Updated March 2023

Privacy and Ethics Policy

Birmingham Nursery Schools Collaboration Trust - Privacy Policy

About this Policy

This privacy policy and general privacy notice outlines how we handle your data in accordance  with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations [GDPR] 

As it applies in the UK, outlines in the Data Protection Act 2018. 

This policy applies to the work of the Birmingham Nursery Schools Collaboration Trust [BNSCT]  and all projects that are under the purview of the BNSCT.  

These currently include: 

  • Birmingham Early Years Networks [BEYN]

  • Developing Local Provision [DLP] 

  • Midlands Stronger Practice Hub – HEART – Helping Early years practitioners to Apply  Research to Teaching and learning. See also DfE: privacy notice for the Stronger  Practice Hubs programme. 

This privacy notice supplements any other privacy notices that we may provide to you at the point that we collect data from you and should be read in conjunction with those notices.

Our status and details

For the purpose of the GDPR, BNSCT are the data controller and any enquiry regarding the  collection or processing of your data should be addressed to our Data Protection Officer using  the contact details below: 

Title: Sally Davies - Data Protection Officer 

Email address: info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org 

Postal address: Birmingham Nursery Schools Collaboration Trust [BNSCT], c/o Bloomsbury  Nursery School, Bloomsbury Street, Nechells, Birmingham B7 5BX 

By using the Birmingham Early Years Networks [BEYN] website you consent to this policy. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for this purpose.

Overview

Privacy and data handling policies need to cover a lot of information and you can read the details of our policy in this document.  

The headlines are that we will ensure that: 

  • Our data processing is fair to the data subject. 

  • Data will only be processed for specific and legitimate purposes as outlined in our privacy policy. 

  • We won’t collect more data than we need. 

  • We will make sure the data we collect is accurate. 

  • We won’t store personal data longer than needed for the specified purpose. • We will process data in a way that ensures security, integrity, and confidentiality. • You know how to contact us to remove or edit any data we hold about you. 

We want to connect with you, and we need some information to achieve this, but if you ever have any questions, comments or suggestions about how we do this please get in contact with us.  

Information we collect

We will collect, process and store personal data only if it is directly provided to us by you. You may do this in your capacity as the user of the BEYN website, by enquiring in relation to our goods or services, becoming a customer e.g., attending a professional development course,  becoming a supplier, or potential supplier. 

Personal information covers any information which relates to you as an identifiable person. Below are examples of the type of data that this may include: 

a. Identity Data including forenames, last name, maiden name, date of birth, gender,  marital status, and username or similar identifier. 

b. Contact Data may include invoicing; purchase order; home or work address, email address and telephone numbers, personal or job title and position. 

c. Financial Data may include bank account and payment card details. 

d. Transaction Data may include payments made for products and services you have purchased from us, or in relation to payments that we have made to you. e. Technical Data may include internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version,  time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices used to access this Website. f. Profile and Usage Data may include enquiries submitted by you, purchases information,  feedback and survey responses, and how you use our website, products and services. g. Marketing Data may include details of any preference that you have advised us of in relation to marketing communications from us. 

We may also collect non-personal data such as aggregated data which is data that may be obtained from your personal data, but which does not directly or indirectly identify you. This may include usage data detailing how you use our website and the features and areas that you have interacted with. 

How we collect your personal data

A range of different methods may be used to collect data which may include the following  methods: 

  1. Direct interactions with us in person, by post, phone, email or otherwise. You may give us your identity, contact and financial information.

  2. Automated technologies or interactions with our websites, by using the web enquiry and subscription form you may give us identity, contact and financial information. c. Third parties or publicly available sources (third parties may be used in processing identity, contact and financial categories of personal data). 

  3. Email marketing campaigns contain tracking facilities within the actual email. It tracks things like opening of emails, forwarding of emails, the clicking of links within the email content, times, dates and frequency of activity. Subscriber activity is tracked and stored in a database for future analysis and evaluation. This information is used to refine our future email campaigns and supply the user with more relevant & timely content based on their activity. For further information, you can read the Mailchimp privacy policy here https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/

  4. Online feedback forms and request for contact using either google or Microsoft forms,  you may give us your identity and contact details.

Data accuracy

It is important that the data that we hold about you is accurate and up to date. In the event  that your data changes please notify us so that we can update our records. 

Contact us via the website or email info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org

Use of your information

We may hold and process personal data that you provide to us in accordance with the GDPR. The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used: 

  1. To enable us to provide our services to you, to communicate with you and to meet our contractual commitments to you.  

  2. To notify you about any changes to our business, such as improvements to our website or services/product changes, that may affect our service or relationship with you.  c. If you are an existing contact, we may contact you with information about goods and services similar to those that you previously engaged with.

  3. Where you have consented to receive such information, to provide information on other parties’ products or services that we feel may be of interest to you.  i.e. Where you have consented to receive our e-newsletters and relevant updates to provide that to you.  

  4. Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.  

  5. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.  

  6. Where we collect your data for marketing purposes, we will always request your consent, at the point the data is collected, to use your data for that purpose. 

We will always obtain your prior consent to sharing your personal data with any third party for their marketing purposes. This may be to enable relevant third parties to advise you of products or services that may be of interest to you. 

We will only use your personal data for a reason other than the purpose for which it was originally obtained if we consider that we need to use it for that other purpose and have a  legitimate interest in doing so. 

Controlling the use of your data

Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing your data you can revoke or vary that consent at any time. 

