Members Privacy Notice
1. Introduction
The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) Students’ Union (“we”, “our” or “us”) is a charitable organisation whose registered name is Students’ Association of the University of the West of Scotland and address is The Students’ Union, Storie Street, Paisley, PA1 2HB. We are a registered Scottish charity, number SCO49356 and we are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, with Registration Number ZA169589.
We promise to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we get from other organisations and keep it safe. We aim to be clear when we collect your data and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect.
Developing a better understanding of our members through your personal data allows us to make better decisions, communicate more efficiently and, ultimately helps us reach our Vision of “creating a better future for UWS students and the world around us”. Our members are defined in Part 2 of our Articles of Union.
All of your personal information will be treated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and the data protection principles, as set out in our Data Protection Policy.
2. Where we collect information about you from
UWS Students’ Union is a ‘data controller’ and gathers and uses certain information about you. Where we are also a ‘data processor’, we will process information received from third parties about you.
We collect information in the following ways:
From the University of the West of Scotland
Each year that as a student you register on a UWS accredited course you automatically become a member of the Students’ Union, unless you opt out during registration. They provide us with your name, student ID number, your date of birth and other information related to your studies. We have a data sharing agreement with the University to make sure the information that is passed to us is done so in line with the law. When UWS gives us this data we become responsible for it and will use this as our core central record of your membership.
When you give personal information to us DIRECTLY
UWS students may give us information in order to sign up to a student group, society, an election, for one of our events, undertake research activities, use our advice service, become a volunteer, purchase our products or communicate with us. When you give us this information we take responsibility for looking after it and, if required, we will cross reference this data against our register of members.
All UWS employees are Associate Members of UWS Students’ Union and must register an account on our website using their UWS email address in order to take part in social, sporting and cultural activities. UWS employees may give us information in order to sign up to a student group, for one of our events, purchase our products or communicate with us. When you give us this information we take responsibility for looking after it.
When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share
Your information may be shared with us by independent organisations. These independent third parties will only do so when you have indicated that you have given consent to share this data with us. You should check their Privacy Policy when you provide your information to understand fully how they will process your data.
Social Media
Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.
When we collect it as you use our WEBSITES
Like most websites, we use “cookies” to help us make our site – and the way you use it – better. Cookies mean that a website will remember you. They’re small text files that sites transfer to your computer (or phone or tablet). They make interacting with a website faster and easier – for example by automatically filling your name and address in text fields. There are more details in our Cookies Statement.
In addition, the type of device you’re using to access our website and the settings on that device may provide us with information about your device, including what type of device it is, what specific device you have and what operating system you’re using. Your device manufacturer or operating system provider will have more details about what information your device makes available to us.
Information available PUBLICALLY
This may include information that has been published in articles/newspapers.
3. What personal data we collect and how we use it
The legal basis for processing information for members is relying on our legal obligations under the Education Act 1994, you providing consent (such as for direct marketing purposes) and through legitimate interests in processing a students' membership and sending communications relating to their membership, as part of the wider UWS student experience. We may collect and use your personal information for statistical and archive purposes in the public interest.
The type and quantity of information we collect and how we use it depends on why you are providing it.
UWS Students
When students apply and accept an offer at UWS, they enter into a contract with the University and as part of this they agree that the University can process their personal information for administrative and educational purposes and that limited personal data will be shared with the Students’ Union to process a students’ membership and receive communications relating to their membership (i.e. as part of the UWS student experience). It also enables the University to support UWS Students’ Union to be run in a fair and democratic manner. When you use our services and participate in one of our activities we use this information to provide the best possible standards of administration and communication.
This information includes, but is not limited to:
- Student ID
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Gender
- Email Address
- Nationality
- Course (Name and Code)
- Study Type (UG, PGT or PGR)
- Level of Study
- Course End Date
- Academic School
- Mode of Study (FT or PT)
UWS Students’ Union also shares limited personal data with the University, such as students’ involvement in volunteering and student representation, relevant information relating to disciplinary matters or complaints, to facilitate room or event bookings or where we have significant concerns about a UWS students’ health or wellbeing. This information is managed through a Data Sharing Agreement between the University and UWS Students’ Union.
UWS Employees
In order for UWS employees to activate their Associate Membership you will create an account on our website. You need to provide your name, UWS email address and Date of Birth.
Honorary Life Members
There are occasions when we award individuals with Honorary Life Memberships. In order to activate your membership you will create an account on our website and provide your name, email address, Date of Birth, address, course studied at UWS and course end date. You can also choose to provide your Student ID and course start date.
All Members
In addition when you log into our website for the first time, attend an event or activity, join a student society or group, become a volunteer, candidate in an election or use one of our services we may ask for additional information such as, but not limited to:
- Your mobile number
- Your photo
- Your bank details to facilitate payments
- Information relating to your health or next of kin if you are taking part in a high-risk activity
- Any disabilities or access needs so that we can provide assistance where needed (this information will only be provided with members expressed consent)
- Demographics
- Interests
- Research responses
- Personal and academic issues you identify to us
We will mainly use your data to:
- Provide you with the services, products or information you asked for
- Provide you with the services, products or information relating to any affiliated clubs or societies
- Administer your membership and our services
- Support you as a volunteer, including registering you for external training, conferences or events
- Keep a record of your relationship and involvement with us
- Facilitate elections
- Administer nominations for award events
- Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted
- Understand how we can improve our services, products or information
- Register your membership with National Governing Bodies where relevant
4. How we keep your data safe and who has access
Personal data collected and processed by us may be shared and restricted to relevant employees and volunteers of UWS Students’ Union and under strictly controlled conditions the following groups where necessary:
- Contractors
- Advisors
- Agents
- Service provider partners
When we allow access to your information we will always have complete control of what they see, what they are allowed to do with it and how long they can see it. We do not sell or share your personal information for other organisations to use.
