Privacy & Cookie Notices

Who we are

Bexhill College is the Data Controller and is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the new General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR). In doing so, the College only collects, stores and processes personal information for legitimate purposes. This includes information disclosed when contacting the College as well as information we may learn during any engagement activity. This Privacy Notice explains how we do this as well as highlighting privacy rights, and how the law protects individuals.

Bexhill College is committed to keeping personal data safe and private and giving opportunity to update it as appropriate. The College will not sell or transfer personal data to a third party unless there is a legal requirement or a legitimate business need to do so.

What information do we hold about individuals?

This privacy notice applies to anyone who engages with the College in any capacity including visitors, parents, suppliers and contractors.

Information we collect

Personal data may be provided to the College when individuals visit the College or engage with us in any way. This information may include name, address, date of birth, contact information, gender, family details such as next of kin/child details, any medical or support needs, and bank account information. On occasion, we may also collect sensitive information about ethnicity, disability, medical conditions, and criminal offences which may be used by the College for the purposes of equal opportunities and to minimise risk.

Other information

We may also hold other information including previous contact information, records of applications for College-related services previously requested or provided by the College, any information; advice or guidance provided or given by the College; records of meetings and any other information collected as part of any engagement with the College.

We may keep information contained in any correspondence by post, email or other electronic processes. We may record phone calls.

We may also obtain other information about an individual permitted by law from other sources, for example references for new suppliers.

Why do we collect this information?

We use this data for the for the purposes of managing and operating the College. Such data is needed to enable us to:

• administer the College effectively;
• provide College services efficiently;
• maintain our own records and accounts;
• support teaching and learning effectively including effective pastoral care;
• to ensure the College is safe and secure
• administer applications for financial support e.g. student bursaries

This list is not exhaustive.

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We process this information on the basis of our legitimate interests:

• we have a legitimate interest in wishing to interact with an individual to manage and operate the College effectively and to ensure that the College is safe and secure for all persons visiting, and
• to be able to do so, we need to understand details of who is in the building, the reasons for this and to be able to communicate with them.

Where we are required by law to hold certain records, then we collect and hold those records to comply with that legal obligation.

Who might we share information with?

We will keep any personal information we hold confidential. We will only share the information when it is legitimate to do so. Depending on the reason for the engagement with the College, we may share information with government funding agencies (the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the Office for Students, the Student Loan Company) as well as the Local Authority (East Sussex County Council) in order to comply with our legal duties.

We may also share the information with other organisations for

• the purposes of administration;
• for the purposes of making payments;
• the provision of careers advice and other guidance;
• monitoring or statistical and research purposes;
• for other purposes related to the provision of education, training, employment and individual well-being. This will only take place where the sharing is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR 2018.

This list is not exhaustive.

We may be asked to share data with other third parties where there is a lawful reason for their request. These may include: the police, social services, legal firms acting on an individuals or the College’s behalf, insurance companies acting on an individual’s or the College’s behalf or other government agencies.

We will not share details with any other third party including commercial companies without consent to do so.

The College will always ask permission to share sensitive information with other organisations unless required to do so by law.

Marketing

On occasion, we may need to publicise visitors who attend the College for example, when external speakers contribute to events for students. The College will seek permission to use any personal information including photographs and videos for any marketing purposes such as press releases, on our website, advertisements, in the prospectus or other publications or any other publicity material or methods including social media.

Use of the website

Wherever possible, we aim to obtain explicit consent to process information gleaned from use of the College website, for example, by asking a user to agree to our use of cookies.

Sometimes implicit consent may be given by an individual, such as when an email message is sent to which the sender would reasonably expect us to reply.

Except where an individual has consented to our use of their information for a specific purpose, we do not use information in any way that would identify an individual personally. We may aggregate it in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example to monitor the performance of a particular page on our website.

Please read our Cookies Policy here.

CCTV

The College has CCTV in operation on all College premises both inside the buildings and in the grounds. Number plate recognition software is also used as part of the parking and CCTV monitoring system in the main College car park. This is used to enhance the security of the college environment including:

• the prevention, investigation and detection of crime including anti-social behaviour
• the apprehension, discipline and prosecution of offenders – including the use of images as evidence in disciplinary and criminal proceedings
• safeguarding students, staff, other College users and the public, ensuring their safety
• monitoring the security of the College site
• monitoring the use and security of the car park

Disclosure of recorded images to third parties may be authorised where the release is fair to the individual, there is a legal obligation to do so or release is consistent with the purpose for which the system was established.

