Data Use and Privacy Policy
This statement covers the website www.creativeskillset.org, its sub-sites and all other websites owned and operated by Creative Skillset. Creative Skillset is fully committed to protecting your personal information and conducts all its business in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998 our data controller is Lavinia Orton, Database Administrator (laviniao@creativeskillset.org).
Creative Skillset collects and uses personal data for a range of purposes in support of its core objectives. This information is processed in accordance with the eight enforceable principles of good practice, which state that information collected should:
- be fairly and lawfully processed;
- be lawfully obtained and processed for limited purposes;
- be adequate, relevant and not excessive;
- be accurate and up-to-date;
- not be kept for longer than is necessary;
- be processed in accordance with the data subject's rights;
- take technical and organisational measures;
- not be transferred to countries outside the EU.
This statement explains how Creative Skillset gathers information from you and how this information is then used. We do update this Policy from time to time so please do review this Policy regularly.
1. Collection of your personal information
In operating our website we may collect and process the following data about you:
1.1 Details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data.
1.2 Information that you provide by filling in forms on our website, such as when you registered for information or make a purchase.
1.3 Information provided to us when you communicate with us for any reason.
Personal information collected by Creative Skillset is often limited to contact details and some basic information about your area of work and employment status, but may include other information necessary to provide a particular service you have requested.
Sensitive data may include data about your ethnic origin, nationality, gender, membership of a trade union or association, employment status.
If you are applying for a service for which government funding is available, you may need to answer certain additional questions such as your age and your current education and employment status, in order for us to evaluate whether you are eligible for that funding. By providing your information to Creative Skillset, you explicitly give your consent for us to process your personal and sensitive data. However, when we collect sensitive personal data through this site, we will ask you to consent to our uses of the data, and you may choose not to give us this consent if you so desire. Wherever the provision of information is optional, this will be made clear. You will need to provide personal data when:
- you register on this site to access additional online products and services;
- you wish to subscribe to Creative Skillset mail outs and e-newsletters;
- you provide us with feedback about our services or comment on our website(s);
- you complete an application form for our services online;
- you request further information or advice through our website(s);
- you send us a letter or e-mail requiring information or dialogue;
- you call one of our helplines asking for advice.
Please note that if you are aged 16 or under, you will need to get your parents' permission before providing us with your personal information.
2. Cookies and user tracking
On occasion, we may gather information about your computer for our services and 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 site. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever.
Similarly to the above, we may 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 have the ability to 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 particular parts of our website.
3. How we use your information
The information that we collect and store relating to you is primarily used to enable us to provide our services to you. In addition, we may use the information for the following purposes:
3.1 To provide you with information requested from us, relating to our products or services. To provide information on other products which we feel may be of interest to you, where you have consented to receive such information.
3.2 To meet our contractual commitments to you.
3.3 To notify you about any changes to our website, such as improvements or service/product changes, that may affect our service.
3.4 To deal with your comment or query, and to contact you for more information regarding a comment or query you have made.
3.5 To arrange and deliver services you have requested, whether online, one-to-one or via the telephone.
3.6 To deliver specific information you have requested, such as event invitations, careers information, publications, e-newsletters and press releases.
3.7 To deliver more general information on an ongoing basis, such as promotional materials and general updates relevant to you on Creative Skillset's activities and those of our partner organisations, if you so request.
3.8 To contextualise comments you have made and analyse the results of online and e-mail consultations and surveys, as part of our ongoing research activities.
3.9 To generate anonymous statistics to help us improve the services we offer to you. (These statistics will not include information that can identify you as an individual.)
3.10 To ensure that the Equal Opportunities Policy is effective, a monitoring of applications is carried out. The collected sensitive information regarding your gender, age, ethnic group and any disability you may have is used solely for monitoring purposes and will be treated as confidential.
3.11 To pre-populate forms on our website requesting information you have already provided, for your convenience and ease-of-use.
If you are an existing customer, we may contact you with information about products and services similar to those which were the subject of previous correspondence with you.
If you are a new customer, we will only contact you when you have provided consent and only by those means you provided consent for.
4. Storing your personal data
4.1 Data that is provided to us is stored on our secure servers.
4.2 The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and therefore we cannot guarantee the security of data sent to us electronically and transmission of such data is therefore entirely at your own risk. 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.
5. Disclosing your information
We will not disclose your personal information to third parties, except where the data may be provided to a third party company, such as a mailing house or web agency, for the sole purpose of delivering a service on Creative Skillset's behalf.
6. Course information and third party links
Creative Skillset has taken care to ensure that the information on the website is correct. However, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and Creative Skillset does not accept any liability for error or omission. Creative Skillset is not responsible for how the information is used, how it is interpreted or what reliance is placed on it. We do not guarantee that the information on the website is fit for any particular purpose. You should also be aware that the availability of courses of study is subject to conditions applied by individual institutions at their sole discretion.
The website includes links to external websites. These links are provided to help you find additional information quickly and easily. Creative Skillset accepts no responsibility for the content of these websites and specifically all liability that may arise with respect to or as a result of such material causing damage, costs, injury or financial loss of any kind. Creative Skillset cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information that you provide whilst visiting these websites.
You will find links to third party websites on our website. 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. Creative Skillset does not endorse any of the products or services of third party organisations contained within its sites unless expressly stated.
7. Access to information
The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to know whether we hold information about you, and also to access that information and require it to be corrected if it is inaccurate. To request access to your information, or if you wish to be removed from our database at any time, please contact our Database Administrator Lavinia Orton at laviniao@creativeskillset.org.
Anyone subscribing to receive information from Creative Skillset can unsubscribe from receiving such information at any time, either by following the unsubscribe instructions sent with all electronic communications, or by e-mailing laviniao@creativeskillset.org.
8. Contacting Us
We welcome any queries, comments or requests you may have regarding this Data Use Policy. Please do not hesitate to contact us at laviniao@creativeskillset.org.