Information may be held at our offices, on UWS IT servers and with third party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents. UWS Students’ Union use Membership Solutions Limited as our website and membership system provider. We also collect information using JotForm and Survey Monkey, who both have their own privacy notices.
We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained employees, volunteers and contractors.
Our Advice Centre has a Confidentiality Policy that outlines how the information you provide to us is used. We will not normally share your personal information with a third party without your consent. We would however breach your confidentiality where there is a legal obligation to disclose information for example, a court order or where we believe that you, or a third party, is in serious personal danger.
We may need to disclose your details if required to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors.
We will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your explicit and informed consent.
As a member led charitable organisation it is important that our elected representatives are publicly accountable and contactable by members. We publish the names of all elected representatives alongside their assigned @uwsunion.org.uk email addresses, we may also publish University email addresses where appropriate to the individual and their role such as Academic Reps and Committee Members. Where University email addresses (@uws.ac.uk) are published or made available to members the individual will be entitled to opt-out of this through by contacting dataprotection@uwsunion.org.uk.
We will share information with third parties only in support of the activities of UWS Students’ Union, for example entries to national sporting competitions, room bookings, attending external training, conferences or events or insurance purposes. We take the security of your data seriously and will never sell on your data or use it for any other purpose other than for which it was collected. Where we share your personal information with third parties we ensure that we have appropriate measures in place to safeguard your personal information and to ensure that is solely used for legitimate purposes in line with this Privacy Notice.
We keep your information for no longer than necessary for the purposes for which the personal information is processed. Further details can be found in our Retention Schedule.
5.Marketing &Communications Preferences
Membership Communications
As a member we believe you have a legitimate interest in hearing from us about the products and services we offer, what we’re doing to represent you and opportunities that might be of interest to you.
In addition, UWS students can opt into receiving tailored communications, such as on specific services, activities and campaigns.
Direct Marketing
We work with third parties to provide you with information that will benefit you such as exclusive discounts, promotions or jobs. When you register on our website you can opt into receiving these marketing emails. When we advertise external companies this generates income that supports providing the services we offer. We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing.
Controlling what you want to hear about
You may opt out of email communications at any stage by clicking the link at the bottom of each email we send you or by logging into your account on our website and changing your communication preferences.
If you don’t want to hear from us, that’s fine. Just let us know by emailing dataprotection@uwsunion.org.uk.
Please note that we have a legal requirement under the Education Act 1994 that our elections are ‘fairly and properly conducted’ and for our Full Time Officer Elections that ‘all members are entitled to vote’. Therefore UWS students are not able to opt out of these limited number of election emails. Once you have voted in an election you should stop receiving emails about that election.
6. Keeping your information up to date
We mostly use the record of members provided by UWS to maintain accurate data about you as described above. We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change.
7. Understanding the detail of our data security measures
When we process your data we will have already carefully assessed the lawful justification for doing so, the parameters in which the data is processed, the length of time the data is held for, the secure storage of your data and undertaken impact assessments to ensure your rights are delivered.
We use Membership Solutions Limited as our website and membership system provider. Membership Solutions Limited keeps these systems safe and secure in line with industry best practice. There is a Data Processing Agreement between UWS Students’ Union, UWS and One Voice Digital.
We do not store any sensitive card data on our systems following online transactions. We use payment processor contracted through our website provider Membership Solutions Limited to handle these matters. Payments taken in store are handled through PayPal.
8. Your rights
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) sets out rights for individuals.
You have a right to ask us to stop processing your personal data, and if it’s not necessary for the purpose you provided it to us for (e.g. processing your membership or registering you for an event) we will do so. Contact us by emailing dataprotection@uwsunion.org.uk.
You have a right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. If there are any discrepancies in the information we provide, please let us know and we will correct them. If you want to access your information we ask you to make a Subject Access Request.
The Code of Practice relating to the operation of the Students' Union outlines that UWS students have the right to not be a member of UWS Students’ Union. If you do not want to be a member of UWS Students’ Union, you can opt out at enrolment or by contacting the Chief Executive of UWS Students’ Union: chief.executive@uwsunion.org.uk.
Under certain conditions you also have the right to ask us to:
- Restrict the use of your data e.g. if you have raised issues about the accuracy or use of your personal data, until we have investigated and responded to your concerns.
- Erase your information or tell us to stop using it to make decisions about you.
- Comply with your wishes where you have previously agreed to us processing your data for a particular purpose and have withdrawn your consent to further processing.
- Provide you with a portable electronic copy of data you’ve given us.
9. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may change this Privacy Notice from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on our website or by contacting you directly.
If you have any questions or concerns please send these to dataprotection@uwsunion.org.uk. You can see further information and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.