable images of people or unnecessary personal information.
• Removal on concern: if accidental personal data is reported, we should review it and remove it where reasonably possible.
• Child-friendly by design: school-facing pages should avoid collecting personal data from children and should explain wildlife information in a safe, age-appropriate way.

5. What data we may collect

5.1 Wildlife detection data

The project may collect, receive, store or display wildlife detection information, including:

• species name, such as robin, blackbird, blue tit, tawny owl, fox, deer, badger or hedgehog;
• detection date and time;
• detection confidence score or AI probability score;
• scientific species name where available;
• species category, such as bird, mammal, amphibian or unknown animal;
• node ID, station ID or device ID;
• general site name, such as a school, garden, reserve, woodland or community space;
• general habitat type, such as garden, woodland, wetland, field edge or urban green space;
• sound clip, spectrogram or short soundscape recording linked to a detection;
• image or short video clip where an approved wildlife camera node is used;
• notes about detection quality, background noise or likely false positives.

Wildlife detections can sometimes be incorrect. AI detection scores should be treated as likely detections, not guaranteed proof that a species was present. The dashboard may show confidence scores or warnings where a detection may need human review.

5.2 Audio and soundscape data

Acoustic nodes may collect short outdoor audio clips. These clips are intended to capture birdsong, calls, wildlife sounds and environmental soundscapes. Audio may be used to:

• run bird detection using BirdNET or similar tools;
• show examples of local wildlife sounds on the dashboard;
• allow teachers and pupils to listen to examples of birds and habitats;
• help verify whether a detection is likely to be correct;
• understand the soundscape of a site, such as woodland, school grounds or gardens;
• debug and improve the wildlife detection setup.

Acoustic monitoring is not intended to capture conversations. Nodes should not be placed close to classrooms, open windows, playground seating areas, private gardens, staff areas, public benches or other places where private speech is likely to be clearly recorded.

5.3 Environmental and habitat data

Nodes may collect environmental readings so the project can explain the conditions around detections. This may include:

• temperature;
• humidity;
• air pressure;
• light level;
• rain or moisture status where a sensor is fitted;
• wind or weather-related readings where available;
• battery voltage and battery percentage;
• solar charging status;
• device uptime;
• signal strength or connection quality;
• last upload time;
• sensor health and error messages.

Environmental readings are used to help tell a better habitat story. For example, they can help explain how birds and wildlife activity changes with temperature, rain, season, daylight, habitat type or time of day.

5.4 Node and technical data

To keep nodes working correctly, we may collect technical information such as:

• node name and node ID;
• station ID from BirdWeather or other services;
• software version;
• device status;
• upload status;
• network connection status;
• storage status;
• error logs;
• restart events;
• maintenance notes;
• installation date;
• approximate physical location of the node.

Technical data helps us maintain the system, spot faults, avoid missing wildlife data, and explain why a node may not be sending recordings or detections.

5.5 School, organisation and sponsor data

Where schools, community groups, landowners, sponsors or organisations take part in the project, we may collect:

• school, organisation or sponsor name;
• contact name for the responsible adult or organisation representative;
• email address;
• phone number where provided;
• site address or general location for the node;
• node sponsorship details;
• certificate name or display name;
• messages, enquiries and support requests;
• permissions or agreements relating to node placement;
• records of reported concerns, removal requests or site changes.

Sponsor names, school names or organisation names may be displayed publicly where this is part of the sponsorship or education purpose. Personal contact details should not be displayed publicly unless there is a clear reason and permission to do so.

5.6 Website and security data

When someone visits the website, the hosting provider or website systems may process basic technical data, such as:

• IP address;
• browser type;
• device type;
• pages visited;
• time and date of visit;
• referring website;
• security logs;
• error logs.

This information is used to keep the website secure, understand errors, prevent abuse and make sure the dashboard works properly.

