Privacy Policy

StudyLink understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this website, https://studylink.com (“Our Site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with Our obligations and your rights under the law.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of Our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of Our Site and You will be required to read and accept this Privacy Policy when signing up for an Account. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using Our Site immediately.

Contents

Definitions and Interpretation
Information About Us
What Does This Policy Cover?
Your Rights
What Data Do We Collect?
How Do We Use Your Data?
How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
Do We Share Your Data?
What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?
How Can You Control Your Data?
Your Right to Withhold Information
How Can You Access Your Data?
Our Use of Cookies
Owned Ad Technologies
Contact Us
Changes to Our Privacy Policy

Definitions and Interpretation

In this Policy, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Account”	means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site;
“Cookie”	means a small text file placed on your computer or device by Our Site when you visit certain parts of Our Site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by Our Site are set out in section 13, below;
“Cookie Law”	means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003;
“personal data”	means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to Us via Our Site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the EU Regulation 2016/679 – the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”); and
“course provider”	means an organisation on Our Site that offers educational courses. E.g Universities, Colleges or Schools.
“We/Us/Our”	means Digital Education Marketing, a limited company registered in England under company number 7547506, whose main trading address is Sadler Bridge Studios, Bold Lane, Derby. DE1 3NT.

Information About Us

Our Site is operated by Digital Education Marketing of Sadler Bridge Studios, Bold Lane, Derby. DE1 3NT.

What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of Our Site. Our Site may contain links to other websites. Please note that We have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and We advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.

Your Rights

As a data subject, you have the following rights under the GDPR, which this Policy and Our use of personal data have been designed to uphold:

The right to be informed about Our collection and use of personal data;
The right of access to the personal data We hold about you (see How Can You Access Your Data?);
The right to rectification if any personal data We hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact Us using the details in Contacting Us);
The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask Us to delete any personal data We hold about you (We only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in How Do We Use Your Data? but if you would like Us to delete it sooner, please contact Us using the details in Contacting Us);
The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
The right to object to Us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
Rights with respect to automated decision making and profiling.
If you have any cause for complaint about Our use of your personal data, please contact Us using the details provided in Contacting Us and We will do Our best to solve the problem for you. If We are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
For further information about your rights, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

What Data Do We Collect?

Depending upon your use of Our Site, We may collect some or all of the following personal and non-personal data (please also see Our use of Cookies and similar technologies):

name;
date of birth;
intended first year of study;
nationality;
education level;
funding plans;
current country of residence;
education interests such as subject area and study level;
contact information such as email addresses and telephone numbers;
IP address;
web browser type and version;
question or message intended for course provider;

How Do We Use Your Data?

All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with Our obligations and safeguard your rights under the GDPR at all times. For more details on security see How and Where Do We Store Your Data?.

Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either because it is necessary for Our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to Our use of your personal data (e.g. by subscribing to emails), or because it is in Our legitimate interests. Specifically, We may use your data for the following purposes:

Providing and managing your Account;
Providing and managing your access to Our Site;
Personalising and tailoring your experience on Our Site;
Supplying Our services to you (please note that We require your personal data in order to enter into a contract with you);
Personalising and tailoring Our services for you;
Replying to emails from you;
Supplying you with emails that you have opted into (you may unsubscribe or opt-out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link on any email communication;
Personalize advertisement to you.

With your permission, we may also use your data for marketing purposes which may include contacting you by email with information, news and offers on Our services. We will not, however, send you any unsolicited marketing or spam and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that We fully protect your rights and comply with Our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Third parties (such as Google and Facebook) whose content appears on Our Site may use third party Cookies, as detailed below in Our use of Cookies. Please refer to Our use of Cookies for more information on controlling Cookies. Please note that We do not control the activities of such third parties, nor the data they collect and use and advise you to check the privacy policies of any such third parties.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to Us using your personal data at any time, and to request that We delete it.

We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Data will therefore be retained for the following periods (or its retention will be determined on the following bases):

Any or all of the personal data collected in line with What Data Do We Collect? will be retained up to 5 years following the end of user activity with Our Site or Our marketing services.
End of user activity means, not logged in for 5 years or not opened an email communication for 5 years.
In the event of either of the above occurring the 5 year retention period will begin again.

How and Where Do We Store Your Data?

We only keep your personal data for as long as We need to in order to use it as described above in How Do We Use Your Data?, and/or for as long as We have your permission to keep it.

Some or all of your data may be stored outside of the European Economic Area (“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). You are deemed to accept and agree to this by using Our Site and submitting information to Us. If We do store data outside the EEA, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR including:

Ensuring that data storage providers’ data protection policies and practices are inline with the GDPR and our requirements to be compliant.
In the event that the above is unsatisfactory we will insist that service providers sign agreements confirming they have sufficient data protection policies in place and which adhere to our requirements to comply with the GDPR.
We will not store data with any service provider who cannot satisfy either of the above requirements.

Data security is very important to Us, and to protect your data We have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through Our Site.

