This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for the British Council - Opportunities and insight. It contains information on how the British Council handles and protects the personal information you provide on the Opportunities and insight website.
The information we collect
We know that privacy is very important and we want to make sure you understand why we collect personal information and how we use that information.
The types of personal information we collect include your contact name, contact information, email address, contact address (institution address) and financial information. Financial information is used for billing purposes and for internal financial checks only.
How we use this information
The personal information you provide on this website will be used to administer your account so that you can commission our services and products ie: Access our website and; apply for an Study UK exhibitions; review documents and reports; bespoke services; and utilise our opportunities and partnership invitations etc. We process your personal data in line with the terms & conditions of registration and exhibition & events terms & conditions (Contract).
Who we share this information with
The British Council will not sell or disclose your details to any third parties for commercial purposes without your express permission to do so i.e.: freight (approval is requested within the application of exhibitions).
Trusted third party use within the British Council i.e.: GREAT, IELTS, Study UK.
We shall only pass your personal information on to our trusted third-party service providers for use in connection with administering your account and registering you on events.
We may also use personal information you provide for purposes of carrying out market research and analysis on our products and services. This information is generally used to see what we can improve in the future. To do this we may contact you by email, telephone or written word (at events/exhibitions) so that you can provide feedback on our customer service, your customer journey or our services in general. We do this in our legitimate interest.
We will only market to you if you have consented to receive marketing. We may use your personal information to contact you about British Council products and services as well as educational provider’s products and services that may be of interest to you by email ie: email alerts, newsletters, promotional emails.
Sometimes court orders and legal and regulatory obligations change, which mean we have to use your personal information in different ways to comply with these requirements.
We routinely cleanse accounts for non-activity, and if an account is found to have not been active for a period of 2 years or more, then we will delete the account without informing account holder.
You can stop receiving any marketing from us at any time. If you want to stop, change or unsubscribe the use of your personal information for marketing purposes, you can do this by request or by amending your own profile (see below).
Unsubscribe
You can stop receiving any marketing from us at any time. Using various methods:
- to stop, change or unsubscribe you can amend your personal profile within settings of account; or
- we provide you with the opportunity to discontinue receiving future marketing communications within the outgoing email, therefore, simply follow the unsubscribe process or directions provided within this email; or
- contact our web team.
If any of the mechanisms set forth above are not available or you wish to make a different request, please contact us here.
Market research / surveys / statistical analysis
We may also use personal information you provide for purposes of carrying out market research and analysis on our products and services, for instance our annual networking conference, where your opinion, feedback and/or your personal preference is required. This information is generally used to see what we can improve on in the future.
To do this we may, through our trusted third-party research providers (Survey Monkey, Campaign Monitor, Events Force) contact you by email so that you can provide feedback on our customer service, your customer journey or our services in general.
Based on the information that you have already supplied within your registration, and if your profile meets the required criteria, we may contact you in the future to invite you to participate with a specific research project.
We may also contact you to invite your constructive feedback on new products/services we may be wishing to launch. These products would be due to an improvement to products/services that may require your valuable input.
Accessing your own data
Under the UK Data Protection Act any individuals has the general right to ask for a copy of the personal information held about them. This means that you can ask for the information that we hold about you. This is known as the right of ‘subject access’.
When making a request you will need to give us:
- a request in writing
- proof of your identity (e.g. passport)
- proof of your address (e.g. utility bill)
- any information that we reasonably need to process the request. For example details of our offices or staff that you have had contact with and when.
We will not start looking for your information until we receive all of the above. In order to submit your request, or for help making a request, please contact our Information Governance Advisor (Disclosures) at IGDisclosures@britishcouncil.org
Although you should submit a request in writing, if would like to speak to someone in person, you can contact us by telephone on +44 (0)161 957 7624
International transfers
Our servers are located in the European Economic Area (EEA). Regardless of the country of origin, all data is held on EEA servers with a cloud backup service also in the EEA.
For the purpose of marketing, we use an e-mail software provider, which is based in the United States of America.
All automated emails are sent from an e-mail software provider, also based in the United States of America, who keeps a three day sending log, which does include email addresses.
Use of cookies
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website without storing any personally identifiable information about you. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
You can read our full policy on the use of cookies in English.
Making a complaint
We value your opinion. We hope to make your experience of dealing with the British Council an excellent one and we welcome your comments, suggestions and details of your satisfaction or dissatisfaction regarding the service you have experienced when contacting us or using any of our products or services. We would also like to hear if a particular member of staff has provided you with exceptional service.
You can read our full policy on making a complaint in English.
The British Council complies with data protection law in the UK and laws in other countries that meet internationally accepted standards.
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold on you, and the right to ask us to correct any inaccuracies in that information. If you have concerns about how we have used your personal information, you also have the right to complain to a privacy regulator.
For detailed information, please refer to the privacy section of our website, www.britishcouncil.org/privacy or contact your local British Council office.
General
The policy may be amended from time to time. Any amendments made will be communicated through the British Council - Opportunities and insight website via our pop-up alert system.
Notwithstanding the general terms of this policy, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information may be made outside of the terms herein to the extent provided for in any applicable privacy or other legislation in effect from time to time.
This content was last updated on 14/07/2023