6. What we do not intentionally collect

Project S.W.A.N. does not intentionally collect:

• private conversations;
• voice identity data;
• face identity data;
• biometric data for identifying people;
• pupil names through the public wildlife dashboard;
• pupil profiles;
• attendance records;
• behaviour records;
• staff monitoring records;
• precise tracking of people’s movements;
• home addresses of pupils or members of the public;
• special category data such as health, religion or political views;
• payment card details through the wildlife dashboard;
• marketing profiles for children.

If any of this type of information is accidentally captured or submitted, it should be reviewed and deleted where reasonably possible.

7. Audio monitoring and accidental human speech

Acoustic wildlife monitoring is central to Project S.W.A.N.. However, audio can be sensitive because it may accidentally capture human speech. The project therefore treats audio monitoring carefully.

Project S.W.A.N. acoustic nodes are designed to detect birds and wildlife sounds. They are not designed to listen to people, record conversations, identify voices or transcribe speech.

We do not use voice recognition. We do not use speaker identification. We do not intentionally transcribe conversations. We do not use audio clips to monitor staff, pupils, visitors, neighbours or members of the public.

Accidental human speech may occasionally be captured in an outdoor soundscape recording. This could happen if people are near the node, if the node is close to a path, or if a microphone is too close to an area where people gather.

To reduce this risk:

• nodes should be aimed and placed for wildlife, not people;
• microphones should be positioned away from doors, windows and seating areas;
• recordings should be short where possible;
• public displays should focus on detections, not long recordings;
• audio clips with clear private speech should not be published;
• reported clips should be reviewed and removed where reasonably possible;
• schools and site owners should choose node locations carefully.

If you believe a Project S.W.A.N. recording includes private speech or personal information, contact us with the node name, approximate date, approximate time and details of the concern.

8. Wildlife camera monitoring

Project S.W.A.N. is primarily an acoustic and environmental monitoring project. Wildlife camera monitoring may be added in the future to help detect animals such as foxes, deer, badgers, hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits and other wildlife.

If wildlife cameras are added, they must be used for wildlife monitoring only. They should be aimed at habitats, animal routes, feeding areas, woodland edges, ponds, hedgerows or other wildlife-focused areas. They must not be used as CCTV, doorbell cameras, playground surveillance, staff monitoring or pupil monitoring.

Any future camera feature should avoid publishing images of people. If a person is accidentally captured, the image should be deleted or excluded from public display where reasonably possible.

Project S.W.A.N. does not use facial recognition. The project does not identify people from images. The project does not track people’s movements through camera detections.

9. Children, schools and educational use

Project S.W.A.N. may be used by schools as an educational resource. The school dashboard is designed to show bird detections, wildlife facts, habitats, soundscapes, species images, sensor readings and child-friendly learning activities.

The school dashboard is not designed to collect personal data from children. Children should be able to learn from the wildlife information without needing to provide their name, email address, photo, voice recording, location or personal profile.

The project should not ask pupils to create public profiles. It should not display pupil names on public wildlife dashboards. It should not use children’s personal information for advertising or marketing.

Where a school uses Project S.W.A.N. in lessons, the school remains responsible for supervising pupils and deciding how the project is used in class. The school should make sure pupils understand that the system is for wildlife learning, not for recording people.

School-facing pages should use child-friendly explanations where possible. For example, the dashboard can explain:

• what a wildlife node is;
• why it listens for birds;
• why it should not record people;
• what to do if something looks wrong;
• how wildlife data helps protect habitats;
• how sensors help explain what is happening outside.

10. Node placement and responsible installation

Responsible node placement is one of the most important privacy controls for Project S.W.A.N.. A well-placed node can monitor wildlife while greatly reducing the chance of capturing people.

Nodes should normally be placed:

• near trees, hedges, ponds, fields, woodland edges or other wildlife habitats;
• away from open windows, classrooms, offices and private homes;
• away from playground seating areas, staff areas and gathering points;
• away from private gardens unless the landowner has agreed;
• where signage or a simple notice can explain the wildlife monitoring purpose;
• where maintenance can be carried out safely;
• where the node can collect useful wildlife data without unnecessarily capturing people.

