Introduction
Quals Direct Ltd is committed to data security and the fair and transparent processing of personal data. This Privacy Policy together with our Terms of Website Use or End User Licence Agreement (if applicable) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that is provided to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
This Privacy Policy governs the domains and sub domains of quals-direct.co.uk and quals.direct (referred to in this Privacy Policy as the “Websites”). Other sites to which the Websites may be linked are not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies.
Who are we?
Quals Direct Ltd (us, our or we), based in Cheshire provide an ePortfolio used by training organisations, colleges and employers to assist in delivering professional courses, qualifications and apprenticeships. All users can access a range of information to assess, quality assure and monitor their Learners’ progress.
What personal data do we collect?
We may collect and process the following personal data provided by you when you contact us via any website form, telephone, email or in writing. The personal data we may collect includes;
- name;
- email address;
- telephone number;
- employer;
- job title.
When you visit our Websites we may automatically collect the following information; IP address, login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform. Further information can be found in our Cookie Policy.
How do we use your personal data collected?
We may use information held about you in the following ways:
- to ensure that content from the Websites is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer or device.
- to allow you to participate in the features of our Websites, when you choose to do so
- to notify you about changes to our service.
- we may also use your personal data collected via our Websites for the purposes of advertising, marketing and public relations, so as to provide you with information about goods and services which may be of interest to you.
How do we process your personal data collected from our Customers?
We may process personal data about you from our Customers when they register to receive products and/or services from us. We may use information held about you in the following ways:
- to ensure that content from the Websites is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer
- to allow you to participate in the features of our Websites, when you choose to do so, and
- to notify you about changes to our service.
- to assist with any technical support issue raised either by yourself or our Customer.
- we will not use your data for the purposes of advertising, marketing and public relations.
Who do we share your personal data with?
We will not share any personal data or information about you to third parties for advertising and marketing purposes.
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that our staff protect your personal data and are aware of their information security obligations. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it.
We will share personal data with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.
We use Hubspot and Xero, third party Saas providers to process personal data/information regarding our customers, prospective customers and to track information about website visitors. This data is stored in the USA under the US Privacy Shield self certification scheme which is an approved scheme under GDPR regulations. More information can be found at www.privacyshield.gov
How long will we keep your personal data?
We will retain your personal data where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so, we will destroy or permanently anonymise your personal data at the point we no longer need to process it for our ongoing legitimate business needs or for any legal reason.
Where you have Quals Direct ePortfolio login credentials;
- Learners’ data will be destroyed inline with the Retention Period defined in the Customer’s Contract Agreement, the Retention Period start from the date the Learner was added to Quals Direct or 6 months after the date they were deleted from the ePortfolio. An email alert will be sent to our Customers main contact 3 months before being destroyed.
- All other users’ data will be destroyed 6 months after their account has been deleted or after 12 months of inactivity on the ePortfolio from the date of their last login. An email alert will be sent to our Customers main contact 3 months before being destroyed.
Where you receive marketing communications from us, you may unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in an email from us.
Where do we store your personal data and how is it protected?
We store all non-Hubspot and non-Xero personal data in secure data centres in the UK. We take reasonable steps to protect your personal data from loss or destruction, unauthorised disclosure or access. We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to the ePortfolio; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
Your rights
Right of access
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that we hold about you by contacting us, please include with your request information that will enable us to verify your identity. We will respond within 30 days of request. Please note that there are exceptions to this right.
Right to rectification
We aim to keep your personal data accurate and complete. We encourage you to contact us using the contact details provided below to let us know if any of your personal data is not accurate or changes, so that we can keep your personal data up-to-date.
Right to erasure
You may request that we erase the personal data we hold about you in the following circumstances:
- It is no longer necessary for us to hold that personal data with respect to the purpose for which it was originally collected;
- Where data has been collected by our Customer you will need to contact them directly, if you don’t know who they are, then we can advise you;
- You wish to withdraw your consent to holding and processing your personal data;
- You object to us holding and processing your personal data and there is no overriding legitimate interest for us to continue to process your personal data;
- Your personal data has been processed unlawfully;
- Your personal data needs to be erased in order for us to comply with a particular legal obligation.
Right to restrict processing
You may request that we cease or restrict processing the personal data we hold about you e.g. where there is no legitimate interest for us to continue processing your personal data.
Data Portability
In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that your personal data is transferred to another data controller. If you would like to request that your personal data is transferred, please contact us. The GDPR has exceptions to these rights, if we are unable to complete the transfer we will explain why.
Right to object
You may have the right to object to us processing your personal data based on legitimate interests and there is no overriding legitimate interest for us to continue. Where you object to us processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes, we shall cease such processing forthwith. If you would like to object to the processing of your personal data, please contact us.
Contact Us
If you have any queries about this Policy, the way in which we processes personal data, or about exercising any of your rights, please send an email to support@quals-direct.co.uk or write to Quals Direct Ltd, Cadman House, Wharf Rd, Sale, Cheshire, M33 2AF.
Complaints
If you believe that your data protection rights may have been breached, and we have been unable to resolve your concern, you may lodge a complaint with the applicable supervisory authority or to seek a remedy through the courts. Please visit https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ for more information on how to report a concern to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
Changes to Privacy Policy
Any changes we may make to our Policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our Policy.
