Privacy & Freedom of Information

By law, an individual has the right to access the information that an organisation holds about them.
Accessing personal data in this way is known as making a Subject Access Request.

You are entitled:

• To be informed whether your personal data are being processed by Suffolk New College
• To be sent a copy of your personal data, subject to any possible exemptions and the removal of other people’s personal data as appropriate.
• To be sent certain information about your personal data

Your subject access request to the College may be submitted in whatever format you wish, but we have created a standard Subject Access Request Form for your convenience.
Using the form will help us process your request more quickly.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) a response will be issued within one calendar month upon receipt of the request. Please ensure you provide two scanned copies of identification which can be sent to dataprotection@suffolk.ac.uk . The time limit of one calendar month is paused until ID is received and verified. We may need to contact you to seek further clarity and information on the request.

On receipt of your request, we will let you know the statutory deadline by which we will reply. If, on receipt of our response, you consider that the College has not dealt correctly with your request, please get in touch using the contact information below. If you are still not satisfied, you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all “public authorities” as defined in the Act, including Suffolk New College. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by us, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on us. Under the Act a public authority has two main responsibilities:

• Production of a guide to the information it makes publicly available commonly known as a “Publication Scheme”; and
• Dealing with individual written requests for information and providing the information if it is not already published, or exempt from release.

The College’s Freedom of Information Policy, including our publication scheme and how to make a Freedom of Information request can be found here: Freedom of Information Policy

Should you have a question about the data we store about you, contact our Data Protection Lead:

Mary Gleave
Suffolk New College
Rope Walk
Ipswich, Suffolk
IP4 1LT
Email: dataprotection@suffolk.ac.uk

Google Analytics
The College website sets “first party” cookies through its use of Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to provide us with anonymised (non-personal) site analytics, which in turn help us improve this website. Google Analytics sets or updates cookies only to collect data required for the reports. This means that all cookies set by Google Analytics cannot be altered or retrieved by any service on any domain other than suffolk.ac.uk. Further detailed information on Google Analytics cookies can be found here.

Facebook Pixel
We use a Facebook Pixel on the website. This method of conversion tracking helps us measure the return on investment of our Facebook Ads by reporting on the actions people take after viewing those ads. We use the conversion pixel to retarget adverts towards people who have visited the college website on occasion.

To opt out of these, use this link to update your settings on Facebook.

Tawk.to Chat

We use the tawk.to chat plugin to provide real-time and AI informed customer support and enhance your experience on our website. This plugin collects and processes personal data as described below:

Data Collection: When you use the chat feature, tawk.to collects information such as Name, Email Address, chat transcripts, and any other information you provide during the chat session.

Purpose of Data Collection: The data collected through the chat plugin is used to improve our customer service, respond to your inquiries, and monitor the performance of our chat service.

Consent: Before using the chat feature, you will be asked to provide your consent. By consenting, you agree to the collection and processing of your personal data as described in this notice.

Data Sharing: Anonymised information collected through the chat plugin may be shared with tawk.to, our third-party service provider, for the purposes of operating and maintaining the chat service. We do not share this data with any other third parties unless required by law.

Data Security: We take the security of your personal data seriously. Measures are in place to protect the data collected through the chat plugin from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

User Rights: You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data collected through the chat plugin. If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact us using the information provided below.

Cookies
Our website uses cookies – these are small text files that are placed on your device to help this website to provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like your saved courses, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the All About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers. All About Cookies

Third party links
You might find links to third party websites on our Website. These websites should have their own privacy policies which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.

This privacy notice is issued by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE) to inform learners about the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and how their personal information is used in the ILR. Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise our functions under article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR and to meet our statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. Our lawful basis for using your special category personal data is covered under Substantial Public Interest based in law (Article 9(2)(g)) of GDPR legislation. This processing is under Section 54 of the Further and Higher Education Act (1992).

The ILR collects data about learners and learning undertaken. Publicly funded colleges, training organisations, local authorities, and employers (FE providers) must collect and return the data to the ESFA each year under the terms of a funding agreement, contract or grant agreement. It helps ensure that public money distributed through the ESFA is being spent in line with government targets. It is also used for education, training, employment, and well-being purposes, including research.

We retain your ILR learner data for 20 years for operational purposes (e.g. to fund your learning and to publish official statistics). Your personal data is then retained in our research databases until you are aged 80 years so that it can be used for long-term research purposes. For more information about the ILR and the data collected, please see the ILR specification at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/individualised-learner-record-ilr

ILR data is shared with third parties where it complies with DfE data sharing procedures and where the law allows it. The DfE and the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority (or agents acting on their behalf) may contact learners to carry out research and evaluation to inform the effectiveness of training.

For more information about how your personal data is used and your individual rights, please see the DfE Personal Information Charter ( https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter ) and the DfE Privacy Notice ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-for-key-stage-5-and-adult-education )

If you would like to get in touch with us or request a copy of the personal information DfE holds about you, you can contact the DfE in the following ways:

Using our online contact form  https://form.education.gov.uk/service/Contact_the_Department_for_Education

By telephoning the DfE Helpline on 0370 000 2288

Or in writing to: Data Protection Officer, Department for Education (B2.28), 7 & 8 Wellington Place, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4AW

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. You can also call their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visit https://www.ico.org.uk