Following the changes in data protection laws, we wanted to update you on what this means for you and your data when you take part in our education services. All of this is contained in our Privacy Notices and what follows is a simplified version of them.
Bookings
When you make a booking with us, we record:
1. Your contact details so we can confirm and finalise arrangements. This is usually an email address and contact phone number.
2. Information on the education setting of the group you are bringing so that we can tailor our presentations to their educational requirements. This includes class size, year group and subject matter being studied.
3. Information on any additional needs or requirements within your group so that we can make appropriate arrangements internally.
This data is stored in our booking system, accessed by all our Education team and only used for the making of arrangements. We share this information with others at the Parliament (such as our security team or an MSP who is meeting the group) but it is done so in the context of a group booking; information is not associated with an individual. Within 12 months, the booking information is deleted.
Photography
We like to take a photograph of our visits to and from schools. This helps the school publicise its activities as well as encouraging other schools to take up our services. However, we will always respect a school's policy on photography.
In legal terms, we have a ‘legitimate interest’ in promoting public engagement and the impact of this on any individual’s privacy is low so we do not ask for consent. When it comes to putting young people’s photographs on line (via twitter) we prefer to make sure everyone involved knows what is happening and agrees to participate. Therefore, we will:
• Highlight this to you when you make your booking.
• Remind you of this when you meet us and ensure you can discuss any concerns or highlight pupils who should not participate before any photo is taken.
• If we are taking photos involving under 12s, we will make sure no one can be identified. We may take a picture of the backs of the group as they tour, or focus on a few hands around a ballot box.
• Ask the pupils (when over the age of 12) if they are happy to participate before we take the photograph.
Afterwards, we will tweet the image @educationSP and if requested, provide the image by email to the class teacher. It is then for the school to determine who they share the image with. We delete the image from our devices and it is not stored by us after one week of the visit.
You may wish to share this notice with the class and their responsible adults.
Contact Outside of the Booking Service
We have a newsletter that we use to communicate directly with teachers, as oppose to the school’s email address. In this, we promote our resources, special events, consultations and other activities we think teachers will be interested in.
To receive this newsletter, teachers provide an email address via an electronic sign up. This is stored securely and only used for newsletter communications. No data is shared between this database and the bookings system.