Student Privacy Statement

The information we hold includes the details provided by you on application and enrolment, together with data which is collected during and after your studies and personal data which we receive from third parties such as the application details provided by UCAS or immigration details from UKVI. The definition of ‘personal data’ is in the Appendix at the end of this statement.

The University is likely to hold the following information about you:

• Your name, address and contact details, including your telephone number and email address
• Your date and place of birth 
• Your gender
• Your sexual orientation
• Your religion
• Your nationality and any other information about your ethnicity or immigration status
• Your qualifications and other academic records, including records of your academic performance, progress and achievement
• Records of any appeals or submissions you make relating to extenuating circumstances
• Any disabilities or other medical information which you disclose to the University
• Information relating to fees and any sponsorships relevant to your studies
• Your attendance record and the use you make of University facilities such as the virtual learning environment (Blackboard) the library or any of our other services.
• Details of any disciplinary action which is taken against you or in which you are involved or of any complaints made by you or in which you are involved

The University will also have a digital photograph of you, which is used to produce your student card. 

The table contains illustrations of the typical reasons why we hold and process your personal data and the legal justification for these activities. 

There may be other processing in addition to the above, for example, when you access our website which uses cookies or when we take photos of our events and publish them. This is done on the basis of our policies and we will inform you about such processing at the time when the data is obtained or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter. 

University of Staffordshire is committed to respecting and protecting your personal data. Data is not normally voluntarily shared with anyone outside the University. This includes your spouse or partner, parents, or other family members, unless you give us your permission to share it or because, in exceptional circumstances, we have reason to believe that your health or safety or the health and safety of a third party is at risk.

If data is to be shared with overseas organisations which are not subject to broadly similar rights to those you have in the United Kingdom/ EEA, the University will first take all reasonable steps to establish that appropriate safeguards are in place at the recipient organisation We do share limited data with the University of Staffordshire Students’ Union since all our students are automatically members of it (unless they notify us that they are exercising their right to opt out of membership) and certain information is needed to enable the Union to contact you about the services it offers.

You should be aware that we do from time to time use outside agencies to act on our behalf to communicate with people, including via social media. We only use reputable organisations who adhere to strict data protection principles and only the minimum data necessary for the purpose is shared with these agencies.

Please be aware that if you are logged in on a social network during a visit to the University website or a University app, the social network might add visit information to your profile on its network based on your privacy settings. If you would like to prevent this type of data transfer you should log out of your social network account before visiting the University website or app, or change the privacy setting of the app if possible. You should read the privacy policy of your social network for more details, including details of your rights and how you can manage your privacy settings.

Also be aware that there are some circumstances in which we are required by law to disclose the information we have about you to external organisations. These organisations include the Office for Students; the Higher Education Statistics Agency (whose Student Collection Notice can be found on their website); the Student Loans Company; Local Authorities; the police and other bodies with enforcement powers where disclosure is necessary for the prevention or detection of crime; the Disclosure and Barring Service; the UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI); and to professional regulators.

If you are receiving a sponsorship or scholarship or other type of funding, it may be necessary to disclose information about your progress to the person or body supporting you.

If your course requires you to spend time at another institution, or if you are with us as a visitor from another institution, we may need to share some information about you with the other institution to allow it to fulfil its contractual duties. 

Where filming, recording or photography is carried out by or for the University, the University will take reasonable steps to ensure that students are aware that this is taking place so that they have the opportunity not to participate. 

After you leave us, the University will continue to maintain information about you for historical and statistical purposes. This will include your academic record so that we can provide confirmation of your qualifications. Some information will be kept permanently, other information will eventually be destroyed in accordance with the University’s Record Retention Policy. The current version of the Retention of Records Policy can be found on the University website.

The University would like to maintain contact with you as one of our Alumni and to send you communications about various activities and events which may interest you, and information about how you might be able to help us with our fundraising to support the University into the future. 

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data processed by us:

1. To be informed about how and why we gather your personal information, how we keep it and what we do with it.
2. To access the personal data we hold about you.
3. To have the information rectified if it is inaccurate or where appropriate, given the purposes for which your personal data is processed, to have incomplete data completed.
4. To have your information removed from our records. This is a limited right which applies, among other circumstances if there is no longer any justification for us to keep it or where consent has been withdrawn. There are also exceptions to this right, such as when the processing is required by law or is done in the public interest.
5. To object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes without your consent. If you ask us to delete your personal data, we will continue to maintain a core set of personal data comprising very brief information to ensure that we do not inadvertently contact you in future.
6. To request that your data be copied or transferred to another organisation in certain circumstances.
7. To restrict the processing of your personal data. This is a limited right which will apply in specific circumstances and for a limited period.
8. To obtain a copy of your data in a commonly used electronic form if the data is processed by automated means and the processing is based on your consent or contractual necessity.
9. To complain to us and/or to the Information Commissioner’s Office if your information is being used unlawfully.
10.  Where we are relying on your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

If you:

• wish to access the personal data held by the University about you;
• wish to up-date your information, including your address and preferred contact details, or, where we are relying on your consent to process your personal data, if you wish to withdraw or change your preferences relating to any consents you have given 
• require more information about how the University manages personal data generally 

Please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer at the following address:
Data Protection Officer
University of Staffordshire
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 2DE
Email: dataprotection@staffs.ac.uk

If you wish to raise a concern or make a complaint about the way in which the University processes your personal data, you should in the first instance contact the Data Protection Officer with full details using the contact details above. If you do believe that your complaint has been satisfactorily resolved by the Data Protection Officer, you may contact the Information Commissioner at the following address: 

Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

caswork@ico.org.uk
https://ico.org.uk/

“Personal data” refers to information relating to a living, identifiable individual. It can also include "special categories of data", which is information about your racial or ethnic origin, religious or other beliefs, and physical or mental health, the processing of which is subject to strict requirements. Similarly, information about criminal convictions and offences is also subject to strict requirements.