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Privacy Statement for the Higgs Centre


Information about you: why we collect it, how we use it and with whom we share it

The information you provide will be used by the University of Edinburgh ("the University") to manage your interaction with the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics ("the Higgs Centre"), for example any visit to the Higgs Centre, or your participation in an event organised or hosted by the Higgs Centre, information you post, email or otherwise send to us or how you use our website.

The Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics is committed to protecting your privacy and keeping you informed of how your information is used. We will only record your personal details in the manner and for the purposes set out in this privacy notice. Data will be kept secure from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. We will not sell, rent, trade or otherwise knowingly share or provide your personal information to any third party, except insofar as legally obliged to do so or as specified below.

The Higgs Centre will process the personal data of academics, researchers, students, graduates, visitors, staff and other stakeholders that interact with the Higgs Centre, in order to deliver and improve the opportunities and services we provide in a personalised manner, to ensure each individual receives relevant information and to meet our statutory, contractual and legitimate business requirements in the most efficient and effective way, as long as you are part of the Higgs Centre (e.g. as an Associate, Affiliate or member of a Committee).

We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes.  A human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.

Information about you will only be used: 

  • If you have provided us with your consent 
  • If processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take the steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract 
  • If it is in the legitimate interest of the Higgs Centre to process information about you as you are part of the Higgs Centre community
  • In order to stay in touch with you and keep you informed of our events, important news and services, as it pertains to your relationship with the Higgs Centre. 

To meet our contractual obligations to you we will:

  • Track financial information (such as bank details and address) for reporting and bank transactions;
  • Capture your personal and professional information (such as affiliation, email address, research area, resume, visit dates, photograph) typically through application and booking forms in order for you to access a particular service or event.
  • Capture past and current research, training, outreach and other scientific activities, for reporting obligations;

On the basis of our legitimate business interests to you we will:

  • Supply you with the services and information that you request from us and to allow us to respond to your enquiry accordingly;
  • Analyse the information we collect so that we can administer, support, improve and develop our websites, documentation, research, events and to ensure continuous improvement of all of our services;
  • Inform you of opportunities that may be of interest;
  • Monitor the progress of the Higgs Centre and its stakeholders and inform them of appropriate opportunities and services;
  • Notify you about changes to our services; and
  • Send you Higgs Centre marketing information if you are a professional contact.


Cookies and Website Privacy

For more information on our use of cookies and details of how the University of Edinburgh is committed to preserving your privacy, please visit the University of Edinburgh Privacy and cookie Policy information webpages.

How long will we keep your personal data? 

Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and, in some cases, so we can comply with our legitimate and contractual obligations.

In the case of subscribed services such as mailing lists, details supplied will be retained until you choose to unsubscribe from the notifications or newsletter.  

Storage and transmission of your information

Once we have received your information, we employ security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage.

Transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted to the website or via email. Any transmission is at your own risk.

Passwords and credentials

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of the website or information systems and services, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Online Transactions

All payment transactions will be encrypted.  Areas of the site that process online transactions make use of – and may transfer data to – third-party software and service providers (e.g. Eventbrite).  All third-party software and service providers that we use are compliant with the relevant Payment Card Industry standards.

Information disclosure

Authorised personnel within the School of Physics and Astronomy or the University of Edinburgh will be able to access the information you provide to us. Unless required to do so by law, we will not share, sell or distribute any of the information you provide to us without your consent. To comply with statutory requirements, we are required to share your personal information with external agencies, particularly for the purposes of detection or prevention of crime or fraud. 

Who we share data with

Information that you share with us may be processed by the following 3rd Parties, you will be informed if this applies to your data: 

  • Key Travel for the purposes of making travel and accommodation arrangements
  • Select local hotels or B&Bs for the purpose of making accommodation arrangements
  • Our international payments provider Santander
  • Co-organisers of events
  • Research funding bodies
  • Indico

The following is a list of cookies we use:

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to report on the traffic moving around our website and use this information to improve the visitor experience. IP addresses, which can be used to identify an individual user, are anonymised by Google Analytics.

You may opt-out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.


Data controller and contact details

For data collected under this privacy notice, the University of Edinburgh (the “University”) is the Data Controller (as that term is defined in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, Registration Number Z6426984.

The University's Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:

Email: dpo@ed.ac.uk

Governance and Strategic Planning University of Edinburgh Old College Edinburgh EH8 9YL


Transfers outside the European Economic Area

We do not send your data outwith the EEA.


Your rights

You have the right to request access to, copies of and rectification or (in some cases) erasure of personal data held by the Higgs Centre and can request that we restrict processing or object to processing as well as (in some cases) the right to data portability (i.e. the right to ask us to put your data into a format that  it can be transferred easily to a different organisation). If you wish to make use of one of these rights, please email your local contact or the Higgs Centre Administrator.

If we have asked for your consent in order to process your personal data you can withdraw this consent at any time. To withdraw consent, please email your local contact or the Higgs Centre Administrator, who will explain the consequences of doing so in any particular case and initiate proceedings for withdrawing consent.

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Applicants, staff and students receive some communications as a result of their relationship with the University, so may not be able to opt out. Interaction with staff and students are regulated through the relevant privacy notices of the University of Edinburgh.

Changes to the privacy policy

We keep this privacy policy under review and may amend this policy from time to time. If we make any substantial changes we will notify you by posting a prominent notice on the website.


Further queries

If you have any questions, please contact the Higgs Centre Administrator at hctp@ed.ac.uk.


Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way we have processed your personal data you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), but we ask that you raise the issue with our Data Protection Officer first.

For information about reporting a concern to the ICO see their website: ICO guidance on reporting a data protection concern


Continued privacy notice

The University of Edinburgh maintains several other privacy statements that are specific to services delivered and the policies stated. Please visit:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/about/website/privacy.

For further information on specific privacy policies and guidelines.