DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Transcription

1 DATA PROTECTION POLICY Approval date: June 2014 Approved by: Board Responsible Manager: Executive Director of Resources Next Review June 2016 Data Protection Policy

2 1. Introduction Data Protection Policy - Preston s College 1.1. This document outlines the steps which all members of Preston s College ("the College") must take to ensure that the College complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 ("the Act") The Act applies to all Personal Data that is held, including electronic documents, databases, websites and s. It also extends to Personal Data held in manual records where these can be accessed by reference to a person. Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified either by the data alone or together with other information which is in the possession or likely to come into the possession of the data controller. An address will be personal data where it clearly identifies a particular individual The Act is in place to protect individuals by regulating the way in which the College collects, retains and uses personal data. Storing and using data is governed by specific principles which state that personal data must be: Processed fairly and lawfully Obtained and used for lawful and specified purposes Adequate, relevant and not excessive Accurate and where necessary kept up to date Kept only for as long as necessary Accessible to the data subject Kept securely Not transferred outside of the EU 1.4. The Act requires the College to notify the Information Commissioner of the types of Personal Data that it holds, the categories of individuals for which it holds this information, to whom it may be disclosed and the purposes for which Personal Data is processed. It also requires the College to confirm if it transfers Personal Data worldwide Preston s College needs to keep certain information about its employees, students and other users to allow it to monitor performance, achievements, and health and safety. It is also necessary to process information so that staff can be recruited and paid, courses organised and legal obligations to funding bodies and government complied with All members of the College have a duty to ensure compliance with the Act. 2. Status of this Policy 2.1. This policy does not form part of the formal contract of employment for staff, or the formal offer of a place for study for students, but it is a condition of employment or study that employees and students will abide by the rules and policies made by the College from time to time. Any failures to follow the policy can therefore result in disciplinary proceedings. 3. Principles of Data Protection 3.1. In summary, the governing principles of good data protection state that personal data shall: Be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully and shall not be processed unless certain conditions are met.

3 Be obtained for a specified and lawful purpose and shall not be processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose Be adequate, relevant and not excessive for that purpose Be accurate and kept up to date Not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose Be processed in accordance with the data subject's rights Be kept safe from unauthorised access, accidental loss or destruction Not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area, unless that country has equivalent levels of protection for personal data Preston College and all staff or others who process or use personal information must ensure that they follow these principles at all times. In order to ensure that this happens, the College has developed this Data Protection Policy and the Data Protection Code of Practice and will work to continually improve its overall arrangements for managing information through: Developing core measures to protect information as set out in the Code of Practice and subject to regular review Promoting a culture that properly values, protects and uses data, both in the planning and delivery of educational provision Strengthening accountability mechanisms, recognising that individual teams are best placed to understand and address risks to their information, including personal data Ensuring stronger scrutiny of performance, to build confidence and ensure that lessons are learned and shared 4. College Policy Statement 4.1. Preston s College aims to: Follow best practice in all our personal data processing Follow the relevant conditions for the fair and lawful processing of personal data Make available the purposes for which the College processes personal data and seek consent where possible and appropriate Make individuals aware if data is to be used for another purpose Provide general information to learners and the general public on their rights under data protection legislation Hold only the minimum personal data necessary to carry out the College s functions Make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information held and ensure that where records include opinions and/or intentions, these are carefully and professionally expressed Ensure that data which is no longer required is securely destroyed and that data of historical importance and/or of value for future research or statistical purposes is identified and archived Periodically review and extend existing security measures to ensure these include all records containing personal information and continue to be effective in preventing the unauthorised or unlawful processing, or disclosure, accidental loss, alteration, damage and destruction of data and,

