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Privacy Statement

This page outlines how we keep data safe and secure, as well as how and why we collect it.

If you have any questions about content on this page, please contact csudata@chester.ac.uk.

Introduction

Chester Students’ Union (CSU) and (“we”, “our” or “us”) promises to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we get from other organisations, and to keep it safe. We aim to be clear when we collect your data and not do anything you would not 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 to reach our goal of having a positive impact on every University of Chester student.

Where we collect information about you from

We collect information in the following ways:

When you become a MEMBER

Each year that you enrol on a University of Chester accredited course, you automatically become a member of CSU. In order for us to be aware that you are a member, the University shares a limited amount of personally identifying information with us on a legitimate interest basis. This is to ensure we can contact you in good time (prior to your arrival at University), immediately provide you with relevant services on your arrival and verify that you are a current registered student with the University. If you do not want your data to be shared with us in this way, please contact csudata@chester.ac.uk.

When you give it to us DIRECTLY

You may give us your information in order to sign up to a student group or network, for one of our events, to undertake research activities, to use our Advice Centre, to purchase a product or to communicate with us. When you give us this information, we take responsibility for looking after it and we will cross reference this data against our register of members.

When you give it to us INDIRECTLY

Your information may be shared with us by independent organisations or event partners. 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.

When you give permission to OTHER ORGANISATIONS to share

We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external sources in order to gain a better understanding of our members and/or to improve our communication methods, products and services.

The information we get from other organisations may depend on your privacy settings or the responses you give, so you should regularly check them. This information comes from the following sources:

  • Third party organisations

You may have provided permission for a company or other organisation to share your data with
third parties. This could be when you buy a product or service, register for an online competition,
or sign up with a comparison site.

  • Social Media

Depending on your settings or the privacy policies for social media and messaging services like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok or Twitter, you might give us permission to access information from those accounts or services.

  • Information available publicly

This may include information found in places such as the Charity Commission and information that has been published in articles/newspapers.

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 on our Cookies page.

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.

When you buy a PRODUCT/TICKET from us

To place an order with us online, registration is required. At the point of registration, we may request certain information including your name, delivery address and email address. We collect only the information that is required to enable us to process your order safely and notify you of its progress. Once an order has been placed, we may contact you by email to confirm your order details and again once your order has been accepted and dispatched. Should we need to contact you for any reason regarding your order, we will use the email address registered to your account, or a telephone number where provided. Should you purchase something in person from us then you are under no obligation to provide us with this information.

What personal data we collect, how we use it and how to amend it

The type and quantity of information we collect and how we use it depends on why you are providing it.

Our Members

As one of our members the University, in response to their obligations to you, provides us with a set of key information you provided to them during the enrolment/registration process. This is done on a ‘legitimate interest’ basis, which you can object to at any time by emailing csudata@chester.ac.uk.

When you use our services or participate in one of our activities, we will use this information to provide the best possible standards of administration and communication.

The information provided to us by the University includes:

  • Your Name
  • Your University Student ID Number
  • Your Date of Birth
  • Your Gender
  • Your University Student Email address (@chester.ac.uk)
  • Your University Programme of Study
  • Your Mode of study (ie. Full time, part time, distance etc.)
  • Your Main Campus of Study (ie. Chester, Warrington, Birkenhead etc.)
  • Your Expected Programme End Date
  • Your Nationality
  • Your Disability Status

To ensure we can provide you with the best service possible, it is important that these details are kept up to date with the University. You can make changes to these as necessary by visiting eVision on Portal or emailing the University’s Registry Services team at sp@chester.ac.uk.

In addition, when you attend an event, join a student group or use one of our services we may ask for additional information such as:

  • Your bank details to facilitate payments
  • Additional information relating to your health if you are taking part in a high risk activity
  • Your ethnicity, to provide you with information related to specific cultural activities that may interest you and ensure we are meeting our commitment to being an antiracist organisation
  • Your sexual orientation, to ensure we are supporting our members from LGBTQ+ backgrounds

This is not an exhaustive list, and from time to time we may ask you to provide other types of data to facilitate specific functions, processes, or purposes.

We will mainly use your data to:

  • Provide you with the services, products or information you asked for
  • Administer your membership
  • Keep a record of your relationship with us
  • Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted
  • Understand how we can improve our services, products or information

Any data you provide to us directly, either by inputting it into our website, sending it to us in an email or providing it in person can be amended by emailing csudata@chester.ac.uk.

Building profiles of members and targeting communications

We use profiling and screening techniques to ensure communications are relevant and timely, and to provide an improved experience for our members. Profiling allows us to target our resources effectively, ensuring members receive the most relevant information to them possible at the most important times. We do this because it allows us to understand the background of the people who study at the University and helps us to deliver appropriate services and information to members who need it.

When building a profile, we may analyse geographic, demographic and other information relating to you in order to better understand your interests and preferences in order to contact you with the most relevant communications. Your data would only ever be analysed or profiled through encrypted and protected data processes, which only ever identify broad statistics. In doing this, we may use additional information from third party sources when it is available.

Employees/Applicants

When you apply for a role at the Students’ Union you will complete an application form. This form will contain personal information about you. The Union has a legitimate interest in processing this data for the purposes of considering you for that role and for anonymous statistical analysis.

