This Policy is about our obligations under data protection legislation, in particular the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (DP Act 2018). Data protection law regulates the way Cabot Learning Federation (the CLF) processes information about living, identifiable individuals (Personal Data). It also gives individuals various rights for example the right to access their Personal Data and the right to request the erasure of Personal Data they no longer want us to process and which we no longer need to retain.
We will collect, store and process Personal Data about our staff, pupils/students, parents/carers, suppliers and other individuals who come into contact with the CLF. We recognise that the correct and lawful treatment of Personal Data will maintain confidence in the CLF and will ensure that it continues to operate successfully.
The CLF has appointed a Information Governance Officer (IGO) who is responsible for monitoring our compliance with Data Protection laws, informing and advising on our data protection obligations, providing advice regarding Data Protection Impact Assessments and acting as the primary point of contact for Data Subjects and the Information Commissioner’s Office. The IGO can be contacted using the following email address - [email protected].
The IGO will report to a member of the CLF Executive Team.
Each academy and central function has a designated Data Protection Lead. The IGO works closely with the CLF Corporate Services team in relation to some data protection functions. Together the IGO, Corporate Services team and Data Protection Leads are referred to as the Data Protection Team. All queries concerning data protection matters must be raised with an appropriate member of the Data Protection Team, this will often be the relevant Data Protection Lead in the first instance.
This policy can be made available in larger print or more accessible format if required. Support will be given in translating this policy where required by contacting the IGO using the following email address - [email protected].
This Policy is aimed at all staff working in the CLF (whether directly or indirectly), whether paid or unpaid, whatever their position, role or responsibilities, which includes staff, governors, contractors, agency staff, work experience or placement students and volunteers.
In order for you to do your job, you will likely need to access, process, disclose, procure or delete Personal Data. You must only use Personal Data for valid business or legal reasons.
You must comply with this Policy when processing Personal Data. Any breach of this Policy may result in disciplinary action.
This Policy does not form part of your contract of employment and may be amended by the CLF at any time.
Data protection concerns information about living, identifiable individuals. Companies and legal entities are not protected by the legislation but must comply with it.
Personal Data is data which relates to a living person who can be identified either from that data, or from the data and other information that is readily available, regardless of the media it is recorded or held on (i.e. paper and electronic formats). Information as simple as someone's name and address is their Personal Data.
The following are referred to as Special Category Data in this Policy and in the Information Security Policy. You must be particularly careful when dealing with this type of information because it is considered to be particularly sensitive:
Examples of places where Personal Data or Special Category Data might be found are:
(*) NOTE: A separate Policy exists for the management of CCTV images, which is located in the Employment Manual, along with a supporting procedure to be used by staff operating and managing access to such equipment.
These are just examples - there may be many other things that you use and create that would be considered Personal Data or Special Category Data.
Some of the conditions for processing Special Category Data and criminal offence data, set out in Schedule 1 of the DP Act 2018, require us to have an Appropriate Policy Document (‘APD’) in place, setting out and explaining our procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 of the UK GDPR and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such Personal Data.
A copy of the Special Category Data Policy must be made available to the Information Commissioner’s Office (the UK data protection regulator) upon request and is available from the DPO.
Personal Data must be processed fairly, lawfully and transparently
Individuals must be told what data is collected about them, what it is used for, and who it might be shared with, unless it is obvious. They must also be given other information, such as, what rights they have, how long we keep Personal Data for and their right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
This information is often provided in a document known as a privacy notice or privacy statement. Copies of the CLF privacy notices can be obtained from the Data Protection Team or accessed from the CLF's public websites.
If you are using Personal Data in a way which you think an individual might conclude is unfair, please speak to the Data Protection Team.
You must only process Personal Data for the following purposes:
If you want to do something with Personal Data that is not on the above list, or is not set out in the relevant privacy notice(s), you must speak to the Data Protection Team. This is to make sure that the CLF has a lawful basis for using Personal Data.
We may sometimes rely on the consent of the individual to use their Personal Data. This consent must meet certain requirements and therefore you must speak to the Data Protection Team if you think that you may need to use consent as the basis for processing.
Personal Data must be processed for limited purposes and in an appropriate way
Personal Data can only be used for a new purpose if it is either compatible with the original purpose for processing, we get consent from the Data Subject, or we have a clear obligation or function set out in law.
For example, if staff are told that they will be photographed to help create security passes, we must not use those photographs for another purpose (e.g. for promotional purposes in the CLF's prospectus) unless we obtain their consent or other laws allow us to use the images in this way.
Personal Data held must be adequate, relevant and limited to that which is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is being processed
The Personal Data we collect and hold must be no more than is absolutely necessary to achieve our aims. For example, you must only collect information about a pupil's medical history if that Personal Data has some relevance, such as allowing the CLF to care for the pupil and meet their medical needs.
Decisions impacting individuals must not be based on incomplete data. For example, when writing reports you must make sure that you are using all of the relevant information about the pupil.
Changes to the way in which Personal Data are processed (i.e. the introduction of new software programs or Processors) must be subject to a suitable risk assessment which identifies the data protection risks associated with the change and the required controls which need to be implement to ensure compliance with data protection laws.
Personal Data must be accurate and kept up to date
You must ensure that Personal Data is complete and kept up to date. For example, if a parent notifies you that their contact details have changed, you must update the CLF's information management system as soon as possible and not just as part of any annual refresh exercise.
Personal Data must not be kept for longer than is necessary
The CLF has a Records Retention Policy which states how long different types of data must be kept for and when it must be destroyed. This applies to both paper and electronic records.
