Research privacy notice
Jisc is committed to protecting your privacy. This research notice explains how we use, store and share the information we collect about you.
Jisc is the UK digital, data and technology agency focused on tertiary education, research and innovation. Jisc’s mission is to improve lives through the digital transformation of education and research.
This research privacy notice explains how we use, store and share the data we collect about you when we run a research project, study, survey, working group, workshop or user group that you are participating in.
Jisc may organise and manage research collaboratively with partners who act as independent data controllers. Information about partners and their privacy notices will be provided when you sign up for the research project. You should ensure that you have read and understood any partner privacy notices before agreeing to take part.
What personal data will we collect about you?
Personal data means any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. The personal data collected will vary according to the research project you are participating in. Where personal data is mandatory or optional we will show this within the sign-up form or within the research project itself.
For the purposes of providing research, Jisc may process the following personal data:
- First name
- Last name
- Personal pronouns
- Role
- Area of specialism or interest
- Organisation
- Qualifications and skills
- Relevant personal background information (such as age, stage of career and nationality)
- Email address
- Phone number
- Country of residence
- Sector
- Photographic or video images and audio recordings
- IP Address (when you visit our websites)
- Special requirements (such as dietary and reasonable adjustments for a disability should you attend in person)
In some research projects we may ask you for special category data such as your ethnicity, disability, or your sexual life. We will only process this data with your explicit consent, and you can choose not to provide this data.
As part of our research projects, we may wish to publish your personal data in the form of your image or quotations that are attributed to you. We will only do this when you have given us your consent to include this data in our research project outputs and this is entirely at your discretion.
How do we use your personal data?
The data you provide is primarily needed to facilitate you taking part in the research project. The following table sets out why we process your personal data and our lawful basis for processing your personal data. We may rely on more than one lawful basis for processing your personal data depending on the context of the processing project.
| Purpose/activity | Lawful basis for processing |
|---|---|
| To run a research project, study, survey, working group, workshop or user group that you are participating in. | This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests for us to manage the research project. |
| By registering to take part in online research we will send you a link to the research platform to either complete a survey or to facilitate your attendance at a research event. We currently use Zoom and Microsoft Teams for online research projects, such as interviews or focus groups. We use our own Online Surveys platform, Snap Surveys or Microsoft forms to collect registration information and survey responses. | This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests for us to facilitate communication between us, our research partners, and attendees. |
| To collect and retain the data required for you to join one of our research panels such as Future You: Opinions. The registration data enables us to send you invitations to projects that may be of interest to you. | This processing is carried out with your consent. You may leave the research panel at any time, and we will delete your registration information when you do so. |
| To collect contact details via an online form when you’ve expressed an interest in us contacting you for a specific research or survey purpose. | This processing is carried out with your consent, which may be withdrawn at any time. |
| We may contact you with additional feedback surveys designed to improve our services. | This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests for us to improve our services. |
| To organise and manage a prize draw to encourage participation in one of our research projects. To publish or make available information that indicates a valid award took place – ordinarily the surname and country of residence of prize winners. | This processing is necessary for the performance of a contract between us. This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests in conforming with the Advertising Standards Authority CAP Code on promotional marketing. You may object to your information being published or made available by contacting us by email or in writing as set out in the prize draw terms and conditions. |
Marketing and promotional communications. From time to time, we may email you about our services which may be of interest to you or your organisation. These may include:
| We send communications to individuals acting in a professional capacity within organisations where we believe we have a legitimate interest to do so. You can opt out of these communications at any time by following the link to unsubscribe. |
| For individuals participating in one of our research or survey projects, for example students or graduate jobseekers, we may offer you the opportunity of opting-in to receive our marketing or promotional communications. This is on the basis you’re an ‘individual subscriber’. | This processing is carried out with your consent. You may withdraw your consent and opt-out of future communications at any time by following the link to unsubscribe. |
| We may record incidents of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour where necessary to keep participants safe and foster a welcoming environment when people take part in our research projects. For serious incidents of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour, we may also inform the HR departments of the individuals involved. | This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests for us to facilitate safe and welcoming environment for participants. |
| When attending an in-person research project, your image may be captured via photograph or video. This image may then be used for promotional purposes outside of the research and may be made available on our website or social media. If you do not wish to have your image captured, please inform the research organiser upon arrival. When attending a virtual research event or online session, visual and audio recording may take place. | This processing is carried out for our legitimate interests for us to promote our research. This processing is for our legitimate interests in accurately capturing your contribution to the research project. You will be informed when recording is due to start and may choose to turn off your camera and mute your microphone, submitting your responses in writing via the platform chat function instead. |
| Publishing your personal data, your image, or any quotations attributed to you as part of the survey outcome. | This processing is carried out only when you have given your consent. If you change your mind and wish to withdraw your consent for us to use this data, you can contact us using the project email address. |
| To process special category data such as ethnicity, health data, sexual life, or sexual orientation to better understand the demographics of our research participants. | This processing is carried out only when you have given your explicit consent. If you change your mind and wish to withdraw your consent for us to use this data you can contact us using the project email address. |
Sharing your personal data
We will only disclose your personal data to the following recipients. Jisc has contracted some trusted third parties to provide specific services and our contracts prohibit these organisations from using the data you provide for any other purpose.
We will only disclose your personal data to the following recipients. Jisc has contracted some trusted third parties to provide specific services and our contracts prohibit these organisations from using the data you provide for any other purpose.
Jisc colleagues - As you would expect, for all research Jisc employees will access personal data for the purposes mentioned above. For example, our research staff may need access to your details to support your attendance at an interview, or to collate your responses to the survey project.
Consultants – Jisc sometimes uses subject matter experts to draft surveys, lead collaborative research projects or help provide insights on the research responses.
Online platforms - Jisc uses Zoom and Microsoft Teams as a platform provider to host collaborative online research or to conduct virtual interviews.
Online survey providers - Jisc uses Snap Surveys and Microsoft forms as providers for issuing and receiving surveys.
Other data processors – Jisc uses software provided by third party data processors for collecting, storing and analysing the data, the creation of reports and published content. Upland Software Inc (Adestra) is used for the management of email communications.
Venues - Jisc sometimes uses third party venue providers to host focus groups. We will share your name, job title and organisation you work for with the venue to facilitate attendance and support activities such as name badge printing. From time to time our research venues may ask for a list of participants for health and safety purposes. Jisc will only share your data when it’s lawful and necessary for a clear purpose.
How long do we keep your personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Typically, we will retain survey responses for 12 to 24 months following the conclusion of the research project to analyse results and monitor trends. For some projects, for example the Early Careers Survey, pseudonymised data is retained for 10 years for the purpose of analysing longer-term trends. Where you have been included in a prize draw, we retain your data for 12 months after the prize draw has ended.
If you register an interest in joining one of our research panels, we will retain your contact data to contact you with further research projects whilst you choose to remain on the panel.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes.
For more information, including how to exercise your data subject rights, please refer to our main Jisc privacy notice.