When you become an employee

When you become an employee of the Students’ Union you form a contract with us which declares we will process some personal and sensitive data to comply with our legal obligations and to fulfill our = policies and procedures.

When a Third Party provides us with your data

Your information may be shared with us by independent organisations such as Her Majesty’s Revenue
and Customs or via external employment or character references. These independent third parties will
only do so when you have indicated that you have given consent or there is a legal obligation 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.

Candidates

If you are applying for one of our roles we will ask you to provide:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Email Address
  • Telephone Number
  • Employment and volunteering history
  • Details of criminal convictions
  • Details of training provided
  • Relationship status with any Students’ Union or University employees

You also have the option of filling out an equal opportunities form which records diversity monitoring statistics. This form does not ask for your name, will not identify you and is used for statistical purposes only.

We will mainly use your data to:

  • Communicate with you
  • Provide anonymous equal opportunities monitoring
  • Consider your application for the role

Third Party References

If you are a reference for an applicant the applicant will provide us with the following information
for the purposes of making contact to request a reference if the candidate is successful at application:

  • Name
  • Profession
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address

Employees

When you commence employment with the Students’ Union we will ask you to provide:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Email Address
  • Telephone number
  • Gender
  • Date of Birth
  • National Insurance Number
  • Bank Account Details
  • Third Party Remuneration Sources
  • Emergency contact details

During the course of your employment the Students’ Union may collect the following data:

  • Health Records & Physician Details
  • Performance Records

We will mainly use your data to:

  • Administrative functions relating to your employment including the payment of salaries
  • Managing sickness, health and workplace performance

Marketing & Communications Preferences

Membership Communications

As a member you are able to ‘opt out’ of hearing from us about the services we offer, what we’re doing to represent you and opportunities that might be of interest to you. Occasionally, we may include information from partner organisations, our own social enterprises or organisations who support us in these communications. To opt out of these types of communications, please email csudata@chester.ac.uk including your full name and student ID number.

Direct Marketing

As a charity we need to fundraise to provide the services we offer to University of Chester students. We send marketing material to our members where you have told us that we can. We do not sell or share personal details to third parties for the purposes of marketing. You can change your opt in preferences for direct marketing communications by visiting your profile or by emailing csudata@chester.ac.uk, including your full name and student ID number.

Controlling what you want to hear about

We want to make it easy for you to tell us how you want us to communicate, in a way that suits you.

Our forms have clear marketing preference questions, and we include information on how to opt out when we send you marketing. If you don’t want to hear from us, that’s fine. Just let us know when you provide your data, update your communication settings under your profile on our website or contact us at csudata@chester.ac.uk.

Keeping your information up to date

We mostly use the record of members provided by the University of Chester to maintain accurate data about you as described above. We really appreciate it if you would let us know if your contact details change by keeping them up to date with the University via eVision.

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.

The Students’ Union operates data protection training for all employees and volunteers.

The Students’ Union does not store any sensitive card data on our systems following online transactions. All payments take place through our payment processing partner.

Your right to know what data we hold about you, make changes or ask us to stop using your data

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 at csudata@chester.ac.uk if you have any concerns.

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, best practice is to complete a Subject Access Request Form with a description of the information you want to see and proof of your identity and send these by email to csudata@chester.ac.uk or post to the Data Protection Officer, Chester Students’ Union, Parkgate Road, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 4BJ. However, Subject Access Requests can be made of any member of CSU staff via whatever method you prefer (including in person, by email or via social media). In accordance with advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office, CSU has one calendar month to comply with any request made of this kind.

If you have any questions please send these to csudata@chester.ac.uk, and for further information see the Information Commissioner’s guidance here.

Media Data

Customers

To place an order with us online, registration is required. At the point of registration, we request certain information which is required to enable us to process your order and notify you of its progress. If you are a student we may also ask if you will provide us with your Student ID number when you shop in store.

In registering as a customer we will ask you to provide us with the following personal information:

  • Student ID 
  • Name
  • Address
  • Email
  • Telephone number

We will mainly use your data to administer our contracted duties with you and to send you carefully selected information about our products and services.

Should we need to contact you for any reason regarding your order, we will use the email address registered to your account, or the telephone number where provided.

Suppliers, clients and contractors

In registering as a supplier, client or contractor we may ask you to provide us with the following personal information:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Email
  • Telephone number
  • Bank Details
  • Job Title

We will mainly use your data to administer our contracted duties with you and undertake credit reference checks where appropriate.

How we keep your data safe and who has access

Personal data collected and processed by us may be shared with CSU employees and volunteers and, under strictly controlled conditions, the following groups where necessary:

  • Contractors
  • Advisors
  • Agents
  • Service provider partners
  • The University

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 without your explicit consent.

We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

Some of our suppliers run their operations outside the United Kingdom (UK) and/or European Economic Area (EEA). Although they may not be subject to the same data protection laws as companies based in the UK, we will take steps to make sure they provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with UK data protection law. By submitting your personal information to us you agree to this transfer, storing or processing at a location outside the UK or EEA.

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.

Changes to this statement

We may change this Privacy Statement 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, comments or suggestions, please let us know by contacting csudata@chester.ac.uk.