Introduction

The ‘Student mental health ‘what works’ project’ is a collaboration between the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO), the Office for Students (OfS) (as funder), What Works Wellbeing (WWW), Student Mental Health Research Network (SMaRteN), Universities UK (UUK), Student Minds (SM), and The Student Services Organisation AMOSSHE (“we, “our”). All organisations are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal data we collect about you (“you”, “your”).

The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain what personal data we collect from you as part of the Student Advisory Panel for the ‘Student mental health ‘what works’ project’. When we do this, we are the data controller. The part of the project this relates to is when you are acting as a student advisor on the panel while we explore current sector activities in delivering and evaluating mental health practices.

Please read this privacy notice carefully as it provides important information about how we handle your personal information and your rights. If you have any questions about any aspect of this privacy notice you can contact us using the information provided below or by emailing us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com quoting ‘Student mental health ‘what works’ project’ in the subject or body of the email.

Personal data we collect

We shall be processing the below categories of data as part of applications to and involvement in the advisory panel:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Your telephone number
  • The Higher Education Provider you attend or previously attended
  • The subject you study
  • The year of study you are currently in
  • Your knowledge, skills and experience which relates to the student mental health project
  • Information you voluntarily provide in meetings and communications with us

How we collect information about you

We may collect personal data in a variety of ways and at a variety of times throughout the research study being conducted. We refer to “direct data collection” when data is collected directly from you, and “in-direct data collection” when we do not collect data directly from you for the purposes of this project:

  • From yourself via an online application form you have responded to on the TASO website (direct data collection)
  • From yourself within an online/telephone conversation (direct data collection)
  • From yourself during panel meetings, should your application be successful (direct data collection)
  • From yourself indirectly, via a collaboration partner such as Student Minds or SMaRteN where you are already a member of their internal student advisory panel.

Purposes for which we use personal data and the legal basis

As part of the project and the Student Advisory Panel, we may use your personal data for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases:

PurposeLawful Basis for Processing
To understand your interest and relevance for a position on our Student Advisory Panel via the ‘Expressions of interest’ application form and potential follow-up meeting.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
When you have been successfully accepted onto the Student Advisory Panel, to communicate with you regarding the Project and invite you to attend online and/or in-person advisory group sessions as well as send you surveys applicable to gaining your opinion and input to the Project.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
To gain insight into experiences of mental health issues in HE from a student perspective from your participation in panel meetings which will be used to inform the Project and its developments.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
To gain an understanding of the student experience of accessing mental health support in HE from your participation in panel meetings which will be used to inform the Project and its developments.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
To gain your opinion and advice on the overall workings of the project as it relates to the development of evaluation guidelines.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
To make further contact with you to clarify or expand upon something you have spoken about in an interview or focus group which is of particular relevance to this Project.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
For us to contact you to ask if you would like to participate in any new projects as either an advisor or participant (you can opt out anytime) where you have been identified as having relevant experience in the sector.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is the legitimate interest of the Data Controller.
To identify your data and take relevant action should you submit a data subject rights request.The lawful basis we shall be relying on is for the compliance with a legal obligation. The legal obligation is the UK General Data Protection Regulation to uphold your data protection rights.

Sharing your data

It is unlikely that we’ll ever share your personal data outside the UK. If, however, it becomes necessary for the purposes of conducting our research we will only share it with organisations in countries benefiting from a European Commission adequacy decision or on the basis of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission (both of which are recognised by the UK) which contractually oblige the recipient to process and protect your personal data to the standard expected within the UK.

Any data shared with our research partners is the minimum necessary for the task they have been instructed to carry out on our behalf or in conjunction with us. Each recipient is subject to pre-approved review to ensure comparative technical and organisational measures for keeping the data secure.

There may be scenarios where we are subject to a legal obligation to disclose or share your personal data, such as with law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies or public authorities in order to prevent or detect crime. We will only ever disclose your personal data to these third parties to the extent we are required to do so by law.

We may also share your personal data if we choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business and/or group, or our assets in the future. Or we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. During any such process, we may share your data with other parties. We will only do this if they agree to keep your data safe and private. If a change to our group happens, then other parties may use your data in the same way as set out in this notice.

How long we keep your data

We will keep all anonymised information gathered from you for this Project indefinitely.

As a member of the Student Advisory Panel we have identified you as a sector stakeholder within the field of work conducted by us and we will retain enough of your personal information to know how to make further contact with you and your relevant area of expertise.

This information is held for the purpose of societal benefit in line with our remit as a non-profit organisation. We will never sell your data or use your personal information for any other purpose outside of what is referenced in this notice. Should you no longer wish for us to retain your personal information please contact us on the following email address: dpo@theevidencequarter.com

We review stakeholder personal data we hold on an annual basis and where we understand we have not interacted with you we will continue to hold your personal data for another year, up to the time of the next annual review. Where we have not had contact with you in the time between reviewing stakeholder data we shall remove your data from our systems.

How we protect your data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect data that we process from unauthorised disclosure, use, alteration or destruction. Data protection assessments are conducted for each research project and for all recipients of data used within any research data.

Your information is securely stored on a dedicated drive, and access is controlled by TASO’s secure access policy for the duration of the research study period.

We will always keep these under review to make sure that the measures we have implemented remain appropriate.

Any personal data is not subject to any automated decision-making.

Your rights and options

You have the following rights in respect of your personal data:

  • You have the right of access to your personal data and can request copies of it and information about our processing of it.
  • If the personal data we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify or add to it.
  • Where we are using your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.
  • Where we are using your personal information because it is in our legitimate interests to do so, you can object to us using it this way.
  • Where we are using your personal data for direct marketing, including profiling for direct marketing purposes, you can object to us doing so.
  • You can ask us to restrict the use of your personal data if:
    – It is not accurate,
    – It has been used unlawfully but you do not want us to delete it,
    – We do not need it any-more, but you want us to keep it for use in legal claims, or
    – if you have already asked us to stop using your data but you are waiting to receive confirmation from us as to whether we can comply with your request.
  • In some circumstances you can compel us to erase your personal data and request a machine-readable copy of your personal data to transfer to another service provider.
  • You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

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 for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com.

How to Complain

You can also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. They can be contacted using the information provided at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Contact us

If you have any questions, or wish to exercise any of your rights, then you can contact:

Project: Student mental health ‘what works’ project

Organisation: The Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in Higher

Education (TASO)

Address: TASO, Evidence Quarter, 4th Floor, Albany House, Petty France, London,

SW1H 9EA

E-mail: info@taso.org.uk

Alternatively, you can email us at dpo@theevidencequarter.com 

Changes to this privacy notice
We may update this notice (and any supplemental privacy notice), from time to time as shown below. We will notify you of the changes where required by applicable law to do so.

Last modified 4 April 2023.

Further information about the funder

The Office for Students (OfS) is the regulator of the higher education sector in England and has certain statutory functions set out in the Higher Education and Research Act (HERA) 2017. You can find more information about the OfS and the work that we do on our website: www.officeforstudents.org.uk