Steps We take to secure and protect your data include:

Our Site implements HTTPS security and all information submitted to our servers via forms is encrypted.
Any data shared (as outlined in Do We Share Your Data?) is done so using encrypted transfer methods.
Access to your personal data by Our employees is under strict access controls and all employees are given data protection training and are bound to our Data Protection Policy.

Do We Share Your Data?

We will only share your personal data when you have given consent for Us to do so, which will be for the reasons below:

We will share your personal data with a course provider when you have given consent for Us to share it with a course provider. This will be required when you wish to request more information directly from a course provider and the request for consent will be transparent at the point of submitting the data. We will only share your personal data with the course provider(s) you are interested in.
The course provider could be located outside of the European Economic Area(“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). We require every course provider to enter into a data sharing agreement with Us confirming that the course provider will adhere to Our data protection policies in order to fulfil our obligations to the GDPR. When you request information from a course provider that resides outside of the EEA you are giving consent for use to transfer your personal data outside of the EEA.
We may sometimes contract with third parties to supply services to you on Our behalf. These will include services you have given consent to receive, such as email marketing communication from Our Site. In some cases, the third parties may require access to some or all of your data. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, Our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law.
The third party data processors used by Us and listed below are located outside of the EEA. Where We transfer any personal data outside the EEA, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the including:

Google Ad Manager (based in the US) – https://admanager.google.com/

In certain circumstances, We may be legally required to share certain data held by Us, which may include your personal data, for example, where We are involved in legal proceedings, where We are complying with legal obligations, a court order, or a governmental authority.

When you provide us with consent to share your personal data with a course provider you are also giving consent for the course provider to make contact with you in order to respond and answer your query. The course provider may use either your email address or phone number in order to make contact. You are only giving consent for the course provider to process your personal data in order to perform marketing communications with you. It is the responsibility of the course provider to obtain consent for any further processing of your personal data.

We may compile statistics about the use of Our Site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.

What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?

We may, from time to time, expand or reduce Our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of Our business. Any personal data that you have provided will, where it is relevant to any part of Our business that is being transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use that data only for the same purposes for which it was originally collected by Us.

In the event that any of your data is to be transferred in such a manner, you will not be contacted in advance and informed of the changes.

How Can You Control Your Data?

When you submit personal data via Our Site, you may be given options to restrict Our use of your data. In particular, We aim to give you strong controls on Our use of your data for direct marketing purposes (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from Us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in Our emails and at the point of providing your details).

Your Right to Withhold Information

You may access Our Site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on Our Site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.

You may restrict Our use of Cookies. For more information, see Our use of Cookies.

How Can You Access Your Data?

You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by Us (where such data is held). Under the GDPR, no fee is payable and We will provide any and all information in response to your request free of charge. Please contact Us for more details at [email protected], or using the contact details below in Contacting Us.

Our Use of Cookies

Our Site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by Us and are used only by Us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of Our Site and to provide and improve Our services. We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy and personal data is protected and respected at all times.

By using Our Site, you may also receive certain third party Cookies on your computer or device. Third party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than Us. Third Party Cookies are used on Our Site for analysing traffic data and providing advertising. For more details, please refer to How Do We Use Your Data?, and Our use of Cookies. These Cookies are not integral to the functioning of Our Site and your use and experience of Our Site will not be impaired by refusing consent to them.
All Cookies used by and on Our Site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.

Certain features of Our Site depend on Cookies to function. Cookie Law deems these Cookies to be “strictly necessary”. These Cookies are shown below. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 13.7, but please be aware that Our Site may not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.

The following first party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:

Name of Cookie	Purpose
studylink.loggedin	Determines if you are logged in

and the following third party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:

Name of Cookie	Provider	Purpose
__gads	Google	Advertisement tracking
__utm	Google	Google analytics tracking
__ga	Google	Google analytics tracking
__gid	Google	Google analytics tracking
	Google	Google signals data collection
__fr	Facebook	Facebook analytics tracking

We have enabled Google signals which collects session data from sites and apps that Google associates with users who have signed in to their Google accounts.

In addition to the controls that We provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party Cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.

You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however you may lose any information that enables you to access Our Site more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, login and personalisation settings.

It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.

Owned Ad Technologies

Our Site may rely upon an owned ad technology in order to provide personalised ads to you. Technologies used in this way are listed below:

Name of owned ad technology	Purpose
https://use.fontawesome.com	Provides font and icons for adverts
https://media.studylink.com	Provides provider logo and flag images for adverts

Your acceptance of Our Privacy Policy is deemed to show your consent to usage of these owned ad technologies.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about Our Site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us by email at [email protected], by telephone on +44 (0) 1332 411 111, or by post at Digital Education Marketing, Sadler Bridge Studios, Bold Lane, Derby. DE1 3NT. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data We hold about you (as under How Can You Access Your Data?).

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time (for example, if the law changes). Any changes will be immediately posted on Our Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of Our Site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.of