Website PRIVACY POLICY
HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when the Wigan & Leigh College collects personal information. It applies to information we collect about:
- visitors to our websites
- complainants and other individuals in relation to a data protection or freedom of information complaint or enquiry
- people who use our services, eg who subscribe to our newsletter or request a publication from us
- people who notify under the Data Protection Act
- job applicants and our current and former employees
VISITORS TO OUR WEBSITES
When someone visits www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk we 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. We collect this information in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting either of our websites (www.wigan-leigh.ac.uk or www.leighcollege.ac.uk ). We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any personally identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front 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 by Wigan & Leigh College
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.
The table below explains the cookies we use and why.
COOKIE | NAME | PURPOSE | MORE INFORMATION |
Google Analytics | _utma | These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited. | |
Concrete5 | CONCRETE5 | This cookie is used to record the users session to allow for personalisation. The cookie is deleted when a user closes their browser |
Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
YouTube cookies
We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode. To find out more please visit YouTube’s embedding videos information page.
Search engine
The search engine on our website is designed to be as powerful and easy to use as the popular search engine Google. The search is made possible by a piece of hardware (a search ‘appliance’) supplied by Google that is plugged into our server and continuously indexes the content on our site. All search requests are handled by the appliance and the information is not passed on to any third party, including Google.
PEOPLE WHO MAKE A COMPLAINT TO US
When we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.
We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We do compile statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone.
We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.
We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for four years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘need to know’ principle.
Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.
COMPLAINTS OR QUERIES
Wigan & Leigh College tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.
Access to personal information
Wigan & Leigh College tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the Data Protection Act 1998.
If we do hold information about you we will:
give you a description of it;
tell you why we are holding it;
tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.
To make a request to Wigan & Leigh College for any personal information we may hold you need to put the request in writing addressing it to our Data Protection Officer or writing to the address provided below.
Steve Scott
Wigan & Leigh College
Parsons Walk Centre
PO BOX 53
WN1 1RS
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting the Data Protection Officer.
You can also get further information on:
- agreements we have with other organisations for sharing information;
- how we collect, use and delete personal data; and
- how we check that the information we hold is accurate and up to date.
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.