Ò»±¾µÀ Prospective Students Privacy Statement
Who we are
This is the privacy statement for prospective students of Queen Margaret University. This privacy statement explains how we collect and use personal information about you.
Queen Margaret University (Ò»±¾µÀ) is a Data Controller in terms of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulations. The University is registered with the . Our Registration Number is Z6013920.
We are a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and a Scottish public authority under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Personal Information that we collect and hold about you is used by us for our statutory and/or public functions. Where we collect or share data it is on the basis of the exercise of official authority vested in us as a public authority, and on the basis of public interest.
Queen Margaret Students’ Union is a data controller in its own right. You can read its privacy policy here:
The type of personal data we collect
We collect and process the following types of personal data:
- Name
- Age
- Gender
- Contact details including email, phone number and home and address.
- Proof of ID
- Enrolment status
- Domicile, residency status, fee status
- Ethnicity and nationality
- Disability, special needs and health information
- Course interest
- Details of previous education, training or employment
- Widening participation data including socio economic background, whether you were in care as a child, if you have caring responsibilities, if you are estranged from your parents and if you are from a military/armed forces family.
How we collect your data
The personal data Ò»±¾µÀ holds about you is obtained from a variety of sources.
In most instances we collect your personal data directly from you through the following means:
- Through our website
- Recruitment events
- Open days
- An application
- General enquiry
We also receive personal data indirectly through the following sources:
- UCAS
- Third party recruitment agencies
- School tours
Why we collect and use your personal information
Legal Basis | Purposes |
---|---|
Performance of a contract and performance of a task in the public interest |
|
Consent |
|
Legitimate Interest |
|
Legal Obligation |
|
Ìý
Special categories of personal information
We sometimes process special category personal data. Where we process special category data or criminal conviction data we are required to identify an additional legal basis for processing. Special category data is held in the strictest confidence and only shared on a strict need to know basis. This data may be shared with other competent authorities such as HESA or Disclosure Scotland.Ìý
Type of data | Purpose and additional legal basis |
---|---|
Data on gender, ethnicity, religion/beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, trans status of students. |
Under the UK Equality Act 2010, we need to collect sensitive personal data about our applicants and students on UK campuses to assist with monitoring equality of opportunity and eliminating unlawful discrimination You can choose whether you want to provide information for this purpose. We process this on the basis it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligation and reasons of substantial public interest. |
Data relating to criminal convictions and live criminal proceedings |
It is mandatory for all Universities in Scotland to collect information about relevant convictions and live criminal proceedings (charges). We collect this at the post-offer stage. This allows us to assess risk and maintain a safe and secure environment at Ò»±¾µÀ. We process this data on the basis that it is necessary for performance of a task in the public interest and reasons of substantial public interest. |
Ìý
Successful applicants may be required to provide further personal data including special category data. Details of how we process this can be found in our Student Privacy Statement.
How we store your personal data
The University will manage your information securely and will restrict access to only those who need to use it in the course of their duties. The University will put in place technical and organisational measures necessary to ensure the security of your information.
We will only retain your information as long as is reasonably necessary for the purpose it was gathered and in accordance with Ò»±¾µÀ’s Retention Schedule. We may be required to keep some of your personal information permanently for historical and archival purposes.
Sharing your personal data
The University will only disclose your information to third parties where we:
- Have a legal basis to do so under the UK General Data Protection Regulation; or
- Are required to under a statutory or regulatory obligation; or
- Have your consent
The reasons we may share your personal data include:
- With third parties who process data on our behalf and to facilitate the purposes set out in the table above.
- With a third party to verify your qualifications or obtain a reference
- A sponsor to confirm your attendance and progress.
- If you have taken part in the Lothians Equal Access Programme for Schools (LEAPS), which provides advice and support to help eligible students to enter Higher Education, or the Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP) we may share limited information with these organisations about your application in order to improve the services for future participants.
- With the UK Visa and Immigration office where relevant to comply with immigration laws
International data transfer
As an international organisation, the University may need to process your personal information in a country other than the one you are studying in, when this is necessary to provide you with academic and support services, meet a legal obligation, fulfil a contract with you, or where we have your consent.
Profiling or automated decision making
We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes. Some processes are semi-automated but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.
Marketing and Third Party Services
We may use third party services to improve the relevance of advertisements you see. For example we might use the following services:
Ìý
Google Customer Match
We might use Google Customer Match to improve the relevance of the advertisements you see. This is achieved by matching our customer data, such as email addresses, with users on Google platforms.
Use of Google Customer Match can help us to connect with you across various Google services, offering advertising that aligns with your interests and preferences.
Ìý
Facebook Custom Audiences
Similarly, we might use Facebook Custom Audiences to enhance our advertising on the Facebook platform. By matching the data we have collected with Facebook user profiles, we can ensure that our advertisements are shown to an audience that is more likely to be interested in our products or services. This approach allows for a more tailored advertising experience, aligning our content with your potential interests.
Use of our website
Ò»±¾µÀ respects the privacy of every individual who visits our websites or responds to our interactive advertisements. The Privacy Statement on our website outlines the information we collect via its various web pages and how we use that information. The Statement also instructs you on what to do if you do not want your personal information collected or shared when you visit Ò»±¾µÀ's website or respond to our advertisements.
Your rights relating to your personal information
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate.
You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
If you wish to make a rights request the relevant contact details can be found at the end of this statement.
Changes to our privacy statement
We keep this privacy statement under regular review and will place any updates on this website. We will publish any changes we make to this data protection policy on our website.
This privacy statement was created November 2023.
Contact details and further advice
If you have any queries about the processing of your personal data as described above, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer. You can do this by
Post:
Data Protection Officer
Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret University Drive
Musselburgh
EH21 6UU
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us by contacting the Data Protection Officer in the first instance.
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: