Privacy and Website Use Terms and Conditions

Privacy Notice - Course Enquiries, Applications and Event Bookings

Your personal information

The University of Lincoln collects personal information about you when you make an enquiry about our courses or book to attend our events. We use this information to administer your request and help prospective students make informed decisions about whether they wish to apply to study with us. We will also support you during the application process if you do choose to apply. This notice explains more about how we use your personal information.

• What information we collect about you
• How we use your information
• Information we may share with other organisations
• Information processed abroad
• How long we keep your information
• Accessing your information and other rights
• How to object or withdraw consent
• How to contact us
• How to complain 

What information we collect about you

We collect information about you when you make an enquiry to the University about our courses in person, by email, over the phone or by submitting a request through our website (for example, when you register for an Open Day or speak to a member of staff through a live chat service). Typically this will include your name, date of birth, gender, postal address, student status (eg. whether you are a UK, EU or International student), email, phone number and some details about the course you are interested in and your proposed year of entry. For international students, we may collect information about you if you make an enquiry about our courses via a third party website or agent, such as Hot Courses.

We will keep your information accurate and up-to-date if you provide us with additional information, tell us of any changes, or make further enquiries or requests. We will note in your record if you register for and attend our events. We will collect further information about you if you make an application to study at the University, either directly to us or via a service such as UCAS. To update the personal information we hold about you, please contact our Enquiries team by email enquiries@lincoln.ac.uk or telephone +44(0)1522 886644.

We also collect information about you when you register to attend one of our public events. Typically, this will be your name, email address, phone number and postal address. If you register for a public event you will be invited to join our public events mailing list. This is optional and if you do subscribe you can opt-out at any time. You can ask for your information to be updated or removed by contacting us by email on events@lincoln.ac.uk or telephone +44(0)1522 837100.

A photographer or filmmaker may be present at some university events to document it on our behalf. We process images and video taken at our events under our legitimate interests although we may ask subjects for their permission. If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed please make our event staff aware.

On occasion the University organises competitions which are open to the public, including people aged 17 or under. We only collect personal data necessary for administering the competition and do not use it for any other purpose. We may ask a responsible adult such as a parent or teacher to provide permission for minors to enter a competition. As processing of some personal data is necessary to administer a competition, we process personal data on the basis of our legitimate interests. Entrants can request their personal information is updated or removed by emailing competitions@lincoln.ac.uk  

How we use your information

If you enquire about our courses, such as requesting a Prospectus or booking onto an Open Day, we use your information to respond to your enquiry and fulfil your request.

We will provide relevant information which can help you make informed decisions about our courses and applying to study at the University. For example, if you register to attend an Open Day we will confirm your booking and send you joining instructions so that you know what to expect and how to get the most from your visit. We may send you marketing information about related products or services. Our Enquiries team can also access your information if you contact us with questions about your preferred course or the application process, so they can better tailor advice to you. 

The information you provide to us when you make an enquiry is processed in accordance with UK data protection legislation as being in the legitimate interests of the University. If you go on to make an application to one of our courses your data will be processed to take steps necessary prior to entering a contract.

Your information is stored securely in the University’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software system. Access to your information is restricted only to those staff who need it. The information you provide as an enquirer is not used to inform decision-making should you make an application to the University.

If as a member of the public you register to attend one of our public events, we will store your information on a separate secure database in accordance with UK data protection legislation and in the legitimate interests of the University. You may opt to join our public events mailing list and can unsubscribe from this list at any time.

We also use email for some business-to-business (B2B) marketing communications. In these cases we may process some personal data as being in our legitimate interests. You can unsubscribe from B2B e-communications at any time using the unsubscribe link in the message or by contacting the Communications, Development and Marketing Department on enquiries@lincoln.ac.uk or +44(0)1522 886644.

 The University occasionally uses cookies and other technologies on its website that collect data about you when you use them. Where this occurs further information will be available in our cookies policy. The cookies policy for the University website can be found here: https://www.lincoln.ac.uk/privacy 

Information we may share with other organisations

We use a number of suppliers who process personal information on our behalf. These include suppliers of software services and, for international enquirers, our overseas recruitment agents. For international enquirers the University uses the student recruitment and enrolment management services of QS Enrolment Solutions who process personal information on our behalf. These act strictly on our instructions and must not use the information for their own purposes. QS Enrolment Services will act as a data processor and may contact enquirers, applicants (and their agents) to facilitate the application and enrolment process.

