OpportunityHub Student Privacy Notice

Scope

1.This document sets out what we do with your personal data in relation to the access and use of the Open University’s third party careers management system, OpportunityHub.

1.1.This document applies to you if you have enrolled and registered to study with the Open University, including undergraduates, postgraduates and research students, as well as qualifiers who have completed a module or a qualification within the last three years.

Who we are

2.The Open University is the data controller in relation to the processing activities described below. This means that the Open University decides why and how your personal information is processed.

2.1Where this document refers to “we”, “our” or “us” below, unless it mentions otherwise, it’s referring to the Open University

What information do we collect about you, and how do we collect it?

3.Information that you give to us

3.1.The Open University’s central systems inform the data that is stored in OpportunityHub. As such, we collect and use information that you supply when you register with the Open University.

3.2.We hold general information about you, such as your name, address, modules and qualifications studied and course outcomes. Should you give us information about “special categories” of data, including your racial or ethnic origin and physical or mental health, this will also be collected within OpportunityHub.

4. Information that we collect automatically

4.1. We will automatically collect information about your usage of the OpportunityHub system, such as log in data, job views, questions asked, resources viewed and communications received.

How do we use your personal information?

5.We need to know some information about you so that we can send you relevant and appropriate careers-related events, opportunities and information. The provision of Careers and Employability support services is in the public interest and it is for these reasons we use your data. We also use special category data (racial or ethnic origin and physical or mental health) to ensure that opportunities can be generated and directed for and towards groups that are currently under-represented in the workplace.

5.1.We use personal data and your education information to analyse and assess how best to improve and tailor our services. For example to see if groups of people with the same characteristics such as age group, location, qualification etc demonstrate a stronger interest in particular opportunities or resources. This is in the public interest, as it helps us to be more efficient in planning and improving our activities and service provision.

Who do we share your information with?

6.When you register as a student, you are automatically enrolled on OpportunityHub as it is one of your entitlements as a student of the Open University. OpportunityHub is a system provided and supported by a third party organisation: CareerHub. It is part of our public task to enable registration for all students and qualifiers up to three years, unless they wish to opt out of this. It is in our legitimate interest to use a third party to provide this service cost effectively.

6.1.We have a contract in place with CareerHub that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it other than in accordance with our specific instructions. I

Do we transfer information outside the EEA?

7.Generally, information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers, or on our cloud based systems which are located within the EEA.

7.1.However, there are times when we do need to store information outside the EEA. If we transfer your information outside of the EEA, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this policy. This would either be imposing contractual obligations on the recipient of your personal information, or ensuring that the recipients are subscribed to ‘international frameworks’ that aim to ensure adequate protection. For example, we would ensure that a US based supplier has signed up to “Privacy Shield”.

How long do we keep your personal information for?

8.We keep your information on OpportunityHub for the duration you are eligible to continue using the service i.e. if you are a student actively studying, or you have achieved a module or qualification in the last three years. Our retention schedule states that after three years students/qualifiers’ details will be removed from OpportunityHub.

Your rights

9.You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information, which apply in certain circumstances. To review these or find out where to direct any queries, please review The Open University’s student privacy policy.