Before installing a node, the site owner or project administrator should consider:

• what the node can hear or see;
• whether people regularly stand nearby;
• whether private speech is likely to be captured;
• whether the node points towards private property;
• whether the public dashboard could reveal sensitive information;
• whether the location is suitable for a school or child-friendly setting;
• whether a sign or notice should be placed nearby.

11. Public dashboards

The public dashboard may show wildlife and habitat information, such as:

• detected species;
• detection time and date;
• confidence score;
• station or node name;
• general location or site name;
• habitat type;
• species images;
• short sound clips or soundscape examples;
• environmental readings;
• node status;
• educational explanations;
• sponsor recognition where applicable.

The dashboard should not display:

• private conversations;
• images of identifiable people;
• pupil personal information;
• private contact details;
• precise private location details where this could create a risk;
• anything that turns the project into human surveillance.

Some locations may be shown only approximately, especially where a precise location could affect privacy, security, rare species protection or site safety.

12. Sponsors and sponsored nodes

Project S.W.A.N. may allow people, businesses, schools or organisations to sponsor wildlife monitoring nodes. Sponsorship helps support equipment, hosting, maintenance, educational resources and conservation work.

If you sponsor a node, we may collect your name, business name, organisation name, contact details, sponsorship message, logo, certificate details and the node or school you are supporting.

Sponsor recognition may be shown publicly on the website, on a sponsor certificate, on a school page, or near the sponsored node. Public recognition should normally use the sponsor name, business name or chosen display name. Personal contact details should not be published unless this has been agreed.

Sponsors must not use their sponsorship to request access to private recordings, pupil information, personal data, hidden monitoring or surveillance information. Sponsorship supports wildlife monitoring; it does not create a right to monitor people.

13. Why we use data

We use data for the following purposes:

• to detect birds and wildlife;
• to display local biodiversity activity;
• to provide educational dashboards for schools;
• to help children learn about habitats, species and conservation;
• to show how environmental conditions affect wildlife;
• to compare activity across different habitats and seasons;
• to maintain and troubleshoot monitoring nodes;
• to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the dashboard;
• to manage school, community, sponsor and landowner relationships;
• to issue sponsorship certificates and public recognition where agreed;
• to respond to enquiries, support requests and privacy concerns;
• to keep the website, database and nodes secure;
• to prevent misuse, spam, abuse or unauthorised access.

14. Lawful basis for processing personal data

Most Project S.W.A.N. data is wildlife, environmental or technical data. However, personal data may be involved if someone contacts us, sponsors a node, is named as a school contact, appears accidentally in a recording, or is linked to a site or organisation.

Where personal data is processed, the lawful basis may include:

• Legitimate interests: to run a wildlife monitoring and education project, maintain nodes, protect the website, respond to concerns, and display biodiversity information in a responsible way.
• Consent: where someone chooses to submit information, be named as a sponsor, provide a logo, allow a quote, or agree to public recognition.
• Contract or pre-contract steps: where information is needed to manage sponsorship, installation, school participation, support or project services.
• Legal obligation: where information must be kept or disclosed to comply with the law.
• Vital interests or public task: these are not expected to be the normal basis for this project, but may apply in unusual circumstances if legally required.

When legitimate interests are used, we should balance the project’s wildlife and educational benefits against the privacy rights of individuals. This is why node placement, short recordings, public display controls and removal processes are important.

15. Third-party services

Project S.W.A.N. may use third-party services to process, host, analyse, store or display data. These may include:

• BirdNET or BirdNET-based tools for bird sound identification;
• BirdWeather or similar services for station and bird detection data;
• cloud hosting providers;
• object storage providers for sound clips, images or files;
• database providers;
• email providers;
• website form providers;
• mapping services;
• species image or taxonomy services;
• AI model providers where wildlife detection or classification is used;
• security, logging or error monitoring services.

Third-party services may have their own privacy policies and terms. Availability of public BirdWeather, BirdNET or species reference data depends on those services being available and allowing access.

