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Privacy Notice

This is a statement of the practices of Dorset College, in connection with the capture and the use of personal data and the steps taken by Dorset College to protect your personal data and respect your right to privacy.

Dorset College fully respects your right to privacy and actively seeks to preserve the privacy rights of those who share information with Dorset College. Any personal information which you volunteer to Dorset College will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, in accordance with Irish and European Data Protection legislation. Dorset College shall process your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act 2018.

The privacy notice explains the following:
How we collect and use personal data?

  • The purpose and legal basis for collecting personal data
  • How we store and secure personal data?
  • Details of third parties with whom we share personal data
  • What are your rights?

How and why we collect personal data?
The data we collect from you will be used by Dorset College in accordance with the purposes outlined in this privacy notice. We collect personal data via website forms, written application forms and documents, email and phone enquiries and surveys. We also collect information via third parties.

Students
We process data relating to students as detailed in the table below. Personal data and occasionally sensitive personal data may be collected directly from students who avail of specific services. If you provide Dorset College with your data for these purposes, then specific privacy information will be provided at the point of collection.

  • Purpose for processing personal data
  • The purpose of the admission and registration
  • Administration of your education
  • College policies and provision of IT and Library services.
  • Provision of data to the Higher Education Authority and Department of Education.
  • The provision of data to the Department of Justice to support visa applications for international students
  • The provision of student ID cards.

Legal basis for processing (Administrative)
Necessary to carry out the objectives and functions of Dorset College. Performance of a contract and statutory requirements.

  • Academic
  • Assessment, supervision and monitoring of attendance.
  • Graduation and granting of awards.
  • Processing of appeals, complaints and disciplinary issues.
  • Audio recording of lectures.
  • Administration of research programmes and funding.
  • Administration of placements.
  • Surveys and student feedback

Legal Basis: Necessary to carry out the objects and functions of Dorset College

  • Student Services Category
  • The provision of medical, counselling and disability and equality services.
  • The provision of reasonable accommodations.
  • The provision of careers services and mentorship.
  • The Social recreational programmes and the provision of accommodation

Legal Basis: Consent or explicit consent. Vital interests of the individual. Necessary to carry out the objects and functions of Dorset College.

Duty of Care
If necessary due to a medical emergency, the protection of vital interests. The protection of public health.
Legal Basis: Vital interests of the individual and statutory requirements.

Financial: Processing and recovery of fees and payments.
Legal Basis: Necessary to carry out the objects and functions of Dorset College.

Health & Safety
The administration of campus CCTV for security. Provision of a safe environment for educational activities.
Legal Basis: Legitimate interest of Dorset College/statutory requirement.

Garda Vetting for placements on specific courses. For the purposes of criminal investigations. When requested by An Garda Síochána.Exercise or defence of legal claims.
Legal Basis: Statutory requirement /Legal claims.

Communication: Provide information about the College events and activities.
Legal Basis: Necessary to carry out the objects and functions of Dorset College.

Archives
Retention of academic data and data of archival value in the public interest.
Legal Basis:Necessary to carry out the objects and functions of Dorset College. Permitted by section 42 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Staff
We collect personal data for the purposes of recruitment and for the formation and administration of the contract of employment and employee relationship. Additional data may be collected from staff when they register to use other services within Dorset College.

Members of the Public and Consumers
We collect data from members of the public in order to respond to enquiries, process transactions, administer services and accept bookings for events. We may add your personal data to a relevant mailing list if you have made an enquiry in relation to a service, if a transaction has taken place or if you have specifically requested to be added to a mailing list in order to receive information which is of interest to you. In the event that we do record your data on a mailing list you will be provided with the opportunity to opt out from the outset and in all our communications with you and we will only send you information relevant to your initial enquiry or transaction.

Website Users
Information on internet traffic is collected routinely by Dorset College and also at other points along the route in the internet. This technical information is used to ensure the smooth running of the computer network in Dorset College and for statistical or administrative purposes. It is NOT used to gather identifiable personal information on individual website visitors, except in so far as this is permitted by law and may be necessary in order to prevent or detect problems or offences in relation to the operation of the website.

Children
We sometimes collect data from children under the age of 18. Children's data is collected for the purposes of providing information on courses and admissions. 

CCTV
CCTV cameras are in operation in all our building campuses  in order to provide enhanced protection for students, staff and visitors.

Photography
Photographs or videos of staff and students may be taken on campus at official events such as graduation ceremonies. Dorset College will frequently take photographs or video at these events which may be shared on Dorset College website or social media accounts. Where the use of photographs or video may not be reasonably expected by individuals, Dorset College will seek consent to publish photographs or video where it is practical to do so. Individuals have the right to object to the use of their photograph and should contact the event organiser in the first instance or Dorset College Data Protection Officer, [email protected]

Cookies
We use information gathered from cookies to help improve your experience of dorset-college.ie. Some cookies are essential so you can move around the website and use its features.