If you do not want us to use your data or want to vary the consent that you have provided you  can write to us at the address previously detailed or email us via  info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org at any time.

Sharing your information with others

There are a range of circumstances where we may disclose your data to third parties. These  include: 

  1. Regulatory bodies. We may disclose your data to regulatory bodies to enable us to comply with the law and to assist fraud protection and minimise credit risk.  

  2. Our Suppliers. We may disclose your data to third parties that are involved in the fulfilment of our services to you. This includes: 

    1. District Leads, from the Maintained Nursery School and/or Early Years Consultant in relation to network meetings. 

    2. Stronger Practice Hub [SPH] lead partners in relation to network meetings with SPH  content. See also DfE: privacy notice for the Stronger Practice Hubs programme.

  3. Third party marketing. Where you have consented for us to do so, we may provide your data to selected third parties who may contact you about their goods or services  that you may be interested in.  

Please be advised that we do not reveal information about identifiable individuals to our funders, but we may, on occasion, provide them with aggregated data about our website visitors and users. 

If you do not want us to share your data with third parties you will have the opportunity to withhold your consent to this when you provide your details to us on the form on which we  collect your data, or you can do so by writing to us at the address detailed above or sending us an email to info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org at any time. 

Data storage and the transfer your data

Your information will be stored in several places depending on the data held. This will include our; email systems and associated online cloud storage [Microsoft + Google] Mailchimp account and drobox storage. You can read about the Dropbox Privacy policy here

As part of the services offered to you, for example through our Website, the information you provide to us may be transferred to and stored in countries outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) as we use remote website server hosts to provide the website and some aspects of our service, which may be based outside of the EEA, or use servers based outside of the EEA - this is generally the nature of data stored in “the Cloud”. It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for one of our suppliers, e.g. our website server host, payment processing provider, or work for us when temporarily outside of the EEA.

A transfer of your personal data may happen if any of our servers are located in a country outside of the EEA or one of our service providers is located in a country outside of the EEA.

If you use our service while you are outside the EEA, your personal data may be transferred outside the EEA in order to provide you with these services. If we transfer or store your personal data outside the EEA in this way, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected, as outlined in this privacy policy. Where we use suppliers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between Europe and the US.

Security

The transmission of information via the Internet or email is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data while you are transmitting it to our site; any such transmission is at your own risk.

We have put in place security measures to prevent your data from accidental, loss or disclosure. Once we have received your personal data, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

We use generated passwords & secure servers to protect the information we hold.

Our website complies with all UK national laws and requirements for user privacy and uses a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate. 

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password so that you can access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. You should choose a password it is not easy for someone to guess. In the event of a data breach we will notify the ICO and you in the event that the breach results in any likelihood of loss or damage to you.

Data retention

The length of time that we retain and store data depends on the purpose for which it was collected. We will only store data for as long as is required to fulfil that purpose, or for the purpose of satisfying legal requirements.

It is a legal requirement that we keep certain data about our customers and suppliers for at least six years. 

Where you have requested that we provide you with marketing materials we will retain your data until such time as consent is withdrawn by you.

Use of cookies

Our website uses cookies. We use cookies to gather information about your computer for our services and to provide statistical information regarding the use of our website. Such information will not identify you personally - it is statistical data about our visitors and their use of our website. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever.

We may also gather information about your general Internet use by using a cookie file. Where used, these cookies are downloaded to your computer automatically. This cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your computer, as cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. They help us to improve our website and the service that we provide to you.

All computers can decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies; you may be unable to access parts of our website. Where we work with other organisations on our website, they may also use cookies, over which we have no control. Such cookies (if used) would be downloaded once you click on links on our website.

Your rights

The GDPR gives you a range of rights in relation to the personal data that we collect from you. You have the right to:

  1. Access your personal data. This right is commonly known as the ‘data subject access request’ and enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you. You will not need to pay a fee to access your personal data unless we can justifiably demonstrate that the request is repetitive or excessive. We will respond to all legitimate data access requests within one month, but we may need to obtain further information from you in order to confirm your identity and the legitimacy of the request.

  2. Request update of the personal data. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data corrected.

  3. Erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete personal data where there is no justifiable reason for us continuing to retain and process it. We may not always be able to delete the data such as if there is an ongoing contractual relationship between us or if we are legally required to retain the data.

  4. Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on consent or our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) as the justification for processing the data.

  5. Restrict the processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to change the processing of your personal data. For example, you may wish to vary the basis on which we contact you.

  6. Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format.

  7. Withdraw consent. Where we are relying on consent to process your personal data you may withdraw that consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

You can exercise these rights at any time by writing to us at the address detailed above, or by email to info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org

Third-party links

You might find links to third party websites on our website. If you click a link to a third-party website and visit that site, you may be allowing that site to collect and share certain data about you. These websites should have their own privacy policies, which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.

Complaints

If you wish to raise a complaint regarding our use of your personal data then you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who are the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. (www.ico.org.uk).

If you do wish to raise a complaint then we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns before you contact the ICO to see if we can resolve the issue for you.

Changes to this policy

We may update these policies to reflect changes to the website and customer feedback. Please regularly review these policies to be informed of how we are protecting your personal data.

We welcome any queries, comments or requests you may have regarding this Privacy Policy. Please do not hesitate to contact us via the website or email info@birminghamearlyyearsnetworks.org

Last reviewed June 2023.