We should only share the information needed for the relevant service. For example, a bird detection service may need an audio clip to identify a bird, while a hosting provider may process website logs to keep the service working.

16. Data sharing

Project S.W.A.N. may share or display data in the following ways:

• public wildlife detections on the website;
• school-friendly dashboard views;
• sponsor recognition where agreed;
• aggregated biodiversity reports;
• technical data with hosting or infrastructure providers;
• support information with trusted people helping maintain the project;
• data required by law, regulation or a lawful request;
• information needed to protect the project, users, schools or the public.

We do not sell personal data. We do not sell children’s data. We do not provide sponsors with private monitoring data about people.

17. International transfers

Some third-party services may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we should use services that provide appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as recognised contractual, legal or technical protections.

Wildlife data, sound clips, logs, support emails or website data may be processed in the UK, Europe or other regions depending on the providers used by the project.

18. How long data is kept

Different types of data may be kept for different lengths of time.

18.1 Wildlife detection records

Species detections, timestamps, confidence scores, general station information and environmental context may be kept for longer periods because they help show biodiversity patterns over time.

Long-term wildlife records can help answer questions such as:

• which species are present at a site;
• how activity changes between seasons;
• whether a habitat is improving;
• how weather affects wildlife activity;
• whether conservation work is making a difference;
• what pupils can learn from their local environment.

18.2 Raw audio clips

Raw audio clips should only be kept for as long as needed for detection, verification, education, troubleshooting or project records. Where a clip contains clear private speech or other personal information, it should be removed where reasonably possible.

18.3 Wildlife images and video clips

Wildlife images or short clips may be kept where they support wildlife detection, education or project records. Images or clips showing identifiable people should not be published and should be removed where reasonably possible.

18.4 Technical logs

Technical logs should be kept only for as long as needed to maintain security, investigate errors, fix bugs, monitor node health or protect the service.

18.5 Contact and sponsor records

Contact, school, sponsor and support records may be kept for as long as needed to manage the project, respond to enquiries, maintain sponsorship records, issue certificates, handle accounting, or meet legal requirements.

19. Data security

We aim to protect data using appropriate technical and organisational measures. These may include:

• secure hosting;
• encrypted connections where possible;
• restricted administrator access;
• strong passwords for admin systems;
• role-based access where user accounts are used;
• regular updates to software and dependencies;
• secure storage for uploaded files;
• monitoring for errors and abuse;
• limiting access to raw audio, images and logs;
• reviewing public dashboard content for privacy risks;
• removing accidental personal data where reasonably possible.

No system can be guaranteed completely secure. If we become aware of a security issue that affects personal data, we will investigate and take appropriate action.

20. Accounts and login areas

The public wildlife and school dashboard is intended to be usable without children creating personal accounts. If account features are added in the future, this policy should be updated to explain what account data is collected, who can access accounts, how permissions work and how account data is retained.

21. Cookies and local storage

The website may use essential cookies or local storage where needed for basic functionality, security, preferences or dashboard operation.

Examples may include:

• remembering display preferences;
• keeping a logged-in user signed in if accounts are added;
• protecting forms from spam or abuse;
• maintaining session security;
• storing temporary dashboard settings.

Non-essential analytics, advertising or tracking cookies should not be used unless the website provides the correct information and controls.

22. Reports, research and biodiversity summaries

Project S.W.A.N. may produce reports, summaries, learning packs or visualisations based on wildlife and environmental data. These may include:

• species lists;
• seasonal activity charts;
• habitat comparisons;
• school biodiversity reports;
• node performance summaries;
• conservation impact summaries;
• sponsor impact updates;
• educational resources for pupils and teachers.

These reports should focus on wildlife, habitat and learning outcomes. They should not identify pupils, private individuals or people accidentally captured by a node.

23. Open data and public sharing

Some Project S.W.A.N. information may be shared publicly because the project is intended to support education, conservation and community awareness. This may include species detections, general site information, habitat summaries, environmental readings and sponsor recognition.