IT systems

The College employs a range of monitoring software and regularly monitors the use of IT, including internet and email use through user names and logins to ensure adherence to the Acceptable Use Policy or for statistical purposes. All users should ensure they are familiar with these expectations and operate within them whilst on site or using College resources either during or outside College hours.

Automated decisions and personal information

We do not make automated decisions using personal data.

Transfer of personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)

We do not transfer personal data outside the EEA.

How long do we keep this information?

We keep information in accordance with our document retention policy. Retention periods are in line with the length of time we need to keep personal information in order to manage and administer our business and handle any future information issues. They also take into account our need to meet any legal, statutory, and regulatory obligations. These reasons can vary from one piece of information to the next. In all cases, our need to use specific personal information will be reassessed on a regular basis, and information which is no longer required will be disposed of.

Letting us know that personal information is incorrect

Individuals have the right to question any personal information the College holds about them if they think it is wrong, inaccurate or incomplete.

How can I access the information held about me?

Under Data Protection legislation, an individual has the right to request access to particular personal data that we hold about them. This is referred to as a Subject Access Request. We will respond within one month from the point of receiving the request and all necessary information.

Individuals can make a Subject Access Request by completing and submitting the request form or by emailing it to dataprotection@bexhillcollege.ac.uk.

Individuals also have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
• prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means
• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed

Can an individual withhold my personal information or withdraw consent to hold and process my personal information?

We may need to collect personal information by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with an individual. If this personal information is not provided, or consent to us holding or processing personal information is withdrawn, it may delay or prevent us from meeting our obligations in the capacity in which any engagement with the College is being undertaken. It may also mean that we cannot perform services needed to engage with that individual.

What if an individual wants us to stop using their personal information?

Individuals have the right to object to our use of their personal information, or to ask us to delete, remove, or stop using their personal information if there is no need for us to keep it. This is known as the ‘right to object’ and ‘right to erasure’, or the ‘right to be forgotten’.

There may be legal or other official reasons why we need to keep or use the data. But individuals are able to tell us if there they think there is a reason why we should not be using it.

We may sometimes be able to restrict the use of certain personal data. This means that it can only be used for certain things, to exercise legal rights. In this situation, we would not use or share such information in other ways while it is restricted. If an individual wants to object to how we use their personal information, or ask us to delete it or restrict how we use it or, they should contact the college Data Protection Officer as outlined below.

Who can I contact if I have any questions or concerns?

Please write to the Data Protection Officer at Bexhill College, Penland Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex TN40 2JG or email dataprotection@bexhillcollege.ac.uk. with any questions or queries which are not answered by this Privacy Policy, or potential concerns about how we may use the personal data we hold,

If a concern or complaint is not satisfactorily resolved and there is reason to believe we are processing personal data without legitimate reason, individuals have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The complaint form is available on their website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns

Policy changes

This Privacy Policy is regularly reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team. This is to make sure that we continue to meet the highest standards and to protect privacy. We reserve the right at all times, to update, modify or amend this Policy.

Last Updated: 25th July 2023

Who we are

Bexhill College is the Data Controller and is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the new General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR). In doing so, the College only collects, stores and processes your personal information for legitimate purposes. This includes information you disclose at application or interview as well as information we may learn about you after attending the College. This Privacy Notice explains how we do this as well as telling you about your privacy rights, and how the law protects you.

Bexhill College is committed to keeping your personal data safe and private and giving you opportunity to update it. The College will not sell your personal data to a third party or transfer your personal data to a third party unless there is a legal requirement or a legitimate business need to do so.

What information do we hold about you?

Information we collect from you

You provide us with personal data when you apply and/or enrol with the College via an online or paper-based application for any course or other learning experience such as a taster day. This information may include your name, address, date of birth, contact information, gender, next of kin/parent/carers details, previous education and qualifications, any medical or support needs, and bank account information. We also collect sensitive information about ethnicity, disability, medical conditions and criminal offences which may be used by the College for the purposes of equal opportunities, support for your studies and to minimise risk.