The University uses UniBuddy and Click4Assistance to enable prospective students to connect directly with our staff and students. Use of UniBuddy and Click4Assistance is on the lawful basis defined in the respective Privacy Notices of the University of Lincoln, Click4Assistance, and UniBuddy. Please note any special category data users provide in their use of UniBuddy or Click4Assistance is on the basis of their explicit consent. Please see the UniBuddy Privacy Notice at https://unibuddy.com/privacy-policy/ and the Click4Asstance Privacy Notice at https://www.click4assistance.co.uk/privacy-policy.

In exceptional circumstances we may be asked to share your information with police or other investigators if it would prevent or detect crime or safeguard a person’s wellbeing. Each instance will be judged on its own merit and any sharing of information will be done within the law.

Information processed abroad

Some of the software services we use to process personal information on our behalf are located outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). In these instances information is protected using data security practices as set out in our Data Processing Agreements with suppliers (which may include use of Standard Contractual Clauses, for example). Where we share information with overseas recruitment agents about student enquiries, we have Information Sharing Agreements in place.

How long we keep your information

We retain your personal information only as long as is necessary and in accordance with the University’s records retention schedule. The University’s retention schedule has been created in line with the Jisc Retention Schedules. The University reserves the right to change its retention schedule at any point.

Data will be kept securely and destroyed when no longer required. The University may also decide to archive some data. For more information regarding the retention of your personal data, please contact the Information Compliance team at compliance@lincoln.ac.uk

If you access additional University services these may keep a record of your contact and will provide you with details of how long they keep your information. If after your enquiry you go on to apply and enrol as a student at the University further information will be collected and processed (please see our Student Enrolment Privacy Notice).

Accessing your information and other rights

You have a number of rights relating to your personal information. These include:

Access - You have the right to request a copy of any personal information we hold about you. If you would like a copy of any of your information please contact the Information Compliance team on the details below. The team will process your request within a month.

Portability - If you have provided information on the basis of your consent or for a contract then you can request a digital copy so you can send it to another organisation. To request a copy please contact the Information Compliance team on the details below. The team will process your request within a month.

Correction - If any of the information we hold about you is incorrect or incomplete then please let us know. You have the right to have your information corrected so that we hold accurate records about you.

Erasure - This is also known as the right to be forgotten. You can request that your personal information is erased if it is no longer necessary for the University to keep it, or you withdraw consent that you have previously provided, or you object and there is no overriding grounds to keep it or if it is unlawful to continue to keep it.

Restriction - You can request that the use of your personal information is limited to storage only and that we use it for no other purpose. This applies where you contest the accuracy of the personal information we hold, or our use of the information is unlawful, or we no longer need the information except in relation to legal claims, or you object to the use of your data and we need to verify whether or not our purpose for keeping it overrides the grounds of your objection.

The Information Compliance team can be contacted by email on compliance@lincoln.ac.uk or by post at: Information Compliance, Secretariat, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS.

How to object or withdraw consent

If you object to our use of your personal information then we must stop unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for continuing. Please contact the University’s Enquiries team on enquiries@lincoln.ac.uk or +44(0)1522 886644 and explain your objection.

You may be asked to provide your consent to receive certain types of marketing communications. You may withdraw this consent at any time. Please let us know if you wish to change your marketing communications preferences by contacting our Enquiries team on the details above or by using unsubscribe links.

How to contact us

For general enquiries please call +44(0)1522 882000 or write to University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS.
You can find contact details for individual teams and staff by visiting https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk.

If you have a query about your personal information rights then please contact the Information Compliance team by email on compliance@lincoln.ac.uk or by post at Information Compliance, Secretariat, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS.

How to complain

If you feel that we have let you down in relation to your information rights then please contact the Information Compliance team by email on compliance@lincoln.ac.uk or by post at Information Compliance, Secretariat, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS.

You can also make complaints directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the independent authority upholding information rights for the UK. Their website is www.ico.org.uk and their telephone helpline number is 0303 123 1113.

Our Alumni and Supporters Privacy Notice can be found here: Privacy Notice.

A number of privacy notices for staff, students, and research participants can be found online at https://secretariat.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/information-compliance/university-privacy-notices/.

We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement

Use of Cookies

Our website www.lincoln.ac.uk uses cookies to provide users with the best experience we can and to help us understand how visitors use our site. 

What are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are downloaded to your device (such as your PC or tablet) via your web browser when you visit certain websites. They are used for a variety of purposes, particularly to enhance a user’s experience by remembering certain details, like forms you have completed.

Some cookies are necessary for the full functionality of a website while others are for non-essential purposes, such as to optimise online marketing. Non-essential cookies require consent to be placed on your device. Some cookies expire automatically when you leave a site (session cookies) while others can remain for a set duration afterwards unless removed (persistent cookies).

Most mainstream web browsers allow users to block, remove or manage cookies. You can learn more about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.

