Data Protection Policy

Introduction

Intellex Consulting Services Ltd (“Company”) takes its responsibilities with regard to the management of the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) very seriously. This policy sets out how the Company manages those responsibilities.

The Company obtains, uses, stores and otherwise processes personal data relating to potential staff and participants (applicants), current staff and participants, former staff and participants, current and former workers, contractors, website users and contacts, collectively referred to in this policy as data subjects. When processing personal data, the Company is obliged to fulfil individuals’ reasonable expectations of privacy by complying with GDPR and other relevant data protection legislation (data protection law).

This policy therefore seeks to ensure that we:

are clear about how personal data must be processed and the Company’s expectations for all those who process personal data on its behalf;
comply with the data protection law and with good practice;
protect the Company’s reputation by ensuring the personal data entrusted to us is processed in accordance with data subjects’ rights
protect the Company from risks of personal data breaches and other breaches of data protection law.

Personal data protection principles

When you process personal data, you should be guided by the following principles, which are set out in the GDPR. The Company is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate compliance with, the data protection principles listed below:

Those principles require personal data to be:

processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner (Lawfulness, fairness and transparency).
collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner incompatible with those purposes (Purpose limitation). 3. adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed (Data minimisation).
accurate and where necessary kept up to date (Accuracy).
not kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data is processed (Storage limitation).
processed in a manner that ensures its security, using appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage (Security, integrity and confidentiality).

Data Subjects’ Rights

Data subjects have rights in relation to the way we handle their personal data. These include the following rights:

where the legal basis of our processing is Consent, to withdraw that Consent at any time;
to ask for access to the personal data that we hold (see below);
to prevent our use of the personal data for direct marketing purposes
to object to our processing of personal data in limited circumstances
to ask us to erase personal data without delay:
if it is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed;
if the only legal basis of processing is Consent and that Consent has been withdrawn and there is no other legal basis on which we can process that personal data;
if the data subject objects to our processing where the legal basis is the pursuit of a legitimate interest or the public interest and we can show no overriding legitimate grounds or interest;
if the data subject has objected to our processing for direct marketing purposes;
if the processing is unlawful.
to ask us to rectify inaccurate data or to complete incomplete data;
to restrict processing in specific circumstances e.g. where there is a complaint about accuracy;
to ask us for a copy of the safeguards under which personal data is transferred outside of the EU;
the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, except where necessary for entering into, or performing, a contract, with the Company; it is based on the data subject’s explicit consent and is subject to safeguards; or is authorised by law and is also subject to safeguards;
to prevent processing that is likely to cause damage or distress to the data subject or anyone else;
to be notified of a personal data breach which is likely to result in high risk to their rights and freedoms;
to make a complaint to the ICO; and
in limited circumstances, receive or ask for their personal data to be transferred to a third party (e.g. another Company to which a participant is transferring) in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format.

You must verify the identity of an individual requesting data under any of the rights listed

Accountability

The Company must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in an effective manner to ensure compliance with data protection principles. The Company is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate compliance with, the data protection principles.

Staff responsibilities

Staff members who process personal data about participants, staff, applicants, alumni or any other individual must comply with the requirements of this policy. Staff members must ensure that:

(a) all personal data is kept securely;

(b) no personal data is disclosed either verbally or in writing, accidentally or otherwise, to any unauthorised third party;

(d) any queries regarding data protection, including subject access requests and complaints, are promptly directed to the Information Compliance team;

(e) any data protection breaches are swiftly brought to the attention of the Information Compliance team and the Data Protection Officer and that they support the Information Compliance team in resolving breaches;

(f) where there is uncertainty around a data protection matter advice is sought from the Information Compliance team and the Data Protection Officer.

Staff who are unsure about who are the authorised third parties to whom they can legitimately disclose personal data should seek advice from the Information Compliance team or the Data Protection Officer

Third-Party Data Processors

Where external companies are used to process personal data on behalf of the Company, responsibility for the security and appropriate use of that data remains with the Company.

Where a third-party data processor is used:

(a) a data processor must be chosen which provides sufficient guarantees about its security measures to protect the processing of personal data;

(b) reasonable steps must be taken that such security measures are in place;

(d) a data processing agreement, available from the Information Compliance team, must be signed by both parties.

Contractors & Temporary Staff

The Company is responsible for the use made of personal data by anyone working on its behalf. Managers who employ contractors & temporary staff must ensure that they are appropriately vetted for the data they will be processing. In addition, managers should ensure that:

(a) any personal data collected or processed in the course of work undertaken for the Company is kept securely and confidentially;

(b) all personal data is returned to the Company on completion of the work, including any copies that may have been made. Alternatively, that the data is securely destroyed and the Company receives notification in this regard from the contractor or temporary member of staff;

(c) the Company receives prior notification of any disclosure of personal data to any other organisation or any person who is not a direct employee of the contractor;

(d) any personal data made available by the Company, or collected in the course of the work, is neither stored nor processed outside the UK unless written consent to do so has been received from the Company;

(e) all practical and reasonable steps are taken to ensure that contractors or temporary staff do not have access to any personal data beyond what is essential for the work to be carried out properly.

Participant responsibilities

Participants are responsible for:

(a) familiarising themselves with the Privacy Notice provided when they register with the Company;

(b) ensuring that their personal data provided to the Company is accurate and up to date.

Data subject Access Requests

Data subjects have the right to receive copy of their personal data which is held by the Company. In addition, an individual is entitled to receive further information about the Company’s processing of their personal data as follows:

the purposes
the categories of personal data being processed
recipients/categories of recipient
retention periods
information about their rights
the right to complain to the ICO,
details of the relevant safeguards where personal data is transferred outside the EEA
any third-party source of the personal data

You should not allow third parties to persuade you into disclosing personal data without proper authorisation.