You must be particularly careful when deleting data, to ensure that it is securely destroyed.
Please speak to the Data Protection Team for guidance on the retention periods and secure deletion.
Personal Data must be processed securely
You must comply with the following CLF policies and guidance relating to the handling of Personal Data:
All staff must complete the mandatory Data Protection Essentials training as part of their initial induction and annually thereafter.
You must report any Personal Data breach leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, Personal Data immediately, using the Personal Data Breach Reporting Form. The Data Protection Team will ensure that it is captured on the CLF Breach Log and is escalated appropriately. Data breaches will include access to Personal Data by an unauthorised third party, sending Personal Data to an incorrect recipient, computing devices containing Personal Data being lost or stolen, alteration of Personal Data without permission and prolonged loss of availability of Personal Data.
Where Processors are engaged to process Personal Data on behalf of the CLF (e.g. software providers who host applications or confidential waste supplies), they must provide sufficient guarantees around compliance with the UK GDPR and that the rights of Data Subjects will be protected.
Where a Processor can demonstrate that they adhere to approved codes of conduct or certification schemes, this should be taken into consideration for choice of supplier.
Where the CLF uses a Processor, a written contract with compulsory terms, as set out in Article 28 of the UK GDPR, must be in place (plus any additional requirements that we determine).
Where processing is likely to result in high risk to an individual’s data protection rights (for example where a new technology is being implemented) a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) must be carried out to assess:
Personal Data must not be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA) without adequate protection
If you need to transfer Personal Data outside the EEA please contact the Data Protection Team. For example, if you are arranging a school trip to a country outside the EEA or you are planning to install software which will be hosted in the United States.
Standard Contract Clauses must be used where it is necessary to transfer Personal Data to ‘third countries’. The reason for this is to ensure Data Subjects are granted a level of protection equivalent to that guaranteed by the UK GDPR.
Please review the following do’s and don’ts:
DO familiarise yourself with the guidance document entitled Handling Disclosures of Personal Data, which is available from CLiF or from your Data Protection Lead.
DO share Personal Data on a need to know basis - think about why it is necessary to share Personal Data outside of the CLF - if in doubt - always ask a relevant person from the Data Protection Team for guidance.
DO encrypt emails which contain Special Category Data described in paragraph 3.3 above. For example, encryption must be used when sending details of a safeguarding incident to social services.
DO make sure that you have permission from your manager or the Data Protection Team to share Personal Data on the CLF website.
DO be aware of "blagging". This is the use of deceit to obtain Personal Data from individuals or organisations. You must seek advice from the Data Protection Team where you are suspicious as to why the information is being requested or if you are unsure of the identity of the requester (e.g. if a request has come from a parent but using a different email address).
DO be aware of phishing. Phishing is a way of making something (such as an email or a letter) appear as if it has come from a trusted source. This is a method used by fraudsters to access valuable personal details, such as usernames and passwords. Don't reply to email, text, or pop-up messages that ask for Personal Data or financial information or click on any links in an email from someone that you don't recognise. Report all concerns about phishing to the Central IT team.
DO NOT disclose Personal Data to the Police without permission from the Data Protection Team (unless it is a life and death emergency).
DO NOT disclose Personal Data to contractors without permission from the Data Protection Team. This includes, for example, sharing Personal Data with an external marketing team to carry out a staff recruitment event.
Personal Data must only be shared within the CLF on a "need to know" basis.
Examples of sharing which are likely to comply with the data protection legislation:
Examples of sharing which are unlikely to comply with the data protection legislation:
You may share Personal Data to avoid harm, for example in child protection and safeguarding matters. You should have received training on when to share information regarding welfare and safeguarding issues. If you have not received this training please contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead as a matter of urgency.
Individuals have various rights afforded to them in respect of the information we process about them.
You must be able to recognise when someone is exercising their rights so that you can quickly refer the matter to the Data Protection Team. These rights can be exercised either in writing (e.g. in a letter, email and via social media) or orally.
One of the most commonly exercised rights mentioned in section 7 above is the right to request a copy of the information an organisation hold about you, known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).
SARs do not have to be labelled as such and do not even have to mention data protection. For example, an email which simply states "Please send me a copy of my absence record" is a valid SAR. You must immediately let the Data Protection Team know when you receive any such requests.
Receiving a SAR is a serious matter for the CLF and involves complex legal rights. Staff must not respond to a SAR themselves unless authorised to do so.
When a SAR is made, the CLF must disclose all of the Personal Data which falls within the scope of the request - there are only very limited exemptions. There is no exemption for embarrassing information - so think carefully when writing file notes or emails as they could be disclosed following the receipt of a SAR. However, this should not deter you from recording and passing on information where this is appropriate to fulfil your professional duties, particularly in relation to safeguarding matters. The CLF SAR Procedure documents the federations approach to handling requests and should be used by DP Leads when responding to a request.
Breaches of this Policy may put Data Subjects whose Personal Data is being processed at risk and carries the risk of significant civil and criminal sanctions for thee CLF and may, in some circumstances, amount to a criminal offence by the individual staff member.
Any failure to comply with any part of this Policy may lead to disciplinary action under the CLF’s procedures and this action may result in dismissal for gross misconduct. If a non- member of staff breaches this Policy, they may have their contract terminated with immediate effect.
Individuals who deliberately or recklessly access, disclose, procure or retain Personal Data held by the CLF, without proper authority, may also be guilty of a criminal offence and may be reported to the Information Commissioners Office.
The IGO can be contacted using the following email address - [email protected].
