Carers Link Academy Privacy Notice

Carers Link Academy Privacy Notice

Carers Link Academy uses personal information to provide and manage online learning, training, course access, progress records and certificates. This notice explains what information we collect, why we use it, how long we keep it, who we may share it with, and your rights under UK data protection law.
Carers Link Academy Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

Carers Link Academy is the online learning platform operated by Carers Link East Dunbartonshire.

Carers Link is responsible for the personal information processed through Carers Link Academy.

You can contact Carers Link at:

Carers Link
Milngavie Enterprise Centre
Ellangowan Road
Milngavie
Glasgow
G62 8PH

Telephone: 0141 955 2131
Freephone: 0800 975 2131
Email: enquiry@carerslink.org.uk

This Privacy Notice explains how personal information is collected, used, stored and protected when you use Carers Link Academy.

2. What personal information we collect

When you use Carers Link Academy, we may collect and process the following information:

• Account information, such as your name, email address, username and other information needed to create and manage your learning account.

• Learning information, including the courses or modules you are enrolled in, activities you complete, course progress, quiz attempts and results, feedback submissions and certificates issued.

• Technical information generated when you use the Academy, such as login records, IP address, browser or device information, activity logs and the date and time of actions carried out within the platform.

• Communications you send to us about your account, learning, technical support or use of the Academy.

We will only collect information that is relevant to providing, administering, supporting and improving Carers Link Academy and its learning services.

3. Why we use your information

We use personal information collected through Carers Link Academy to:

• create and manage learner accounts;

• enrol learners on courses and provide access to learning materials;

• record course activity, progress, quiz attempts, feedback and completion;

• issue and verify course certificates;

• provide technical support and respond to enquiries;

• maintain the security, reliability and proper operation of the Academy;

• understand how the Academy is being used and improve the learning experience; and

• meet any legal, regulatory or safeguarding obligations that apply to Carers Link.

For the routine operation of Carers Link Academy, Carers Link generally relies on its legitimate interests in providing, administering, securing and improving its learning and training services.

Where processing is required to comply with a legal obligation, we may rely on legal obligation as our lawful basis.

Where we ask for optional information or for a use of your information that genuinely requires your choice, we may rely on consent. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

4. Who we may share your information with

Access to personal information held within Carers Link Academy is limited to authorised Carers Link staff and, where appropriate, authorised volunteers or contractors who need access in order to administer, support or deliver the learning service.

We may also use trusted service providers to help operate Carers Link Academy, for example providers of:

• website and server hosting;

• video hosting and streaming;

• email and communications services;

• technical support and maintenance; and

• other services needed to operate and secure the Academy.

Where a service provider processes personal information on behalf of Carers Link, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the information is handled securely and in accordance with data protection law.

We may also disclose personal information where we are required to do so by law, or where this is necessary to protect the rights, safety or wellbeing of an individual.

5. How long we keep your information

We will keep personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, and in accordance with Carers Link’s records retention arrangements.

Different types of information may be kept for different periods. For example, account information, learning records, course completion information and certificate records may need to be retained for different lengths of time depending on their purpose.

We will regularly review the personal information we hold. When information is no longer needed, we will securely delete it or anonymise it, unless there is a legal or regulatory reason for us to retain it for longer.

Where possible, specific retention periods or the criteria used to determine them will be documented by Carers Link.

6. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

• ask us for access to the personal information we hold about you;

• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;

• ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances;

• ask us to restrict how we use your personal information in certain circumstances;

• object to the use of your personal information where we rely on legitimate interests;

• ask us to provide or transfer certain personal information in a portable format where the right to data portability applies; and

• withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on consent to process your personal information.

Some of these rights are not absolute and may not apply in every situation.

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact Carers Link using the contact details provided in this Privacy Notice.

7. Complaints

If you have concerns about how Carers Link has used or handled your personal information, please contact us using the details provided in this Privacy Notice.

We will consider and respond to data protection complaints in accordance with our responsibilities under UK data protection law.

If you remain dissatisfied after raising your concern with Carers Link, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

8. International transfers

Some of the service providers used to operate Carers Link Academy may process or make personal information accessible outside the United Kingdom.

Where Carers Link makes a restricted transfer of personal information outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with UK data protection law.

This may include relying on:

• UK adequacy regulations;

• appropriate contractual or other safeguards recognised under UK data protection law; or

• another lawful transfer mechanism where applicable.

Carers Link will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information remains appropriately protected when services involving international processing are used.

9. How we protect your information

Carers Link takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information held within Carers Link Academy.

These measures include restricting access to authorised users, using secure account authentication, maintaining the Academy software and hosting environment, using secure encrypted connections, and taking appropriate steps to protect information from unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure.

We also review our security arrangements and access controls as appropriate to the nature of the information being processed and the risks involved.

No online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but Carers Link will take reasonable and proportionate steps to protect personal information and respond appropriately to any security incident.

10. Providing your information and automated decision-making

Some personal information is required in order for us to create and manage a Carers Link Academy account and provide access to learning.

If you do not provide the information that is necessary to create or administer your account, we may be unable to provide access to some or all of the Academy’s services.

Carers Link Academy does not currently use solely automated decision-making or profiling to make decisions about learners that have legal or similarly significant effects.

11. Cookies and similar technologies

Carers Link Academy uses cookies and similar technologies to help the website function correctly, maintain secure user sessions and remember certain settings.

Some cookies are strictly necessary for the operation and security of the Academy and do not require consent.

Other services used within the Academy, such as embedded video or other third-party content, may use additional cookies or similar technologies. Where these are not strictly necessary, Carers Link will provide appropriate information and, where required, a means for users to make a choice before those technologies are used.

More detailed information about the cookies and similar technologies used by Carers Link Academy will be provided in our Cookie Notice.

12. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in how Carers Link Academy operates, the services we use, or applicable data protection requirements.

Where a significant change affects how we use personal information, we will take appropriate steps to bring the updated notice to the attention of users.

The current version of this Privacy Notice will always be available through Carers Link Academy.