Other information

We also hold other information about you including your academic work, attendance, progress and any disciplinary or behaviour records; records of applications for support and bursaries, information; advice and guidance; records of tutorials, work experience; exam achievement; child protection records where applicable and any other information collected as part of your education and training programme.

We may keep information contained in any correspondence by post, email or other electronic processes such as UCAS Progress. We may record phone calls.

We may also obtain other information about you permitted by law from other sources. This may include from previous educational institutions, social services, the police or other agencies.

Why do we collect this information?

We use student data to enable us to provide an educational service. The data is needed to enable us to:

• administer the College effectively;
• maintain our own records and accounts;
• support teaching and learning effectively including effective pastoral care;
• monitor and report on student progress and achievement including the overall performance of the College;
• provide appropriate careers advice and guidance;
• assess the quality of our provision
• to comply with the law regarding data sharing
• to be able to identify learning support needs and to be able to provide support

This list is not exhaustive.

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We collect and use student information under Article 6 and Article 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation. We collect and use student information to enable us to fulfil our legal obligations (Article 6) in relation to providing further education in line with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, to comply with the requirements of government funding agencies, and to meet other statutory requirements including those under the Education and Skills Act 2008. Processing of such information is carried out in the course of our legitimate activities as a not-for profit educational body (Article 9).

Most of the information we collect is necessary for your enrolment as a student or is required by law. Prospective students must provide it in order to enrol at the College.

We collect and process some information based on the need to be able to carry out our business and this includes your emergency contact details and parent/carer contact details. This is needed to be able to contact someone in an emergency and to be able to share information about your progress at College (Article 6e). The College has found this to be very beneficial to a young person’s progress as a student if we are able to engage with parents/guardians/carers.

We collect information about criminal convictions in order to protect the vital interests of others (Article 6d) and in order to carry out our duty to support those with a conviction where appropriate (Article 6e).

Who might we share your information with?

We will keep this information about you confidential. We will share the information with government funding agencies (the Education and Skills Funding Agency, the Office for Students, the Student Loan Company) as well as the Local Authority (East Sussex County Council) in order to comply with our legal duties.

We may also share the information with other organisations for:

• the purposes of administration including examination bodies;
• the provision of careers advice and other guidance;
• monitoring or statistical and research purposes;
• with host employers in the case of work experience/placements;
• for progression purposes such as UCAS, job applications or progression to other educational providers
• for other purposes related to the provision of education, training, employment and well-being. This will only take place where the sharing is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018.

This list is not exhaustive.

We may be asked to share data with other third parties where there is a lawful reason for their request. These may include: the police, social services, legal firms acting on your or the College’s behalf, insurance companies acting on your or the College’s behalf or other government agencies.

We will not share your details with any other third party including commercial companies without your consent to do so.

The College will always ask your permission to share sensitive information with other organisations unless required to do so by law.

Marketing

The College will also seek your permission on enrolment to use information about you including photographs and videos for any marketing purposes such as press releases, on our website, advertisements, in the prospectus or other publications or any other publicity material or methods including social media.

If you are named specifically in any marketing activity, we will seek your specific agreement.

Use of the website

Wherever possible, we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process information gleaned from your use of the College website, for example, by asking you to agree to our use of cookies.

Read our Cookies Policy here.

Sometimes you might give your consent implicitly, such as when you send us a message by e-mail to which you would reasonably expect us to reply.

Except where you have consented to our use of your information for a specific purpose, we do not use your information in any way that would identify you personally. We may aggregate it in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example to monitor the performance of a particular page on our website.

CCTV

The College has CCTV in operation on all college premises both inside the buildings and in the grounds. Number plate recognition software is also used as part of the car park and CCTV monitoring system in the main College car park. This is used to enhance the security of the college environment including:

• the prevention, investigation and detection of crime including anti-social behaviour
• the apprehension, discipline and prosecution of offenders – including the use of images as evidence in disciplinary and criminal proceedings
• safeguarding students, staff, other college users and the public, ensuring their safety
• monitoring the security of the college site
• monitoring the use and security of the car park

Disclosure of recorded images to third parties may be authorised where the release is fair to the individual, there is a legal obligation to do so or release is consistent with the purpose for which the system was established.

