UNIQplus Postgraduate Applicant Support Scheme (PASS) mentor privacy notice

In completing the mentor expression of interest form and follow up form for those selected as mentors, you will be asked to provide information about yourself (‘personal data’). We (the University of Oxford) are the ‘data controller’ for this information, which means we decide how to use it and are responsible for looking after it in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and associated data protection legislation.

The information we hold about you may include the following:

• Personal details such as name, title, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth; and
• Other personal socio-economic background information that you choose to provide through the expression of interest form, such as whether you have been in care, whether you have caring responsibilities, whether you are estranged, homeless or are a refugee/have experienced displacement, details of your parents’ occupation and education.

Where you choose to provide it, we may also process the following "special categories" of more sensitive personal data:

• Information about your health, including any disability and/or medical condition. 
   

We collect the vast majority of the information directly from you through the expression of interest form, and the additional information form that we will ask you to complete if you are selected as a mentor. We may also collect additional information from University of Oxford staff, eg your DPhil supervisor.
 

We will use the personal data you have provided (which may include sensitive or "special category" data such as health data) to consider you as a mentor for UNIQplus PASS, match you to mentees on UNIQplus PASS, to arrange attendance at the Mentoring Day and to provide payment should you be invited to participate. We will also contact you by email during and following the mentoring scheme to offer support, and seek your feedback on your experience in participating in it.

We will only use your data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another related reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your data for an unrelated purpose, we will seek your consent to use it for that new purpose.

Special category data requires a higher level of protection. Below are examples of the types of processing we regularly undertake in respect of these types of data. In addition to the activities listed below it may sometimes be necessary to process this sort of information for exceptional reasons, eg because it is necessary to protect your vital interests (including in relation to health and safety) or those of another person or for safeguarding purposes.

Health (including disability)

We will process data about your health in order to make any arrangements or adjustments required in relation to your application and participation as a mentor. This processing is necessary to meet our legal obligations.

Access to your data will be provided to those within the University who need to view it as part of their work in carrying out the purposes described above. If you are selected as a mentor, your name, email address, area of current study and undergraduate university and area of study will be available to your mentee.

We may share your data with companies who provide services to us, such as providers of online event services, video conferencing services, email services, and online survey tools. These companies are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your data in line with our policies. We do not allow them to use your data for their own purposes. We permit them to process your data only for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Where we share your data with a third party, we will seek to share the minimum amount necessary.

We will only retain your data for as long as we need it to meet our purposes, including any relating to legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Details of the retention periods for different types of student and applicant data can be found in the University’s student records data retention policy.

Your data will be held securely in accordance with the University’s policies and procedures. Further information about information security is available on the University’s Information Security website.

We store and use your data on University premises, in both a manual and electronic form. Data will also be processed and stored electronically, both at the premises and in the online systems of companies that provide services to us, such as providers of online event services, video conferencing services and email services.

Electronic data may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the United Kingdom (UK), for example, when we communicate with you using a cloud based service provider that operates outside the UK such as a provider of email, video conferencing or survey services.

Such transfers will only take place if one of the following applies:

• the country receiving the data is considered by the UK to provide an adequate level of data protection;
• the organisation receiving the data is covered by an arrangement recognised by the UK as providing an adequate standard of data protection;
• the transfer is governed by approved contractual clauses;
• the transfer has your consent;
• the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps requested by you prior to entering into that contract; or
• the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract with another person, which is in your interests.

Information on your rights in relation to your personal data are explained on the Individual rights page of our Compliance website.

It is important that the data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please contact us by email ([email protected]) to keep us informed of any changes.

We reserve the right to update this privacy policy at any time, and will seek to inform you of substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal data.

If you wish to raise any queries or concerns about our use of your data to assess your application, please contact us by email at ([email protected]). If you would like to exercise any of your rights mentioned above or if, for any reason, you are not happy with the way that we have handled your data, please contact the University’s Information Compliance Team by email ([email protected]). The same address can be used to contact the University’s Data Protection Officer.

If you are still not happy, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

• Student records retention policy
• HEAT data privacy and retention policy
• Graduate admissions policies
• University of Oxford equality policy
• University of Oxford transgender policy
• University of Oxford harassment policy
• University of Oxford Code of Discipline