Privacy Policy
Data Protection and Electronic Marketing Privacy Policy (January 2023)
1. Introduction
This policy covers data protection, electronic marketing, and the retention of information within the administration of the School of Philosophy Midlands (“the Branch”), a branch of the School of Philosophy and Economic Science (“the School”).
The Branch’s policy is to adhere to the Data Protection Act 2018 (incorporating the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)), the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, and such other legislation as may be applicable.
The School also aspires to follow best practice in so far as it relates to its activities.
2. Data Protection
The Branch needs to hold information about:
- enrolled students; and
- members of the public who (1) attend events undertaken or arranged by the Branch; or (2) express an interest in their activities; or (3) visit the Branch’s website; or (4) otherwise wish to receive materials published or distributed by the Branch.
Hereinafter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
- “we” and “us” shall mean the Branch;
- “you” and “your” shall mean or apply to all those persons listed above;
This policy sets out the way we collect and process your personal data and we have created this privacy policy to make sure you are aware of how we use your data.
3. How we collect your information
We may collect your personal data in a few limited ways, namely:
- Directly from you, when you enrol on a course or an event or otherwise participate in the same, when you make enquiries on our website, when you interact with us during your time as a student or recipient of communication in various other ways (for example, where you alert us to a change in your contact details).
- From someone else who has enrolled you on a course or signed you up to an event on your behalf or (for example a family member, or a fellow student who has provided us with your contact details for that purpose).
- From a third party organisation in specific circumstances such as Stripe if you enrol online or others when they are assisting with or organizing an event or activity in conjunction with us.
We will not store or capture personal data through our website(s) without your prior knowledge and consent. Where personal information is so captured it will be used for the purposes set out in this policy.
When collecting data generally we will endeavour, whether by reference to this policy or otherwise, to ensure that you:
- understand why the information is needed, what it will be used for and what the consequences are in the event you decide not to give consent to processing;
- so far as reasonably practicable, grant specific consent, either written or verbal for data to be processed; and
- have received sufficient information on why your data is needed and how it will be used.
4. The types of information we collect
We may collect the following types of personal data about you:
- Contact and communications information, including your contact details (including name, address, email address, phone numbers) and records of communications and interactions we have had with you);
- Demographic information, such as postcode, preferences and interests;
- Website usage data;
- Other information relevant to course enquiries;
- Certain other information, which you volunteer when participating as a student in our activities (for example, when attending courses, or events or in volunteering to assist in the operations of the School).
We may also collect data about your health or medical conditions, where you have volunteered this, for example so that we can cater for you when you attend a course or event or act as a volunteer for and on our behalf.
This is held electronically by the Branch’s administrator familiar with the rights and obligations surrounding your data.
Mailing groups are used for communications with students, and subscribers for events, activities, notifications and publications.
Emergency Contact data is held by the Lead Tutor or administrator of a residential course for the duration of the course and may be used for emergency contact purposes.
5. How we use personal data
Unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose, personal data provided to us will be used for the purposes set out at the time of collection (which may consist of those purposes set out in this policy) and, where relevant, in accordance with any preferences you express.
If you require any information as to how processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact:
David Nock ([email protected]).
We will only use your personal data where the law allows. In general terms, save as set out elsewhere in this policy:
- personal data we hold is used for the purposes of administering or improving courses or events or other activities and publications; and
- your details will not be passed to any other organisation for any purpose.
If we are so permitted, you may receive from us details of activities run by or in conjunction with other organisations by post or email. You are free to opt out of receiving such communications from us at any time.
Where we have your consent and / or (if within the law) where this is necessary for our legitimate interests (or the legitimate interests of a third party), as applicable, we use your personal data for the following purposes:
- in the administration of courses, events, and activities including:
- general notifications to you about them; and
- receiving payment of course fees and other charges;
- research and statistical analysis about the courses or events or activities we offer;
- communication about our activities or events and activities outside of the School and its branches that we think may be of interest to you;
- storing your details on the software platform we use for our database. Please note that your own use of the software or system is subject to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy published on that site.
Please note that we may also use your data and share it with others where it is necessary:
- for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject;
- to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person.
Personal data collected and processed by us may be shared, where necessary, with:
- our volunteers, for the purposes of administering courses, events, publications and activities organised by or in conjunction with us and giving you access to the benefits to which you are entitled.
- our contractors, professional advisors, auditors or suppliers, including those providing IT services or data management services.
