Honorary Degrees Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice sets out how we use your personal data and your rights regarding that information.

Who will own my data once I submit it?

The University of Liverpool.

Why do you need my information?

The Governance team collect personal information (email addresses/phone numbers/addresses) so that we can undertake the necessary administration tasks for the Honorary Degree process as follows:

Nominees: Email addresses/phone numbers/addresses will be used to contact successful nominees to invite them to a degree conferral ceremony.

Nominator: We ask for your email address so that we can contact you to let you know if the outcome of your nomination is successful. We also ask if you are a current UoL staff member, student, or a member of Council so that we can confirm your eligibility to submit a nomination.  

What allows you to use my information?

In order to exercise our governance functions and activities relating to Honorary Degrees, we are required to process personal information. We do this using the legitimate interests processing condition. You have the right to opt-out of this processing at any point.  

Who will my information be shared with? 

All Nominees: A copy of the nomination form containing the nominees name, professional title and existing awards will be shared with the Joint Committee on Honorary degrees. A copy will also be shared with designated persons  University’s External Relations team in order to carry out due diligence checks. Contact details will be removed prior to sharing nomination forms.  

Successful Nominees: Contact information (email addresses/phone numbers/addresses) will be shared with designated persons from the Vice Chancellor’s office in order to issue formal invitation letters, and with designated persons within the Corporate Events team to arrange graduation ceremonies

Nominators: the email address you provide will only be shared internally within the Governance team so that we can contact you to let you know the outcome of your nomination.

Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?

You are not required to provide this information, but we ask that you do so that we can carry out our administrative processes. If a nominee withdraws their consent, we would not be able to confer their honorary degree. If a nominator withdraws their consent, we would not be able to inform them out the outcome of their nomination.

How long will you keep this data for and why?

Nominations are collected using Microsoft Forms. Once the deadline for nominations has passed and responses have been saved (see below), the form, along with all response data will be deleted.

As soon as the full annual process has been completed, and the relevant people have been contacted regarding the outcome of nominations, all personal information (email/phone number/address) will be deleted permanently. 

As nominations form part of the Joint Committee on Honorary Degrees paperwork, all copies of nominations (with contact details removed) will be archived after 6 years as an historic record. This is in line with our University Records Retention Schedule.

How will my information be stored?

Information will be collected using Microsoft Forms. Only designated persons within the Governance team have access to this form.

Information will be held securely by the Governance team in our departmental drives. Access to this information will be restricted to designated persons within the Governance team and relevant staff members (outlined above) who are authorised to view it as a necessary part of their work.

Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?

No.

Will my data be transferred abroad and why?

Data is not routinely transferred abroad. However, there may be ad-hoc occasions where minutes that contain nomination forms are shared with members who are currently abroad.

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, you may have the following rights with regards to your personal data:

  • The Right to subject access – you have the right to see a copy of the personal data that the University holds about you and find out what it is used for.
  • The Right to rectification – you have the right to ask the University to correct or remove any inaccurate data that we hold about you.
  • The Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) you have the right to ask the University to remove data that we hold about you.
  • The Right to restriction – you have the right to ask for your information to be restricted (locked down) on University systems.
  • The Right to data portability – you have the right to ask for your data to be transferred back to you or to a new provider at your request.
  • The Right to object – you have the right to ask the University to stop using your personal data or to stop sending you marketing information, or complain about how your data is used.
  • The Right to prevent automated decision making – you have the right to ask the University to stop using your data to make automated decisions about you or to stop profiling your behaviour (where applicable).

Please note that not all rights apply in all situations. To find out more about your rights under the UK GDPR, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.

To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used, contact the University Data Protection Officer.

  • Email: legal@liverpool.ac.uk
  • Post: Legal & Governance, University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, 765 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX

Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?

You can complain directly to the Data Protection Team by writing to the University Data Protection Officer.

  • By email: legal@liverpool.ac.uk
  • Post: Legal & Governance, University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, 765 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:

  • The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
  • Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
  • Website: ico.org.uk

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