Data Protection

The Data Protection Officer is Jack Collison, Group Head of Corporate Services. He can be contacted at DPO@eastkent.ac.uk or on 01843 605024.

If you’re a data subject and you want to request your personal data, go to the ‘right to access’ tab below.

If you’re an employer or other education provider and you need to request a student reference, download and complete this form.

If you’re requesting personal data about a data subject for the purposes of law enforcement, download and complete this form. 

Please note that East Kent Colleges Group does not need to gain consent from a data subject in order in these circumstances.

If you are a parent, carer or guardian wherever possible, we encourage you to use ProPortal to make any enquiries about your child or young person’s course and progress. If you request further information staff will always check whether they are permitted to share this information and must not share data in circumstances where the safety and welfare of a student may be compromised. Staff will always verify the identity of the requestor before releasing any data.  This will be done by ensuring the contact number or email address of the requestor matches that on the system before responding.  If the caller’s telephone number does not match that on the system, staff will verify identity by asking the caller to verify 3 personal identifiers from the list below:

• Student’s Date of Birth
• Student’s phone number
• Student’s email address
• The course the student is enrolled on
• Student’s first line of address
• Student’s postcode

Callers must answer 3 of the above personal identifier questions correctly for staff to release data to them.

If you have a complaint about how we’ve handled your personal data, you should firstly contact DPO@eastkent.ac.uk. If you’re still not satisfied, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The right to be informed

We have Privacy Notices for each stage of data processing so that you’re clear about how your data is used. Our Privacy Notices tell you:

• What personal data we collect
• How we use it
• The legal basis for collecting and using your data
• Who may have access to your data
• How long we keep your data for
• What your rights are
• Who to contact

If we need to process your data for any purpose not detailed in our Privacy Notice, we will give you further information and obtain your consent where appropriate.

Our main Privacy Notices are as follows:

• Student enrolment
• Staff application
• Student Bursary
• Eshop goods purchase 
• Student Images
• Marketing Privacy Notice
• Student Application Privacy Notice
• DBS confirmation privacy notice

East Kent Colleges Group’s Colleges and business units have Privacy Notices in place for specific services such as the Canterbury Sports Centre, counselling etc.

We also publish a Register of Processing Activities which gives details about the personal data we collect and use in respect of our students and staff.

The right to access (Subject Access Request)

If you wish to request personal data that we hold about you, you can make your request verbally or in writing. To enable us to provide you with the information in a timely manner, we would prefer you to complete this form and submit it to the department that you’re requesting the information from.

If you are not known to us, we will have to validate your identity which can be done by showing us one or more of the following original documents:

• Passport
• Driving licence
• Bank statement
• Utilities bill

We won’t normally charge to provide information but there may be certain circumstances when a charge can be made: for example, where the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a ‘reasonable fee’ for the administrative costs of complying with the request.

We can also charge a reasonable fee if you request further copies of your data when we’ve already responded to your request. In all cases, we will follow guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Officer and will tell you if any charges apply.

The right to rectification

When you ask for your personal data to be amended we will do this within 20 working days of you telling us. You may advise us verbally of any changes to your personal data (address, telephone number, emergency contact details etc) but we would prefer it if you put it in writing to the relevant department.  Please ensure that you tell us when your personal data needs to be amended so that we can maintain accurate records for you.

The right to erasure/deletion

You have the right to ask for your personal data to be deleted if there is no lawful basis for its continued processing. All requests should be made, preferably in writing, to the relevant department. Please note that we do have the right to refuse a request for erasure/deletion if we are obliged to continuing processing your data to meet a lawful basis.  Requests for erasure/deletion will be actioned within 20 working days. We will not process data deletion requests from third party websites due to the security implications involved.  Please contact us directly if you would like your data erased so we can verify your identity before we action the request for you.

Right to restriction

Requests to restrict us from processing your personal data can be made, however there may be reasons why we may not be able to comply, for example if we need to continue processing the data to meet a lawful basis.

Right to objection

You may object to processing under certain circumstances and requests should be made to the relevant department, preferably in writing