Marketing and Student Recruitment Privacy Notice

1. Introduction

Abertay University is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you. It applies to information we collect when you visit the website, and when you interact with University marketing and student recruitment.

Abertay University is your data controller under the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’): Abertay University, Bell Street, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 1HG Tel: +44 (0)1382 308000. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted by emailing dataprotectionofficer@abertay.ac.uk.

2. When do we collect information and personal data?

When you visit our website.
When you fill in a form on the website and provide personal information such as name and email address when you: download a Prospectus, book a campus tour, register to attend an Open Day, or register interest in a course.
When you interact with us by email, telephone, post, social media, in person on campus, or at an event we’re participating in such as a UCAS Fair, Science festival or Computer Games exhibition.
From applicants to Abertay University already in our student record system (SITS), who have applied through UCAS, or directly to us.
When we initiate contact with you or respond to your enquiry if you are a teacher or a member of careers guidance staff working in a school or college.

3. What sort of data do we collect?

Abertay University collects information for different purposes as outlined below:

Anonymous data for the analysis and tracking of our website

Like most modern websites, our server automatically logs the activity of visitors. It provides usage information that shows us how they interact with the site such as web pages viewed, time spent on the site, videos or links clicked on, navigation path and use of the search box.

We collect data including the visitor's IP address, browser type, operating system versions, device type (mobile, tablet, PC), referring page (which site the visitor came from to ours).

Personal data for marketing or resolving a query

This includes visitors to the website that complete a webform, contact us with an enquiry or interact with us at an event such as a UCAS fair. We typically collect: name, email address, where they are from (Scotland; England, Wales or Northern Ireland, EU; International), which of the University courses they may be interested in studying and the year they intend to start university.

Information from social media channels

We collect your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your questions or comments.

Personal information from school and college professionals

Through the course of their job, Abertay outreach staff may collect personal data from teachers and those in a career guidance role, such as title, name, work email address, together with subjects and year stage of pupils taught and the name and contact details of the institution.

4. How and why do we use anonymous information

Cookies

Our website use cookies which are very small text files that are stored on your computer. They’re used by most websites to tailor information and marketing messages. They contain no personal data and can’t be used to identify an individual user. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify its setting to decline them if you prefer.

For detailed information on cookies, and how to manage them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

We use cookies to:

Analyse and track website performance: Cookies such as Google Analytics help us to monitor and produce measurable statistics on the performance of the website. Knowing among other things which website pages are most and least popular, which devices visitors are using to view content and page download speeds, allows us to continuously improve the site.

To make our digital advertising more relevant: We use tracking cookies for social media platforms on our website such as for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These allow us to provide more tailored and relevant digital advertising, and remarketing campaigns to previous visitors to our site as they browse the internet. This is based on their marketing consent, or acceptance of cookies on our website.

To measure the effectiveness of marketing communication and digital advertising campaigns: We use cookies and page tags about usage and user statistics on our website so we can attribute website visits to specific email communications or digital advertising campaigns. We use them to determine the success of campaigns through measuring open rates, links clicked on and the number of website visits generated. This helps us identify content that is the most useful and highlights that which is less popular so it can be improved.

5. How and why do we use personal data?

To provide relevant marketing communications

We use your personal data to provide you with tailored marketing information. This may be by post, email, SMS or telephone and may include:

Information about the subject area or course(s) you’re interested in or have already applied for.
Invites to events such as Open Days, Offer Holder Days or the Digital Graduate Show.
Asking you to complete feedback surveys following your attendance at an event.
Information about tuition fee discounts to postgraduate courses for Abertay undergraduates.
Scholarships.
Incentives to participate in research that helps us better understand our prospective students.
SMS messages as a reminder of events which you’ve booked with us.
Information about our facilities, links to virtual tours, the University and the city of Dundee.
Interesting work and projects our current students are involved in.

We will only send you marketing emails or contact you via preference selections you’ve expressly agreed to. We may personalise content based upon information you’ve provided. Should you change your mind after having opted in for marketing activity, you can update your preferences or unsubscribe in any direct marketing email.

To update school and college professionals

Abertay outreach staff may keep teachers and careers guidance staff up to date with developments and events of interest to their students, such as subject taster events held at the University, student competitions and invites to the Digital Graduate Show.

6. Legal basis for processing personal data

Where you have submitted an enquiry or registered for a Student Recruitment Event your personal data will be processed in terms of Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR as it is necessary for the performance of a contract (i.e. our responsibility to provide you with the information requested or administer your attendance at an event you have registered for)

Where you have given permission for us to contact you about further events or services your data will be processed under your consent as per Article 6(1) (a) of the GDPR.

7. Your rights

You have the right to withdraw consent for marketing communication at any time by contacting communications@abertay.ac.uk

You have the right to request access to, copies of, and rectification or erasure of personal data held by the University and can request that we restrict processing or object to processing as well as the right to notification of this; to data portability (i.e. the right to ask us to put your data into a format that it can be transferred easily to a different organisation, subject to conditions).

If we have asked for your consent in order to process your personal data you can withdraw this consent in whole or part at any time. We will explain the consequences of doing so in any particular case if you contact us to withdraw consent.

The University strives to ensure that all personal data remain current and accurate. If you would like a copy of any the personal data about you held by the University, you can request this (contact details below). If you become aware of any incorrect personal data held by the University, you have the right to request it is rectified. There are some areas where the University relies upon you to inform it of any changes to your personal data.

If you would like to exercise any of your rights above or if you have any questions, please
contact the University’s Data Protection Officer (“DPO”):

Data Protection Officer
Academic Registry
Abertay University
Kydd Building
Bell Street
Dundee DD1 1HG
Tel: 01382 308000 email: dataprotectionofficer@abertay.ac.uk

You will not have to pay a fee to exercise any of your rights. However, the University may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances. You are also entitled to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (the “ICO”) (www.ico.org.uk) about any concerns about the way the University has handled your personal data. The University would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

8. Who do we share your personal data with?

Externally

Our digital agency (Net Natives and Akero Labs) carry out digital advertising for us. Any personal data we share with them is sent securely using their data encryption tool and securely deleted immediately after use. We provide only the information they need to perform their advertising service and they may use it only for this exact purpose.

See Net Natives Privacy Policy

The University will not sell, share or transfer your personal data to other third parties for their own purpose. We will only share personal data to comply with a legal obligation.

Internally

We may share personal data to colleagues in the University where an enquiry has been forwarded for a response, such as a specific question about a degree programme that’s best answered by an academic.
Our Admissions service share data of applicants to ensure our marketing communications go only to those who have confirmed or are yet to decide on accepting our offer.

9. How long do we keep your data?

We will hold personal data on prospective students within a secure database for a maximum of two years when used for marketing purposes, or until such time you withdraw consent.
We will hold personal data relating to an enquiry as long as necessary to handle and process it.
We will hold information on school, college and careers guidance staff indefinitely for business needs, although subject to regular review and updates as staff in these organisations change.

If you withdraw your consent to receive marketing communication, we retain your anonymised instruction for audit purposes, after which your information will be securely and permanently erased.

10. Where is your data stored?

Our website uses Microsoft cloud storage that is load balanced between the UK and US data centres. Data centres in the US are covered under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework.
Data stored on Akero (the marketing platform of our digital agency Net Natives) is stored in the European Economic Area (EEA), specifically in London and Ireland locations.