Before publishing detailed data, we should consider whether it could create a privacy, safeguarding, security or conservation risk. For example, precise location data may be reduced or generalised where needed.

Rare species, sensitive habitats, private sites or school grounds may need extra care before public display.

24. Accuracy and false detections

AI wildlife identification is not perfect. BirdNET, camera-trap AI and other detection systems can make mistakes. A detection shown on the dashboard should usually be treated as a likely detection rather than a guaranteed confirmed record.

Errors can happen because of:

• background noise;
• wind or rain;
• other animals making similar sounds;
• human-made sounds;
• poor audio quality;
• low light or blurred camera images;
• model limitations;
• unusual local species behaviour.

The dashboard may show confidence scores, warnings or review labels to help users understand the reliability of detections.

25. Data removal requests

You can contact us if you believe Project S.W.A.N. has displayed or stored information that should be removed. This could include:

• an audio clip containing private speech;
• an image or video showing an identifiable person;
• incorrect sponsor information;
• incorrect school or organisation information;
• a node location that should not be public;
• personal contact details shown by mistake;
• content that creates a safeguarding or security concern.

To help us find the relevant item, please include as much of the following as possible:

• node name or station name;
• school, site or general location;
• date and approximate time;
• species or detection shown;
• link to the page if available;
• description of the concern;
• your contact details so we can respond.

We will review the request and remove or restrict the relevant content where reasonably possible and appropriate.

26. Your data protection rights

Depending on the situation, you may have rights under UK data protection law. These may include the right to:

• ask what personal data we hold about you;
• ask for a copy of your personal data;
• ask for incorrect information to be corrected;
• ask for personal data to be deleted;
• object to certain processing;
• ask us to restrict how personal data is used;
• withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis;
• complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

These rights apply to personal data. They do not automatically apply to wildlife records that do not identify a person. However, if a wildlife record is linked to personal information, we will review the request carefully.

27. Safeguarding and school concerns

Because Project S.W.A.N. may be used in schools, safeguarding must be considered carefully. The project should avoid collecting personal information from children, avoid publishing pupil details and avoid placing nodes where children’s conversations are likely to be recorded.

If a school, parent, guardian, teacher or site visitor has a safeguarding concern about a node, recording, image, dashboard page or public display, they should contact us as soon as possible.

Where a concern relates to a school site, the school may also need to follow its own safeguarding and data protection procedures.

28. Landowners, neighbours and public spaces

Nodes may be installed at schools, reserves, community spaces, gardens, farms, estates or other outdoor locations. Site owners and project administrators should consider the rights and expectations of neighbours, visitors and members of the public.

Nodes should not be deliberately aimed or configured to capture private areas. Camera nodes, if used, should not point into private homes, gardens, windows or areas where people have a strong expectation of privacy.

Where appropriate, a simple notice can explain that wildlife monitoring is taking place and provide a contact route for questions.

29. What happens if something goes wrong?

If we discover that personal data has been accidentally collected, displayed or shared, we will consider:

• what type of data is involved;
• whether a person can be identified;
• whether the data involves a child;
• whether the data is sensitive;
• whether it has been publicly displayed;
• whether it should be removed immediately;
• whether the node needs to be moved or reconfigured;
• whether the site owner or school needs to be informed;
• whether any legal reporting duty applies.

The response will depend on the seriousness of the issue.

30. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as Project S.W.A.N. develops. The latest version will be published on this page with the updated date.

Significant changes may be needed if the project adds:

• teacher or sponsor accounts;
• child user accounts;
• wildlife camera nodes;
• new AI species detection systems;
• new public map features;
• new sponsor features;
• new third-party platforms;
• new ways for users to upload content;
• new research or data sharing partnerships.

31. Contact

For privacy questions, data removal requests, safeguarding concerns or questions about how a node is used, contact:

Email: [email protected]

Please include the node name, site name, approximate date and time, and a clear description of the concern so we can investigate properly.