Some of the events and courses we offer, such as residential courses, are organised and / or administered by the School through its administrative office at Mandeville Place, London. Data provided by you relevant to your attendance at such events and courses may be forwarded to the School for the purposes of such events / courses and will be held by the School subject its own School’s data protection and privacy policy available at its website at www.schoolofeconomicscience.org.
Statistical information may be shared with the School for administrative purposes, but this will not include personal information.
We do not sell your personal data to/with other organisations to use and, save as set out above, do not otherwise share it with other organisations.
6. Cookies and how we use them
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file placed on your computer’s hard drive. It enables our website to identify your computer as you view different pages on our website.
Cookies allow websites and applications to store your preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to you. They also enable us to see information like how many people use the website and what pages they tend to visit.
How we use cookies
We may use cookies to:
- Analyse our web traffic using analytics packages: Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
- Identify whether you are signed in to our website: A cookie allows us to check whether you are signed in to the site.
- Test content on our website
- Store information about your preferences: The website can then present you with information you will find more relevant and interesting.
- To recognise when you return to our website: We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.
Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.
Controlling cookies
You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.
However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you.
Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.
7. Your marketing preferences
We will always respect your wishes in respect of what type of communications you want to receive from us and how you want to receive them. We wish to gain your prior consent to mailings. However, there are some communications that we may need to send you without your specific prior consent, for example, in order for us to fulfil our contractual obligations to you. Examples of these essential service communications are:
- Mailings directly concerning your participation on a course or at an event, notices of formal meetings, and notification about similar or related courses or events similar to one who are attending or have recently attended.
- Records of transactions, such as payment receipts or Direct Debit confirmations, booking confirmations (as applicable).
8. Controlling information about you
When you fill in an enrolment form, you will see a tick box allowing you to Opt‐in to receive marketing communications from us by email.
You are in control of how we communicate with you. If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:
- Please let us know if you wish to unsubscribe
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Write to us at: School of Philosophy Midlands, PO Box 7599, Stourbridge. DY8 9JB
If you do opt out of marketing communications but are enrolled on one of our courses, we will still contact you with relevant, non-marketing information pertaining to the course or event for which you have enrolled.
You are in control of how we communicate with you. You can update your choices and/or your contact details by any of the three means set out below. If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:
- Sign in to our website and change your opt‐in settings
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Write to us at: BRANCH POSTAL ADDRESS
When you fill in an enrolment form, you will see a tick box allowing you to Opt‐in to receive marketing communications from us by email.
You are in control of how we communicate with you. If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:
- Please let us know if you wish to unsubscribe
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Write to us at: School of Philosophy Midlands, PO Box 7599, Stourbridge. DY8 9JB
If you do opt out of marketing communications but are enrolled on one of our courses, we will still contact you with relevant, non-marketing information pertaining to the course or event for which you have enrolled.
You are in control of how we communicate with you. You can update your choices and/or your contact details by any of the three means set out below. If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:
- Sign in to our website and change your opt‐in settings
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Write to us at: School of Philosophy Midlands, PO Box 7599, Stourbridge. DY8 9JB
If you do opt out of marketing communications but are enrolled on one of our courses, we will still contact you with relevant, non-marketing information pertaining to the course or event for which you have enrolled.
If you do opt out of marketing communications but are enrolled on one of our courses, we will still contact you with relevant, non-marketing information pertaining to the course or event for which you have enrolled.
9. Security
We will always hold your information securely.
To prevent unauthorised disclosure or access to your information, we have implemented strong physical and electronic security safeguards.
We also follow stringent procedures to ensure we work with all personal data in line with the relevant legislation.
10. Links from our sites
Our websites may contain links to other websites.
Please note that we have no control of websites outside of the Branch website.
The School website, www.schoolofphilosophy.org, and websites of other branches, adhere to similar data protection and privacy policies as those detailed in this policy. Links to their data protection and privacy policies are included on their websites.
If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy.
Always be wary when submitting data to websites. Read the sites’ data protection and privacy policies fully.
11. How long your information is kept
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for each purpose we use it. You can voluntarily unsubscribe from mailing groups at any time by letting us know by email.
Financial records must be retained for a period of six years after your last interaction with us (for accounting, tax reporting and record-keeping purposes).
12. Your rights
Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:
- Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
- Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
- Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
- Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
- Request the restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it. You can also withdraw your consent, where this is the basis for our processing your data (without affecting the lawfulness of our previous processing based on consent).
- Request the transfer of your personal data to another party.
Please note that the above rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply.