The entitlement is not to documents per se (which may however be accessible by means of the Freedom of Information Act, subject to any exemptions and the public interest), but to such personal data as is contained in the document. The right relates to personal data held electronically and to limited manual records.

You should not alter, conceal, block or destroy personal data once a request for access has been made. You should contact the Information Compliance team before any changes are made to personal data which is the subject of an access request.

Reporting a personal data breach

The GDPR requires that we report to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) any personal data breach where there is a risk to the rights and freedoms of the data subject. Where the Personal data breach results in a high risk to the data subject, he/she also has to be notified unless subsequent steps have been taken to ensure that the risk is unlikely to materialise, security measures were applied to render the personal data unintelligible (e.g. encryption) or it would amount to disproportionate effort to inform the data subject directly. In the latter circumstances, a public communication must be made or an equally effective alternative measure must be adopted to inform data subjects, so that they themselves can take any remedial action.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify data subjects or the ICO where we are legally required to do so.

Limitations on the transfer of personal data

The GDPR restricts data transfers to countries outside the EU in order to ensure that the level of data protection afforded to individuals by the GDPR is not undermined. You transfer personal data originating in one country across borders when you transmit or send that data to a different country or view/access it in a different country.

You may only transfer personal data outside the EU if one of the following conditions applies:

the European Commission has issued a decision confirming that the country to which we transfer the personal data ensures an adequate level of protection for the data subjects’ rights and freedoms. The countries currently approved can be found here:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/adequacy-protection-personal-data-non-eu-countries_en

appropriate safeguards are in place such as binding corporate rules, standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, an approved code of conduct or a certification mechanism, a copy of which can be obtained from the DPO;
the data subject has provided explicit Consent to the proposed transfer after being informed of any potential risks; or
the transfer is necessary for one of the other reasons set out in the GDPR including:
the performance of a contract between us and the data subject (e.g. participants’ mandatory year abroad in an overseas institution/placement),
reasons of public interest,
to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or
to protect the vital interests of the data subject where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving Consent.

Record Keeping

The GDPR requires us to keep full and accurate records of all our data processing activities. You must keep and maintain accurate corporate records reflecting our processing, including records of data subjects’ Consents and procedures for obtaining Consents, where Consent is the legal basis of processing.

These records should include, at a minimum, the name and contact details of the Company as Data Controller and the DPO, clear descriptions of the personal data types, data subject types, processing activities, processing purposes, third-party recipients of the personal data, personal data storage locations, personal data transfers, the personal data’s retention period and a description of the security measures in place.

Records of personal data breaches must also be kept, setting out:

the facts surrounding the breach
its effects; and
the remedial action taken.

Training and Audit

We are required to ensure that all Company staff undergo adequate training to enable them to comply with data protection law. We must also regularly test our systems and processes to assess compliance.

You must undergo all mandatory data privacy related training.

We are required to implement privacy-by-design measures when processing personal data, by implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures (like pseudonymisation) in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with data-protection principles. The Company must ensure therefore that by default only personal data which is necessary for each specific purpose is processed. The obligation applies to the volume of personal data collected, the extent of the processing, the period of storage and the accessibility of the personal data. In particular, by default, personal data should not be available to an indefinite number of persons. You should ensure that you adhere to those measures.

As well as complying with Company-wide practices designed to fulfil reasonable expectations of privacy, you should also ensure that your own data-handling practices default to privacy to minimise unwarranted intrusions in privacy e.g. by disseminating personal data to those who need to receive it to discharge their duties.

The Company must also conduct DPIAs in respect of high-risk processing before that processing is undertaken.

You should conduct a DPIA (and discuss your findings with the DPO) in the following circumstances:

the use of new technologies (programs, systems or processes), or changing technologies (programs, systems or processes);
automated processing including profiling;
large scale processing of sensitive (special category) data; and
large scale, systematic monitoring of a publicly accessible area.
A DPIA must include:
a description of the processing, its purposes and the Data Controller’s legitimate interests if appropriate;
an assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the processing in relation to its purpose;
an assessment of the risk to individuals; and
the risk-mitigation measures in place and demonstration of compliance.

Direct Marketing

We are subject to certain rules and privacy laws when marketing to our applicants, participants, alumni and any other potential user of our services.

For example, a data subject’s prior Consent is required for electronic direct marketing (for example, by email, text or automated calls). The limited exception for existing customers (e.g. current participants) known as “soft opt in” allows organisations to send marketing texts or emails if they have obtained contact details in the course of a sale to that person, they are marketing similar services, and they gave the person an opportunity to opt out of marketing when first collecting the details and in every subsequent message.

The right to object to direct marketing must be explicitly offered to the data subject in an intelligible manner so that it is clearly distinguishable from other information.

A data subject’s objection to direct marketing must be promptly honoured. If a data subject opts out at any time, their details should be suppressed as soon as possible. Suppression involves retaining just enough information to ensure that marketing preferences are respected in the future.

Sharing Personal Data

In the absence of Consent, a legal obligation or other legal basis of processing, personal data should not generally be disclosed to third parties unrelated to the Company (e.g. participant’s colleague’s, members of the public etc).

Some bodies have a statutory power to obtain information (e.g. regulatory bodies). You should seek confirmation of any such power before disclosing personal data in response to a request.

Further, without a warrant, the police have no automatic right of access to records of personal data, though voluntary disclosure may be permitted for the purposes of preventing/detecting crime or for apprehending offenders. You should seek written assurances from the police that the relevant exemption applies.

Some additional sharing of personal data for research purposes may also be permissible, subject to certain safeguards.

Changes to this policy

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time without notice to you so please check regularly to obtain the latest copy.

This policy was approved on 10^th July 2022 by the Management. It will be reviewed again periodically.