4 consider adopting further safeguards, including for example, the use of encryption to secure and privacy of internet communication Only use personal data for the direct marketing of goods or services in circumstances where individuals have the opportunity to opt out Only use wholly automated decision making processes where this is necessary Only transfer data to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area recognised as having an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in accordance with the Information Commission published guidance on Eighth Data Protection Principle Transborder Data Flows & International Transfers of Personal Data; the European Commission's decision on the inclusion of standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data to third countries, unless Schedule 4 of the Act applies and/or the data subject has requested/consented to the transfer Ensure all requests from individuals to access their personal data are dealt with as quickly as possible and within the 20 day time scale allowed in the legislation, subject to the data subject meeting the requirements set out below 5. The Data Controller and the Designated Data Controllers 5.1. The Data Protection Officer for Preston s College is the Head of Administration and Information Services. Who is responsible for ensuring that the College is registered with the Information Commissioner s Office and that appropriate guidelines and procedures are in place and for dealing with any incidents The College as a body corporate is the Data Controller under the 1998 Act, and the Governors are therefore ultimately responsible for implementation. However, the Designated Data Controllers will deal with day to day matters. The three Designated Data Controllers are the Executive Director of Resources, the Head of Human Resources and the Head of Administration and Information Services. Any member of staff, student or other individual who considers that the Policy has not been followed in respect of personal data about himself or herself should raise the matter with the appropriate Designated Data Controller, who would be: For staff Head of Human Resources For students and all other Head of Adminstration and Information Services Appeals Executive Director of Resources 5.3. Curriculum and support departments will themselves have designated staff who will provide the Designated Data Controllers with details of the data held in their departments. 6. Responsibilities of Staff 6.1. All staff are responsible for: Checking that any information that they provide to the College in connection with their employment is accurate and up to date Informing the College of any changes to information that they have provided, e.g. changes of address, either at the time of appointment or subsequently. The College cannot be held responsible for any errors unless the staff member has informed the College of such changes If and when, as part of their responsibilities, staff collect information about other people (e.g. about a student's course work, opinions about ability, references to other academic institutions, or details of personal circumstances), they must comply with the guidelines for staff set out in the College's Data Protection Code of Practice

5 7. Student Obligations 7.1. Students must ensure that all personal data provided to the College is accurate and up to date. They must ensure that changes of address and contact details are provided to the College Students who may from time to time process personal data as part of their studies must notify their supervisor/tutor, who should inform the Data Protection Officer, and must comply with the guidelines for data collection and security as set out in the College s Data Protection Code of Practice 8. Training 8.1. Governors and employees will be trained to an appropriate level in the use and control of personal data and guidance will be issued to Governors and employees explaining their rights and responsibilities under the Act, including the requirement to comply with this policy, the Code of Practice and any other relevant procedures, to ensure best practice is followed in all its information handling processes. 9. Data Security 9.1. All staff are responsible for ensuring that: Any personal data that they hold is kept securely Personal information is not disclosed either orally or in writing or via web pages or by any other means, accidentally or otherwise, to any unauthorised third party Staff should note that unauthorised disclosure will usually be a disciplinary matter, and may be considered gross misconduct in some cases Personal information, whether electronic or paper based, should be stored securely and in keeping with College procedures. Information should only be removed from its storage location when operationally necessary and with appropriate security measures in place If personal information is computerised, it must be encrypted or password protected both on a local hard drive and on a network drive that is regularly backed up 9.2. Preston College aims to minimise the storage of, and, access to personal data on removable media, such as laptops, computer discs, external hard drives, flash drives and USB pens which may be lost or stolen. With the requirements of applying to all occasions when the relevant Data Controller agrees the use of removable media is essential, with a record of their decisions being maintained Further guidance on data security is given in the College s Data Protection Code of Practice 10. Rights to Access Information All staff, students and other users are entitled to: Know what information the College holds and processes about them and why Know how to gain access to it Know how to keep it up to date Know what the College is doing to comply with its obligations under the 1998 Act This Policy document and the College's Data Protection Code of Practice address in particular the last three points above. To address the first point, the College will, upon request, provide all staff and students and other relevant users with a statement regarding the personal data held about them. This will state all the types of data the College holds and processes about them, and the reasons for which they are processed.