13. Contact and complaints
If you have any queries about this privacy policy or how we process your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your legal rights, you may contact, in the first instance, the branch data administrator:
- by email: [email protected]
- or by post: School of Philosophy Midlands, PO Box 7599, Stourbridge. DY8 9JB
If you are not satisfied with the response, please contact the School’s General Manager
- by email: [email protected];
- or by post: : Laura Counsell, General Manager, School of Philosophy and Economic Science, 11 Mandeville Place, London W1U 3AJ
If you are not satisfied with how we are processing your personal data, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner. You can find out more about your rights under applicable data protection laws from the Information Commissioner’s Office website: www.ico.org.uk.
Version last updated 30 January 2023
The School of Philosophy Midlands is committed to safeguarding your privacy. Contact us at if you have any questions or problems regarding the use of your Personal Data and we will gladly assist you.
By using this site or/and our services, you consent to the Processing of your Personal Data as described in this Privacy Policy.
Table of Contents
- Definitions used in this Policy
- Data protection principles we follow
- What rights do you have regarding your Personal Data
- What Personal Data we gather about you
- How we use your Personal Data
- Who else has access to your Personal Data
- How we secure your data
- Information about cookies
- Contact information
Definitions
Personal Data – any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.
Processing – any operation or set of operations which is performed on Personal Data or on sets of Personal Data.
Data subject – a natural person whose Personal Data is being Processed.
Child – a natural person under 16 years of age.
We/us (either capitalised or not) – The School of Philosophy Midlands
Data Protection Principles
We promise to follow the following data protection principles:
- Processing is lawful, fair, transparent. Our Processing activities have lawful grounds. We always consider your rights before Processing Personal Data. We will provide you information regarding Processing upon request.
- Processing is limited to the purpose. Our Processing activities fit the purpose for which Personal Data was gathered.
- Processing is done with minimal data. We only gather and Process the minimal amount of Personal Data required for any purpose.
- Processing is limited with a time period. We will not store your personal data for longer than needed.
- We will do our best to ensure the accuracy of data.
- We will do our best to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data.
Data Subject’s rights
The Data Subject has the following rights:
- Right to information – meaning you have to right to know whether your Personal Data is being processed; what data is gathered, from where it is obtained and why and by whom it is processed.
- Right to access – meaning you have the right to access the data collected from/about you. This includes your right to request and obtain a copy of your Personal Data gathered.
- Right to rectification – meaning you have the right to request rectification or erasure of your Personal Data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to erasure – meaning in certain circumstances you can request for your Personal Data to be erased from our records.
- Right to restrict processing – meaning where certain conditions apply, you have the right to restrict the Processing of your Personal Data.
- Right to object to processing – meaning in certain cases you have the right to object to Processing of your Personal Data, for example in the case of direct marketing.
- Right to object to automated Processing – meaning you have the right to object to automated Processing, including profiling; and not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated Processing. This right you can exercise whenever there is an outcome of the profiling that produces legal effects concerning or significantly affecting you.
- Right to data portability – you have the right to obtain your Personal Data in a machine-readable format or if it is feasible, as a direct transfer from one Processor to another.
- Right to lodge a complaint – in the event that we refuse your request under the Rights of Access, we will provide you with a reason as to why. If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled please contact us.
- Right for the help of supervisory authority – meaning you have the right for the help of a supervisory authority and the right for other legal remedies such as claiming damages.
- Right to withdraw consent – you have the right withdraw any given consent for Processing of your Personal Data.
Data we gather
Information you have provided us with
This might be your e-mail address, name, billing address, home address etc – mainly information that is necessary for delivering you a product/service or to enhance your customer experience with us. We save the information you provide us with in order for you to comment or perform other activities on the website. This information includes, for example, your name and e-mail address.
Information automatically collected about you
This includes information that is automatically stored by cookies and other session tools. For example, your shopping cart information, your IP address, your shopping history (if there is any) etc. This information is used to improve your customer experience. When you use our services or look at the contents of our website, your activities may be logged.
Information from our partners
We gather information from our trusted partners with confirmation that they have legal grounds to share that information with us. This is either information you have provided them directly with or that they have gathered about you on other legal grounds. See the list of our partners here.
Publicly available information
We might gather information about you that is publicly available.
How we use your Personal Data
We use your Personal Data in order to:
- provide our service to you. This includes for example registering your account; providing you with other products and services that you have requested; providing you with promotional items at your request and communicating with you in relation to those products and services; communicating and interacting with you; and notifying you of changes to any services.
