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Please note that reports will not be monitored during the winter break, from 5pm on 20 December 2024 until 9am on 02 January 2025. Reports will be dealt with when the central University services resume. If you are in immediate danger, have been or are at risk of injury, or have concerns about another person, call 999 (or 112 from a mobile, 101 for non-emergency calls). 

During the Christmas period, College Student Support Offices will be closed. However, if you need to contact your College about a student support matter, you can use the emergency contacts found at this webpage.

In order to provide support for students, staff, visitors to campus, and to process disciplinary cases under the Student Complaint Procedure (Individuals and Behaviour), the Policy and Procedure for Student Complaints of Harassment and Bullying against Staff  and the Staff Concerns Policy, the University processes personal data. Please read the privacy information below – Part 1 comprises Durham University’s Generic Privacy Notice and Part 2 comprises privacy information specific to the processing of the personal data of individuals using Report and Support. 

PART 1 – GENERIC PRIVACY NOTICE

 
Durham University’s responsibilities under data protection legislation include the duty to ensure that we provide individuals with information about how we process personal data. We do this in a number of ways, one of which is the publication of privacy notices. Our privacy notices comprise two parts – a generic part and a part tailored to the specific processing activity being undertaken.
 
Data Controller

The Data Controller is Durham University. If you would like more information about how the University uses your personal data, please see the University’s Information Governance webpages or contact:
 
Data Protection Officer
 
The Data Protection Officer is responsible for advising the University on compliance with Data Protection legislation and monitoring its performance against it. If you have any concerns regarding the way in which the University is processing your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer:
 
University Secretary: Dr Amanda Wilcox
 
Retention
 
The University keeps personal data for as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was originally collected. Most of these time periods are set out in the University Records Retention Schedule.
 
Your rights in relation to your personal data Privacy notices and/or consent

You have the right to be provided with information about how and why we process your personal data. Where you have the choice to determine how your personal data will be used, we will ask you for consent. Where you do not have a choice (for example, where we have a legal obligation to process the personal data), we will provide you with a privacy notice. A privacy notice is a verbal or written statement that explains how we use personal data.
 
Whenever you give your consent for the processing of your personal data, you receive the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Where withdrawal of consent will have an impact on the services we are able to provide, this will be explained to you, so that you can determine whether it is the right decision for you.
 
Accessing your personal data
 
You have the right to be told whether we are processing your personal data and, if so, to be given a copy of it. This is known as the right of subject access. You can find out more about this right on the University’s Subject Access Requests webpage.
 
Right to rectification
 
If you believe that personal data we hold about you is inaccurate, please contact us and we will investigate. You can also request that we complete any incomplete data.
 
 Once we have determined what we are going to do, we will contact you to let you know.
 
Right to erasure
 
You can ask us to erase your personal data in any of the following circumstances: 
  • We no longer need the personal data for the purpose it was originally collected
  • You withdraw your consent and there is no other legal basis for the processing
  • You object to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing
  • The personal data have been unlawfully processed
  • The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation
  • The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services (information society services are online services such as banking or social media sites).
Once we have determined whether we will erase the personal data, we will contact you to let you know.
 
Right to restriction of processing
 
You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in the following circumstances:
  • You believe that the data is inaccurate and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether it is indeed inaccurate
  • The processing is unlawful and you want us to restrict processing rather than erase it
  • We no longer need the data for the purpose we originally collected it but you need it in order to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim and
  • You have objected to the processing and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether our legitimate interests in processing the data override your objection.
Once we have determined how we propose to restrict processing of the data, we will contact you to discuss and, where possible, agree this with you.
 
Making a complaint
 
If you are unsatisfied with the way in which we process your personal data, we ask that you let us know so that we can try and put things right. If we are not able to resolve issues to your satisfaction, you can refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted at:
 
Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House
  
Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
 
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
 

PART 2 – PRIVACY NOTICE FOR REPORTING PARTIES USING REPORT AND SUPPORT

This section of the Privacy Notice provides you with the privacy information that you need to know before you provide personal data to the University for the particular purpose(s) stated below.
 
 
Type(s) of personal data collected and held by the University and method of collection
 
STUDENT DATA
We will collect personal and special category data supplied by you through our online form including name, student ID, telephone number, email address, level of study (UG or PG), sex life, politics, gender, age, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and health.
 