Our website also contains third party cookies. You can refuse or consent to third party cookies when you first visit our website or by following the guidelines in our Cookie Policy. You can find more information in our: Cookies Policy

The purpose and legal basis for collecting your data
In order for the use of personal data to be lawful, it should be processed on the basis of either the consent of an individual concerned or another legal basis as set out in the General Data Protection Regulation or in the Data Protection Act 2018.

Dorset College will ensure that your data is processed fairly and lawfully in keeping with the principles of data protection and will process personal data under various legal bases depending on the purpose for which the data is collected.

Specific information on the legal basis for processing your personal data will also be provided at the point of collection of personal data. These may include:

  • Where Dorset College is required to process personal data by law including the sharing of data with the Higher Education Authority or for complying with employment law.
  • Where the processing of personal data is necessary for the formation of a contract with you;
  • Where the processing of personal data is not related to the official functions of Dorset College we may sometimes process personal data based on legitimate interests e.g. for the administration of events, purchasing of tickets and the use of our services.
  • Generally, when using sensitive personal data Dorset College will seek explicit consent for the processing of data except where another condition applies e.g. employment law or legal claims.

How we store and secure your data
Any data we collect from you will be stored confidentially and securely. Dorset College is committed to ensuring all accesses to, uses of, and processing of data is performed in a secure manner.

In keeping with the data protection principles we will only store your data for as long as is necessary and in accordance with the law. (INCLUDE RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY LINK HERE?)

When we store your personal data on our systems the data will primarily be stored either on Dorset College premises or secure IT platforms within the European Economic Area (EEA) which are also subject to European data protection requirements.

We may store or share your data outside the EEA in the following circumstances:

  • For processing international applications and sharing data with partner Colleges.
  • When using cloud services for the secure storage of data. 
  • The College will only use services which are compliant with the European General Data Protection Regulation and who satisfy the conditions for processing personal data outside the EEA.
  • If we are required to do so by law.

Details of third parties with whom we share personal data
Dorset College will share your data with third parties where necessary for purposes of the processing and where there is a legal basis to do so. Dorset College may share relevant personal data with the following categories of third parties:

  • State or regulatory bodies including the Higher Education Authority, CAO, Department of Education and Skills, Department of Justice and Equality, Department of Social Protection.
  • IT or cloud service providers that provide essential services to Dorset College e.g. Microsoft.
  • Firms that provide professional services to Dorset College such as legal firms and auditors.
  • Firms that provide archiving and storage and disposal of confidential waste.
  • Research and academic partners.
  • Organisations including nursing homes, hospitals childcare facilities and public services that provide placements for students.
  • When we are required to do so by law.

When we share your data with the third parties outlined here Dorset College will endeavour only to share the data that is needed, that the data is only processed according to our specific instructions and that the same standards of confidentiality and security are maintained. Once the processing of the data is complete any third parties with whom data was shared will be required to return the data to Dorset College save where they are required to retain it by law.

What are your rights?
You have the following rights over the way we process your personal data.

Right of Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we are processing about you and to exercise that right easily and at reasonable intervals.

Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent where that is the legal basis of our processing.

Rectification: You have the right to have inaccuracies in personal data that we hold about you rectified.

Erasure: You have the right to have your personal data deleted where we no longer have any justification for retaining it.

Object: You have the right to object to processing your personal data if:

  • We have processed your data based on a legitimate interest or for the exercise of the public tasks of Dorset College if you believe the processing to be disproportionate or unfair to you.
  • The personal data was processed for the purposes of direct marketing or profiling related to direct marketing.
  • We have processed the personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

Restriction
You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data if:

  • You are contesting the accuracy of the personal data;
  • The personal data was processed unlawfully;
  • You need to prevent the erasure of the personal data in order to comply with legal obligations;
  • You have objected to the processing of the personal data and wish to restrict the processing until a legal basis for continued processing has been verified.

Portability
Where it is technically feasible you have the right to have a readily accessible electronic copy of your data transferred or moved to another data controller if we are processing your data based on your consent and if that processing is carried out by automated means.

Contact
If you have any queries relating to the processing of your personal data or if you wish to make a complaint or escalate an issue relating to any of your rights you can contact the Data Protection Officer at Dorset College.

Finally if you are not satisfied with the information we have provided to you in relation to the processing of your data or you can also make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner via the link in their website Making a Complaint to the DPC.