- enhance your customer experience;
- fulfil an obligation under law or contract;
We use your Personal Data on legitimate grounds and/or with your Consent.
On the grounds of entering into a contract or fulfilling contractual obligations, we Process your Personal Data for the following purposes:
- to identify you;
- to provide you a service or to send/offer you a product;
- to communicate either for sales or invoicing;
On the ground of legitimate interest, we Process your Personal Data for the following purposes:
- to send you personalized offers* (from us and/or our carefully selected partners);
- to administer and analyse our client base (purchasing behaviour and history) in order to improve the quality, variety, and availability of products/ services offered/provided;
- to conduct questionnaires concerning client satisfaction;
As long as you have not informed us otherwise, we consider offering you products/services that are similar or same to your purchasing history/browsing behaviour to be our legitimate interest.
With your consent we Process your Personal Data for the following purposes:
- to send you newsletters and campaign offers (from us and/or our carefully selected partners);
- for other purposes we have asked your consent for;
We Process your Personal Data in order to fulfil obligation rising from law and/or use your Personal Data for options provided by law. We reserve the right to anonymise Personal Data gathered and to use any such data. We will use data outside the scope of this Policy only when it is anonymised. We save your billing information and other information gathered about you for as long as needed for accounting purposes or other obligations deriving from law, but not longer than 3 years or the length of your course enrolments.
We might process your Personal Data for additional purposes that are not mentioned here, but are compatible with the original purpose for which the data was gathered. To do this, we will ensure that:
- the link between purposes, context and nature of Personal Data is suitable for further Processing;
- the further Processing would not harm your interests and
- there would be appropriate safeguard for Processing.
We will inform you of any further Processing and purposes.
Who else can access your Personal Data
We do not share your Personal Data with strangers. Personal Data about you is in some cases provided to our trusted partners in order to either make providing the service to you possible or to enhance your customer experience. We share your data with:
Our processing partners:
- Paypal, Natwest
Our business partners:
- SES (School of Philosophy and Economic Science), Fellowship of SES
Connected third parties:
- Mailchimp
We only work with Processing partners who are able to ensure adequate level of protection to your Personal Data. We disclose your Personal Data to third parties or public officials when we are legally obliged to do so. We might disclose your Personal Data to third parties if you have consented to it or if there are other legal grounds for it.
How we secure your data
We do our best to keep your Personal Data safe. We use safe protocols for communication and transferring data (such as HTTPS). We use anonymising and pseudonymising where suitable. We monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks.
Even though we try our best we can not guarantee the security of information. However, we promise to notify suitable authorities of data breaches. We will also notify you if there is a threat to your rights or interests. We will do everything we reasonably can to prevent security breaches and to assist authorities should any breaches occur.
If you have an account with us, note that you have to keep your username and password secret.
Children
We do not intend to collect or knowingly collect information from children. We do not target children with our services.
Cookies and other technologies we use
We use cookies and/or similar technologies to analyse customer behaviour, administer the website, track users’ movements, and to collect information about users. This is done in order to personalise and enhance your experience with us.
A cookie is a tiny text file stored on your computer. Cookies store information that is used to help make sites work. Only we can access the cookies created by our website. You can control your cookies at the browser level. Choosing to disable cookies may hinder your use of certain functions.
We use cookies for the following purposes:
- Necessary cookies – these cookies are required for you to be able to use some important features on our website, such as logging in. These cookies don’t collect any personal information.
- Functionality cookies – these cookies provide functionality that makes using our service more convenient and makes providing more personalised features possible. For example, they might remember your name and e-mail in comment forms so you don’t have to re-enter this information next time when commenting.
- Analytics cookies – these cookies are used to track the use and performance of our website and services
- Advertising cookies – these cookies are used to deliver advertisements that are relevant to you and to your interests. In addition, they are used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement. They are usually placed to the website by advertising networks with the website operator’s permission. These cookies remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers. Often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality provided by the other organisation.
You can remove cookies stored in your computer via your browser settings. Alternatively, you can control some 3rd party cookies by using a privacy enhancement platform such as optout.aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.com. For more information about cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.
We use Google Analytics to measure traffic on our website. Google has their own Privacy Policy which you can review here. If you’d like to opt out of tracking by Google Analytics, visit the Google Analytics opt-out page.
Contact Information
Supervisory Authority
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to make change to this Privacy Policy.
Last modification was made 24 May 2018
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