Who are you and why do you collect my data?
The Alumni Engagement Team at the ùƵ (the “University”) work to engage alumni in the life of the University by connecting alumni with each other and our students, developing a range of benefits and services for alumni and offering ways for alumni to support the University. Our aim is to develop lifelong relationships with our alumni that are beneficial to both our graduates and the University, for example, through alumni mentoring current students.
We also work with supporters whose provide philanthropic support to the University, for example, by donating, fundraising and/or volunteering.
The University is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number Z7546246 and its Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@plymouth.ac.uk
How do you collect data about me?
We will collect data about you from the University’s student records and the records of our academic partner institutions. We will update this from information you provide to us through various other sources, for example, you may update us or other University staff by email or provide us with information by attending an event.
If you are a supporter of the University we collect data about you from your interactions with the University, for example, following attendance at an event or making a donation.
We continuously review records of alumni and supporters to ensure your data is as accurate as possible. We may therefore consult alternative sources in order to do so, e.g. Royal Mail National Change of Address files, BT phone directories, reviewing job information that you have made available via social media channels, such as LinkedIn or Facebook (as per their Privacy Policies), reliable news and press articles, company websites and other publicly available sources.
What data do you collect?
From the University records we will collect summary biographical data about you including contact details, date of birth and, in relation to former students, your course and the dates of study. That may be supplemented by information you provide to us through other sources as explained above. This means that we may hold information about your attendance at events, your employment, donation history and volunteering activities.
We do not collect or store any ‘sensitive’ information unless provided by you for a specific purpose such as disability status for event management.
Any data you provide will be stored securely on our alumni database. It will be treated confidentially and in accord with current data protection legislation.
We consider our relationship with you to be lifelong so we will continue to use your data to contact you unless we hear from you.
What will you do with my data?
We use your personal information for the following:
- Alumni activities and programmes involving academic and administrative departments.
- The promotion of benefits and services. Fundraising programmes including direct marketing (such as receipt of University publications), telephone and email fundraising, generating support towards University charitable projects (fundraising and volunteering).
- For the purposes of fulfilling the University’s obligations in relation to the Graduate Outcomes Survey.
- To invite you to get involved with University activities or provide support to the University.
- To enable your attendance at University events.
- Undertaking any necessary research for our due diligence in accordance with money laundering regulations relating to acceptance of gifts.
- To contact you where our information indicates you have a potential ability through your skills, interests and experience to support the University; for example, as a mentor, guest speaker or donor.
- To publish photos or recordings relating to activities and events.
- To maintain the accuracy of the data we hold which will include screening to remove deceased or uncontactable alumni from mailing lists.
We may occasionally use trusted third-party providers to help us understand the giving capacity of our supporters. These organisations collate and review publicly available information – including directorships, property ownership, familial links, news coverage, and philanthropic activity – to give an indication of the financial giving capacity of individuals. This process is known as wealth screening or prospect research. We would use this information alongside our own research and data of previous engagements and support of the University. Data produced by this activity is not used as the sole basis for decision-making but used as a starting point to help us to identify and contact individuals only where we feel their interests align with our charitable fundraising mission.
We only undertake this activity where we believe we have a legitimate interest in doing so, and we take care to balance this with your rights and interests. We include individuals who have a previous relationship with the University, or shown a clear interest in our work, and we do not share your data with these third-party providers unless appropriate safeguards and contractual protections are in place.
In some cases, we may research individuals who have not previously engaged with the University – often referred to as cold prospects – where we believe there is a potential philanthropic interest in our work. This is a standard and necessary part of major donor fundraising. We use public sources and professional tools (such as BoardEx, Factiva, and Factary Phi) to help us determine whether an individual might be suitable for an approach. Where appropriate, we will notify individuals that we hold their data within 30 days, or otherwise in our first communication to them.
You have the right to object to your data being used in this way at any time. To do so, please contact us using the details provided at the end of this notice.
What is the lawful basis for processing personal data?
Depending on the activity your data is used for, the University will rely on one of the following conditions for processing:
- Your consent.
- In order for the University to fulfil and contractual obligations.
- Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.
- Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
- Necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of the data subject.
- Processing is necessary for you, or another person’s vital interests.
Additionally should the University need to collect any special category data, for example, reasonable adjustments for the facilitation of event access; this will be based on the following:
- Your explicit consent.
- For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Will my data be shared?
We will only share your data with other departments within the University. We will never sell your data to other companies or charities. However, should you sign up for your data may then be shared with prospective employers and placement providers when you apply for a position through it.
We may also share your data where data processors provide us with a particular service – such as hosting the Alumni database. In these situations, contracts containing appropriate contractual terms around data protection will be in place.
It is also sometimes necessary for us to share personal data with third parties as follows:
- Providers of alumni, supporter and fundraising related services
- Event venue providers
- Charity Commission
- Office for Students
- HMRC
The Graduate Outcomes Survey is undertaken by the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) 15 months after your graduation. The University has
a statutory duty to provide your contact details to HESA for this survey
.
Email communications
We will email you about benefits and services, events which you may be interested in and to share University news, we may ask for your feedback on developments at the University or ask you to take part in research which we are undertaking. If at any point you would like to stop receiving emails from the the University please use the unsubscribe link at the foot of an email or email alumni@plymouth.ac.uk
If you choose to opt-out of receiving communications please note we will retain minimal information to ensure you receive no further correspondence from us. The team may use MailChimp to send emails so your email address will be stored in the US. You can view and their registration with the .
How long do you hold my data?
The University considers its relationship with alumni to be life-long. This means that we will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch. Should this be the case, the University will delete the majority of your personal data it holds but will maintain basic personal data such as your name and education details to ensure that we do not inadvertently create a new record for you in the future.
All alumni and supporters can update their consent and communications preferences by contacting alumni@plymouth.ac.uk
What rights do I have?
As a data subject you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. You can:
- Access and obtain a copy of your data on request.
- Require the University to amend incorrect or incomplete data.
- Require the University to stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing.
- Object to the processing of your data where the University is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing.
- Require us to erase your personal data.
- Require us to restrict our data processing activities (and, where our processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent, without affecting the lawfulness of our processing based on consent before its withdrawal).
- Receive from us the personal data we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal data to another data controller.
Please note that the above rights are not absolute, and the University may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights or if you have a complaint about the way you believe your data is being processed, in the first instance, please email: dpo@plymouth.ac.uk.
If you have a complaint and you remain dissatisfied with how your complaint has been dealt with you can take your complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a review. They can be contacted at casework@ico.org.uk.
Changes to this Notice
This privacy notice is reviewed annually or when required to ensure compliance with data protection legislation. If significant changes are made to this notice and the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear and may seek to communicate this directly to you.