EMPLOYEE AND VISITORS TO CAMPUS DATA
We will collect personal and special category data supplied by you through our online form including name, telephone number, email address, sex life, gender, age, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and health.
 
Lawful Basis
 
By using the online form to request to speak to an advisor or report an incident/behaviour(s) so that the University can take steps to review your report, you have agreed to the use of your personal and sensitive information by the University.
  
STUDENTS
We will process your data under the basis of a contract with you which includes the offer of student support services, in the interests of academic progression and participation in University life and compliance with our  Student Complaint Procedure (Individuals and Behaviour), and the Policy and Procedure for Student Complaints of Harassment and Bullying against Staff. 
 
The University processes data for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the University or of you in the field of social protection law in so far as it is respect of statutory obligations, which is part of its public task.
 
STAFF
We will process your data under the basis of an employment contract with you which includes compliance with our  Student Complaint Procedure (Individuals and Behaviour), the Policy and Procedure for Student Complaints of Harassment and Bullying against Staff  and the Staff Concerns Policy
 
The University processes data to ensure that it is complying with our legal obligations. We may also use your personal information where we need to protect your (or someone else’s) interests or where it is in the public interest. When we process your personal information we will do so provided your fundamental rights do not override those interests.
 
We do not need your consent if we use special categories of your personal information in accordance with our written policy to carry out our legal obligations or exercise specific rights in the field of employment law.
 
We may also use your personal information where we need to protect your (or someone else’s) interests or where it is in the public interest. When we process your personal information we will do so provided your fundamental rights do not override those interests.
 
How personal data is stored
 
Data will be stored in the University reporting system (Report and Support), in a third party secure cloud services platform (Culture Shift and Amazon Web Services), electronically (and sometimes in hard copy) within the Office of Student Conduct and HR, within the University’s document systems and in other IT systems (including the University's email system). Access will be limited to only those who are supporting you or investigating or adjudicating your report.
 
How personal data is processed
  • Providing support services, such as the bullying and harassment support advisors, college support officers and counselling services;
  • Processing student and staff discipline cases including the voice recording of meetings in relation to these where consent is given;
  • Monitoring equal opportunities.
 
Who the University shares personal data with
 
During the course of support, data may be shared with external agencies, for example for medical or counselling support. Individuals will be asked for consent to share any data with an external agency if the purpose is to secure non-urgent but specialist support. If there is an urgent need for specialist medical help, the University will seek consent to share any data, but where consent cannot or will not be given it might act without consent.
 
The University may, in order to protect the vital interests of a student, staff member or another individual, contact third parties, such as medical professionals or next of kin, concerning the health of an individual when it believes it is reasonable and/or in the best interests of the individual to do so. The University will attempt to gain the prior consent from the individual to do so but where consent cannot or will not be given it may act without consent.
 
The University will share your information where legally obliged to, for example with law enforcement agencies, and may not be able to inform you of the sharing, for example where this may compromise any investigation.
 
It may also process an individual’s personal data in the course of disciplinary procedures (this may involve disclosure to third parties e.g. to seek legal advice).
 
How long personal data is held by the University
 
Personal data is kept, deleted or archived in accordance with the University Records Retention Schedule. Individual’s requests to speak with an advisor are destroyed upon the conclusion of the giving advice or support, unless indicated that the matter will proceed to a formal process. Individual’s data relating to conduct and disciplinary proceedings are retained for six years after the last action.
 
Visitors to our websites/webpages
 
When someone visits www.dur.ac.uk we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be transparent about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.
 
Use of cookies
 
A cookie is a simple text file that is stored on your computer or mobile device by a website's server and only that server will be able to retrieve or read the contents of that cookie. Cookies allow websites to remember user preferences, choices and selections, such as what's in your shopping basket. Durham University also make use of the Google Analytics service to understand how you navigate around our site.
 
Durham University do not use cookies to collect personal information about you.
 
Links to other websites
 
This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
 
Changes to this privacy notice
 
We regularly review our privacy information to ensure that it remains accurate and current. We will review and update this privacy information whenever we plan to use personal data for any new purpose. Any changes to this privacy information will be communicated to you.
  
Further information
 
If you have any questions which you feel have not been covered by this Privacy Notice, please email us or write to:
  

 
 

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