6 10.3. All staff, students and other users have a right under the 1998 Act to access certain personal data being kept about them either on computer or in certain files. Any person who wishes to exercise this right should request in writing, a Subject Access Request, to the Designated Data Controller (see above) The College is entitled to charge for processing subject access requests and may decide to waive this fee at its discretion. However, the fee will always be applied where the request is for information in more than one area, or is a further request from the same person within 12 months of a previous request. The College reserves the right to refuse unreasonable repeat requests received from the same person for the same or similar information within 12 months of a previous request. The current charge is The College aims to comply with requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible, but will ensure that it is provided within 20 days, as required by the 1998 Act To prevent delay by having to ask data subjects for further information and, to ensure these are processed within the necessary time scale, all requests from data subjects must: 11. CCTV be made in writing; be accompanied by adequate proof of the identity of the data subject and, where applicable the written authorisation of the data subject if the request is being made on their behalf by a legal or lawfully appointed representative or, authorised agent; specify the information required; give adequate information to enable the requested data to be located; be accompanied by the relevant fee where appropriate The College will follow the guidance in the Information Commission's Code of Practice for users of CCTV and similar surveillance equipment monitoring spaces to which the public, learners and employees have access. 12. Monitoring of Communications The College reserves the right to monitor telephone calls, s and Internet access in compliance with the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 and any other relevant legislation. This will be subject to the Information Commissioners Code of Practice on Employer/Employee Relationships. 13. Achievement Data During the course of their studies, students will routinely be provided with information about their results for both coursework and examinations. Exam scripts themselves are exempted from the subject access rules and copies will not ordinarily be given to a student who makes a subject access request. If a student wishes to gain access to their exams scripts they will need to make application to the appropriate awarding body via the Exams Office. The procedures set out in the JCQ publication Post Results Services, which is reviewed annually, will be adhered to. 14. Subject Consent In many cases, the College can only process personal data with the consent of the individual. In some cases, if the data is sensitive, as defined in the 1998 Act, express consent must be obtained. Agreement to the College processing some specified classes of personal data is a condition of acceptance of a student onto any course, and a condition of employment for staff. This includes information about previous criminal convictions.

7 14.2. Some jobs or courses will bring the applicants into contact with children, including young people between the ages of 16 and 18. The College has a duty under the Children Act 1989 and other enactments to ensure that staff are suitable for the job, and students for the courses offered. The College also has a duty of care to all staff and students and must therefore make sure that employees and those who use College facilities do not pose a threat or danger to other users The College may also ask for information about particular health needs, such as allergies to particular forms of medication, or any medical condition such as asthma or diabetes. The College will only use this information in the protection of the health and safety of the individual, but will need consent to process this data in the event of a medical emergency, for example Therefore, the application forms that all prospective staff and students are required to complete will include a section requiring consent to process the applicant s personal data. A refusal to sign such a form will prevent the application from being processed. 15. Processing Sensitive Information Sometimes it is necessary to possess information about a person s health, criminal convictions, ethnicity, and trade union membership. This may be to ensure that the College is a safe place for everyone, or to operate other College policies, such as the sick pay policy or the Equality and Diversity policy. Because this information is considered sensitive under the 1998 Act, staff (and students where appropriate) will be asked to give their express consent for the College to process this data. An offer of employment or a course place may be withdrawn if an individual refuses to consent to this without good reason. 16. Retention of Data The College has a duty to retain some staff and student personal data for a period of time following their departure from the College, mainly for legal reasons, but also for other purposes such as being able to provide references and academic transcripts, or for financial reasons, for example relating to pensions and taxation. Different categories of data will be retained for different periods of time. The exact details of retention periods and purposes are set out on in the College s Data Protection Code of Practice 17. Publication of College Information The names of Senior Managers and Governors of the College or any other personal data relating to Senior employees or Governors will be published in the annual Operating and Financial Review, Financial Statements and on the public Web site when any statute or law requires such data to be made public Certain items of information relating to College staff will be made available via searchable directories on the public Web site, in order to meet the legitimate needs of researchers, visitors and enquirers seeking to make contact with appropriate staff It may also be the case that students enrolled on certain courses may produce web-based material containing personal data as part of their course work. All such activities are set out in detail in the College s Data Protection Code of Practice. 18. Conclusion Compliance with the 1998 Act is the responsibility of all members of the College. Any deliberate breach of the data protection policy may lead to disciplinary action being taken or to access to College

8 facilities being withdrawn, or even to a criminal prosecution. Any questions or concerns about the interpretation or operation of this policy should be taken up with the Designated Data Controller.