Customer and student privacy notice

Privacy Policy (GDPR)

Your privacy is important to us. This privacy policy explains what information Skills Training Group may collect about you as we do business, how we store it and keep it safe, and your rights regarding your data.

Contents

Collecting your data

• when do we collect your data?
• what data do we collect?
• legal permission to process your data

Storing and using your data

• how is your data stored
• is your data safe
• sharing your data
• how long do we keep your data

Your rights

• your right to be informed
• your right of access
• your right of rectification
• your right to erasure
• your right to withdraw consent

Introduction

There are laws in place to protect your data such as the 2018 GDPR regulations, and Skills Training Group complies with all the requirements of these laws. The government body that looks after your rights to data privacy is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and we refer to the ICO in our privacy policy. Further information about data protection and privacy law can be found on their website:  www.ico.org.uk

We have set out our privacy policy in the different sections of this document which we hope will provide all the information you need, but if you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or call 0141 889 4516.

Collecting your data

When do we collect your data?

There may be several times during our interactions with you when we may collect information about you:

• when you contact us to enquire about a course either by telephone, online or in person
• when you book and pay for a course
• when you come to the training centre to take the course.

What data do we collect?

We collect personal information about you when you make an enquiry, this can include:

• Name and date of birth
• Address and telephone number
• Email address
• Your employers name and address

When you book and pay for your course we collect additional information including:

• National insurance number
• Job Title
• Your bank or credit card details when you pay for your course

When you come to the centre we may ask for more information including:

• Passport photo
• Proof of your previous qualifications

Legal permission to process your data

Data protection law in the UK has been strengthened to give you more control over how your personal information is used.

Companies must have a lawful reason to collect and hold your information. There are 3 main reasons that allow us to legitimately process your data:

• ContractIf you take a course with Skills Training Group, this forms a contract between us.  In order to fulfil this contract – to provide your course and manage your qualifications – it is necessary for us to process your data. If you enquire about a course, this is the first step towards entering into a contract with us, even if you don’t book anything with us at the time.

• Legitimate InterestSometimes we need to process your data in order to run our business effectively. For example, we might contact you to tell you about changes to safety regulations that could affect your job and offer you a relevant course.

• ConsentIf we are not processing your data for reasons of Contract or Legitimate Interest, we can do so with your consent – for example if you have ticked a box saying you would like to receive an email newsletter from us.

You can ask us which reason we have used for processing your data, and you can withdraw your consent at any time. Email [email protected]

Further information on all the reasons allowed by law for processing personal data can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/

Storing and using your data

How is your data stored?

We collect your data when we speak to you on the phone or in person or correspond with you by email or letter.

We record your personal details and information about the courses you have taken or enquired about on our secure Training Database. Some information may also be stored on our server, for example payment records or copies of emails.

We may also hold information about you on paper, for example course booking forms, registers, or other correspondence.

Is your data safe?

Data security is a vital part of our business, and we protect all the data we hold, including your personal information.

Skills Training Group has a comprehensive Data Protection Policy covering all aspects of data security. All our staff are signatories to this policy and are fully trained in data security. The policy covers the following areas to offer you the strongest protection for your information:

• Electronic data storage – including security software and firewalls, password protection, anonymisation, encryption.
• Paper data storage – including secure file storage, clean desk policy, shredding.
• Sending data within the business – including encryption, password protection.
• Deletion – including timeframes for deleting unnecessary personal data.
• Financial transactions – including safe storage and deletion of payment records.

Sharing your data

We protect your information by never passing it on to third parties without your consent.

Qualifications you take with us may be awarded by external bodies such as City & Guilds and ERS. We have to share data with them relating to the completion of your qualifications, for example some of your personal information and details of the assessments you have taken with us. We only give them the information they need to award your certificates, and we work with them to ensure your privacy is respected.

When you contact us by telephone, we protect your data by ensuring that it is really you on the phone. You will be asked three security questions to confirm your identity and to ensure that we are not sharing your personal information with anyone else.

How long do we keep your data?

We will only keep your data for as long as it needed for the purpose that it was collected. We do this in accordance with the data retention principles of the ICO’s data protection guide.

These are some examples of why we may be retaining your data:

• If you take a course with us, we will keep your record on our database so that we can let you know when your qualification expires, or if the regulations change and you might want to take a new course
• We also keep a record of our financial transactions with you for our tax records
• If we hold your data because you have asked to receive an email newsletter, we will keep your contact details until you unsubscribe.

Your rights

You have rights over your personal data, and Skills Training Group are committed to respecting these rights and answering any queries or requests you might have about them.

Full details of your rights and how to make requests can be found on the ICO website but this is how we deal with your rights over the data we hold.

Your right to be informed

You have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data. We hope this privacy policy gives you all the information you need, but if you have any questions please contact us – [email protected]

Your right of access

You have the right to access all the personal information we hold about you. You can request this by emailing [email protected] and we will confirm if we are processing your data and provide access to all the data we hold. We will respond to a request for access within one month.

Your right of rectification 

If there are mistakes in the information, we hold about you, you can ask to have inaccurate personal data corrected, or completed if it is incomplete. We will respond to a request for rectification within one month.

Your right to erasure

This is also known as the “right to be forgotten” and you can ask to have your personal data deleted.

You can ask for this if we only hold your data because you consented to receive marketing information such as email newsletters from us.

If we hold your data because of our contract with you, or because we need it for the legitimate interest of our business (as outlined previously in this privacy policy), we are not required to delete it.

Your right to withdraw consent

If you have given us your consent to use your personal information, for example to send you communications about special offers or email newsletters, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

All communications that we send you will contain “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” options to make this easy for you.

If we have a contract with you, you can withdraw your consent for marketing communications, but we will still be able to contact you as part of that contract – for example to let you know that a qualification you hold with us is due for renewal.

 

Questions or complaints

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or about the way we collect, store or use your personal information, please contact us:

Email

[email protected]

Call

0141 889 4516

Write

Data Protection
Units 1-3, 5 Murray Street

Paisley

Renfrewshire

PA3 1QG

If you are concerned about the way we are handling your data, or you feel that we have not answered your questions or requests properly, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Call: 0303 123 1113 or visit the Report a Concern section of their website https://ico.org.uk/concerns/