About us
This Privacy Notice explains the nature of the personal information that the University collects through Report & Support when students, staff and external visitors (You) report incidences of problematic behaviours, such as bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct either anonymously or by giving their details. It also explains how their data is used and informs the users of their rights under data protection laws.
The University and the Henley Business School are Data Controller (We or Us) in respect of the information that We process about You. Our contact details are The University of Reading, Information Management and Policy Services, Whiteknights House, Shinfield Road, Whiteknights, READING, Berkshire, RG6 6UR, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 (0) 118 378 8981.
Your privacy is important to Us, so if there is anything in this privacy notice that is unclear or you do not understand, please contact Our Data Protection Officer at: imps@reading.ac.uk
Data we collect about you
We aim to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for our students, staff, and external visitors in which to work and study. For this, we provided a reporting tool called Report & Support. This system will enable students, staff and external visitors to report incidences of problematic behaviours either anonymously, for data monitoring purposes, or with details to access University of Reading support services. It also allows for reporting by third-party witnesses to alleged incidents. In addition to online reports, the platform has reporting and analysis features to support internal governance and statistical monitoring.
While Report & Support is one route where students, staff and external visitors will be able to supply information about a problematic incident and be able to reach support tools, We operate a number of different websites and pages that support and enhance engagement with Us and our services, both for the benefit of students and other visitors. Some of those websites or webpages may be specific to a certain department, subsidiary or specific activities conducted across Our campuses- and may have additional information about how they collect and use personal data for their specific purposes. We encourage you to read those carefully in addition to this notice.
Information that We collect directly from you
We ask you for a range of information including your personal information (optional) when you proceed in the Report & Support website. This information includes:
- Your name (optional)
- Your gender and gender identity (optional)
- Your sexual orientation (optional)
- Your age (optional)
- Your ethnicity (optional)
- Your faith/religion (optional)
- Your health and disability (optional)
- Your role and your school/department
- Student/staff number (optional)
- Image proof upload (optional)
We collect personal data in order to:
- Respond to reported incidents, investigate concerns and take any actions deemed necessary
- Communicate with you about the incident (if You wish to)
- Provide you with support tools and services
- Respond to incidents reported that may give rise to safeguarding concerns
- Support internal governance with data visualisation and analysis
- Track the effectiveness of our Report & Support system
Cookies
Cookies are text files placed on your computer to help us analyse how users use our site. A cookie is a small data file able to track the online movements of an individual. This information could potentially be used to build an online profile of individuals and uniquely locate them in the world.
If you prefer not to receive cookies while browsing our website, you can set your browser to refuse cookies that are stored on your computer; the above websites tell you how to do this. You do not need to have cookies turned on to use or navigate through most parts of our website, although some functionality may be lost.
Cookies
Our website uses session cookies to ensure that you have a good experience. These cookies contain a unique number, your 'session ID', which allows our server to recognise your computer and 'remember' what you've done on the site. The benefits of this are:
You only need to log in once if you're navigating secure areas of the site
You are able to use interactive elements of the site, such as forms
Our server can distinguish between your computer and other users, so you can see the information that you have requested.
The following table gives details of the different types of cookies that might be used during a session
Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to help us to understand how you make use of our content and work out how we can make things better. These cookies follow your progress through our website, collecting data on where you have come from, which pages you visit, and how long you spend on the site. This data is then stored by Google in order to create reports. These cookies do not store your personal data.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website, including your IP address, may be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google may use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for us and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
The Google website contains further information about Analytics and a copy of Google's privacy policy pages.
Other parts of the University's website also store cookies on your computer to track user traffic patterns. We do this to see how the website is used, to determine page popularity, to help security and for general statistical purposes. Some of this information may be held on servers in locations outside the EEA. Where personally identifying information is involved, data will only be held in locations that are deemed to have adequate protections for personal data.
Legal basis for processing your personal information
Processing of your personal data is required so We can meet our obligations and duties, exercise our powers as a public authority, or support the functions of other authorities that have a public task defined within law or statute.
We will be processing your data on the basis of the performance of our public tasks under the University Charter where:
- You provide personal information in order for us to contact you or provide you with support tools and other information.
- We use your information to monitor the safe environment on our campuses and support internal governance.
Where you provide Us with a special category (sensitive data) including information on your ethnicity, disability, or medical conditions, We will be processing your data for reasons of public interest where for the purposes of equality of opportunity or treatment.
Where applicable We will also process Your personal data for the purposes of safeguarding of children and individuals at risk.
Where purposes are required by law, We will process your data on the basis of a legal obligation.
Who we may share your data with
The University will not sell, license or trade your personal information without your consent. We will not share your personal information with others unless they are acting under our instructions or We are required to do so by law.
Retention of your data
We will retain your data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, We consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which We process your personal data and whether We can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
In some circumstances We may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case We may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
How we protect your data
Your personal information is stored securely within the University and our staff are trained about the secure handling of personal information. We may also use third-party providers to deliver our services, such as externally hosted software or cloud providers. Were we do this, We have measures and terms in place with those providers to ensure that they also protect your data.
Keeping your information up to date
The accuracy of your information is important to us. You can update your information, including your contact details, at any time. If you need to update the details We hold about you or believe We hold inaccurate data, you can submit a follow-up complaint (if you reported anonymously) or in dialogue with the case worker if it’s a named complaint.
Your rights
Under data protection law you have the right to:
- Withdraw your consent where that is the legal basis of our processing
- Access your personal data that We process
- Rectify inaccuracies in personal data that We hold about you
- Be erased, that is your details to be removed from systems that We use to process your personal data
- Restrict the processing in certain ways
- Obtain a copy of your data in a commonly used electronic form; and
- Object to certain processing of your personal data by us
Please see the ICO website for further information on the above rights.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, We may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, We may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
More information on making a request under your rights can be found on our 'Data Subject Rights' webpage.
If you would like to exercise your rights or have any concerns regarding how We have handled your personal information please contact our Data Protection Office at imps@reading.ac.uk
Some rights are dependent on the lawful basis for processing your information. If We have legitimate grounds to not carry out your wishes, these will be explained to you in response to your request.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Questions about this notice
If there is anything in this notice that you are unclear about, please contact our Data Protection Officer, via the contact details below, who shall be happy to answer any queries you may have concerning this privacy notice or the way in which We process your personal data.
By mail: Information Management and Policy Services,
Whiteknights House
Shinfield Road
Whiteknights
READING
RG6 6UR
UK
By email: imps@reading.ac.uk
By phone: 0118 378 8981
Complaints can be referred to the Information Commissioners Office, the independent body that oversee Data Protection compliance in the UK.
Changes to this notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review to ensure best practice and compliance with the law. This privacy notice was last updated on 04/07/2023.
We may change this privacy notice from time to time. If We make significant changes in the way we treat your personal information We will make this clear on the University of Reading website and may also inform you directly.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about this notice, our University Data Protection Officer can be contacted at: IMPS, University of Reading, Information Management & Policy Services, Whiteknights House, Shinfield Road, Whiteknights, READING, RG6 6UR, UK
Telephone: 0118 378 8981
Email: imps@reading.ac.uk