IT systems

The College employs a range of monitoring software and monitors the use of IT, including internet and email use through user names and logins to ensure adherence to the Acceptable Use Policy or for statistical purposes. Students should ensure they are familiar with these expectations and operate within them whilst on site or using College resources either during or outside College hours.

Personal accounts within IT systems may also be accessed, for example, to access student work if a student is absent to enable fellow students to complete a project or to enable staff to make the work for assessment purposes.

Automated decisions and personal information

We sometimes use IT systems to support automated processes such as regarding student attendance.

What do we do with your information?

We collect this information in order to process your application, ensure you are studying on an appropriate course, receive the necessary support, and to support your studies.

The information is held on College data management systems and may be used by teaching and support staff in order to support your education and training, to report on overall College performance and to safeguard you and other students, staff and visitors.

As part of the overall data we hold about all students, we will use the information to analyse and report, in line with Government requirements, on the College’s overall performance against several indicators. As aggregated data it will be used to support the College’s claims for government funding and as aggregated and anonymised it will be used by the Department for Education and its agencies to calculate and publish performance data about the College.

Transfer of your personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)

We do not transfer your personal data outside the EEA. If students apply for activities outside the EEA, such as University places in overseas universities, where the College is asked to provide personal information such as references; the College shall consider the action of applying and putting the College as a referee as implicit consent.

How long do we keep this information about you?

We keep information in accordance with our document retention policy. Retention periods are in line with the length of time we need to keep your personal information in order to manage and administer your education and training and handle any future information issues. They also take into account our need to meet any legal, statutory and regulatory obligations. These reasons can vary from one piece of information to the next. In all cases, our need to use your personal information will be reassessed on a regular basis and information which is no longer required will be disposed of.

Letting us know if your personal information is incorrect

You have the right to question any personal information the College holds about you if you think it is wrong, inaccurate or incomplete. The College provides systems to permit you to check your data such as student portal, and where it is incorrect, the college will take reasonable steps to check its accuracy and correct it. Students can amend their personal information via student portal or the Student Information Department. Information is verified before changes are made and appropriate authorisations are in place.

How can I access the information you hold about me?

Under Data Protection legislation, you have the right to request access to particular personal data that we hold about you. This is referred to as a Subject Access Request. We will respond within one month from the point of receiving the request and all necessary information from you.

You can make a Subject Access Request by completing and submitting the request form or by emailing it to dataprotection@bexhillcollege.ac.uk.

You also have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
• prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means
• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed

Can I withhold my personal information or withdraw consent to hold and process my personal information?

We may need to collect personal information by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you. If you choose not to give us this personal information, or withdraw your consent to us holding or processing your personal information, it may delay or prevent us from meeting our obligations to you as a student or employer. It may also mean that we cannot perform services needed to support you as a student. It could mean you cannot remain a student with us.

What if you want us to stop using your personal information?

You have the right to object to our use of your personal information, or to ask us to delete, remove, or stop using your personal information if there is no need for us to keep it. This is known as the ‘right to object’ and ‘right to erasure’, or the ‘right to be forgotten’.

There may be legal or other official reasons why we need to keep or use your data. But please tell us if you think that we should not be using it.

We may sometimes be able to restrict the use of your data. This means that it can only be used for certain things, to exercise legal rights. In this situation, we would not use or share your information in other ways while it is restricted. If you want to object to how we use your personal information, or ask us to delete it or restrict how we use it or, please contact the college Data Protection Officer as outlined below.

Who can I contact if I have any questions or concerns?

If you have any questions or queries which are not answered by this Privacy Policy, or a have any potential concerns about how we may use the personal data we hold, please write to the Data Protection Officer at Bexhill College, Penland Road, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex TN40 2JG or email dataprotection@bexhillcollege.ac.uk.

If your concern or complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction and you believe we are processing your data without legitimate reason, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The complaint form is available on their website https://ico.org.uk/concerns

Policy changes

This Privacy Policy is regularly reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team. This is to make sure that we continue to meet the highest standards and to protect your privacy. We reserve the right at all times, to update, modify or amend this Policy. We suggest that you review this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure you are aware of any changes we may have made. However, we will not significantly change how we use information you have already given to us without informing you.

Last Updated: 25th July 2023