By accepting cookies on this website, you consent to their use. 

Why Do We Use Cookies?

The University of Lincoln website uses cookies to optimise users' experience, improve site performance, add certain features or functions, and provide analytics data to inform improvements. We also use cookies to track the effectiveness of online marketing and to offer multimedia content or social networking features via third party services.

What Cookies Do We Use?

These are some of the main cookies used on our website www.lincoln.ac.uk (last updated July 2019). This is not an exhaustive list and does not include cookies from all partner sites or microsites:

Functional and Performance Cookies

We set some cookies to improve functionality or performance, depending how you interact with our site. These include:

permutive-id; permutive-session; ASPSESSIONID; and ASP.NET_SessionID are session cookies which remember the user’s current session to improve experience on the site.

Our Find a Course search system retains the last entered search term and search filter settings within two cookies: coursefinder_inputLast and coursefinder_filterList.

The f5_cspm cookie is used to report on the client-side page load time for a given application.

Third party cookies

Some cookies on our website are from third parties, and include:

* Google Analytics – we use Google Analytics to understand how people access and interact with our website, including the source of their visit. Cookies include _utma; _utmb; _utmc; _utmt; and _utmz. For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see: https://policies.google.com/privacy

* Facebook – the cookie _fbp is used by Facebook to deliver targeted advertisements and monitor campaigns. To read more on how to manage your Facebook ad preferences, see: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

Social media embeds from services such as Twitter and YouTube may also set cookies on a user’s device.

Manage Cookies in your Browser

Most major web browsers enable users to manage cookies directly in their settings. Please be aware that disabling or removing certain cookies may prevent you from using the full functionality of the website. You can find guides to disable cookies from the links below.

Google Chrome: https://support.google.com

Microsoft Edge: https://support.microsoft.com

Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org

Microsoft Internet Explorer: https://support.microsoft.com

Opera: https://help.opera.com 

Apple Safari: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/safari 

If you email us with a general query, the information you provide to us will only be used to respond to your query. You will not be added to a database or mailing list. If you email us to request a prospectus or book onto an Open Day, we will add your details to our customer relationship management (CRM) system to enable us to process your request and provide useful information relating to it. Please refer to our Privacy Notice for more detail on how we collect and use personal information from enquirers.

As permitted by the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000 and by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, the University may electronically scan any emails received for obscene, indecent and illegal remarks and content. The University may also scan any messages left in 'chat rooms', bulletin boards etc, provided on its Virtual Learning Environment, websites or other computing facilities for similar material.

Where the University is convinced that there is proper lawful authority for the interception of communications, our policy is to co-operate fully with the relevant authorities. If, however, we are convinced that the authorities have exceeded their powers either deliberately or by oversight, it is the policy of the University to assist Data Subjects in any complaint to the proper regulatory authority.

Information about the University's Freedom of Information Publication Scheme and its legal obligations can be found on the Secretariat site:

https://secretariat.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/data-protection-information-compliance/news/

FOI requests can be made directly to: foi@lincoln.ac.uk 

All material published on the University of Lincoln's websites (unless stated otherwise), is the property of the University and must not be copied or distributed for any commercial purpose. This includes, but is not limited to, the University's logo, graphics, website design and contents.

The University permits the taking of copies of material published on its web pages for personal use only, in electronic or hard copy form, providing that the copyright notice, below, is retained on each copy. Making alterations to any of the pages, or using content in any other work or publication, other than for quotation purposes, will be a direct breach of the University's copyright and may result in civil action.

The University's prior written permission must be obtained for any other use of material contained in its web pages.

The University of Lincoln makes every possible effort to ensure that the information published on its websites is accurate and up to date, but reserves the right to make amendments at any time and without prior notice.

The University provides hyperlinks to third party websites not affiliated with the University, for the convenience of users only. By linking to these websites the University of Lincoln in no way endorses the contents, views or information held on such sites.

To the fullest extent permitted by the law, the University of Lincoln nor any of its officers or employees shall be liable for any loss, additional costs or damage howsoever arising, suffered as a result of using the University's websites or links provided to third party websites.

If you have any questions or comments about the University's approach to data protection, privacy and information compliance, please email: compliance@lincoln.ac.uk or write to:

Information Compliance
Secretariat (Academic Registry)
University of Lincoln
Brayford Pool
Lincoln
LN6 7TS

While the Information Compliance Team is working remotely, we would kindly ask that all communications that are posted are also sent to compliance@lincoln.ac.uk. This will ensure we can respond to your queries in a timely manner while our access to campus is limited.

Further information about the University’s Data Protection Policy and its legal obligations can be found at the following link:

https://secretariat.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/information-compliance/data-protection/