Student privacy notice

Version 2.3

ICAEW is the controller for the Personal Data collected from students unless this is stated otherwise. ICAEW is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) with registration number (Z5765897). In this privacy notice, references to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ mean ICAEW. You can contact ICAEW in a number of ways as follows:

• Email: dataprotection@icaew.com
• Post: The Data Protection Office, ICAEW, Metropolitan House, 321 Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 2FZ UK
• Telephone: +44 (0)1908 248 250

Personal Data is any information which directly or indirectly identifies an individual, for example, your name, address, membership and/or student number, NI number, qualifications, date of birth, photos, videos or voice recordings.

Special categories of Personal Data are a set of Personal Data that we are required to look after even more carefully. Subject to the relevant data protection law, special categories of Personal Data may include details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data. In limited circumstances, we collect special categories of Personal Data about you through the application process, for example, we may collect details of your health data to ensure that we can make reasonable adjustments for you.

We collect Personal Data about you when you are a student, and we also collect information about your criminal convictions and offences which is another type of Personal Data that we need to look after very carefully.

We collect Personal Data about you when you give us Personal Data in direct interactions with us during your time as an ICAEW student, for example by completing the registration process, attending courses, internships, events and webinars, taking part in exams and other assessments. We also collect Personal Data from other sources as set out below.

Some of the Personal Data we process is mandatory meaning that if you do not provide it to us, we will be unable to provide some or all student services to you. For example, if you don't enter the mandatory Personal Data when registering as a student with us, you will not be able to register as a student with us, sit or pass exams and assessments or gain ICAEW qualifications. We will explain at the point of data collection, which information is mandatory information, and which is optional.

Processing Personal Data from students allows us to administer and manage the process of registering you as a student, provide courses to you and administer exams. In order to comply with Personal Data protection laws, we need a lawful basis to process your Personal Data. Subject to the relevant data protection law, we may use the following lawful bases to obtain and use your Personal Data.

1. Performance of a Contract – We need to process your Personal Data to take steps at your request, prior to entering into a contract with you and for the performance of our contract with you as an ICAEW student.
2. Consent – Some Personal Data is processed because you have given your consent. Consent can be withdrawn at any time by either logging into your online student account via our website and amending your preferences or by contacting us at dataprotection@icaew.com.
3. Legal or Regulatory Obligation – In some cases, we need to process Personal Data to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation which we are subject to.
4. Legitimate Interest – Where processing the Personal Data is in our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) provided that your fundamental rights do not override such interests. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process Personal Data for our legitimate interests.
5. Public Interest – Where processing the personal data is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.

The table below describes the ways in which we use your Personal Data and the legal bases we rely on to do so, subject to the relevant data protection law. Where appropriate we have also set out our legitimate interests in processing your Personal Data.

Where the information we process is special category or sensitive data such as your health data, subject to the relevant data protection law, the additional bases for processing that we rely on may include:

1. Where you have provided ICAEW with your explicit consent to the processing
2. Where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims
3. Where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest,

We keep Personal Data that we obtain about you during your time as an ICAEW student for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed, except as otherwise required or permitted by law. Examination scripts, qualification records and associated process documentation will be kept indefinitely for record and Regulatory evidence, subject to the relevant law.

Some exams may be marked using automated means. The correct answers and pass mark are determined by ICAEW. The examination mark and whether you have passed or failed an exam marked using automatic means will be automatically determined by reference to the number of correct and incorrect exam answers and the applicable pass mark. If you want to request a review of an exam mark which was determined through automated marking, you need to go through our standard review process by contacting us at the below address. The automated marking will be checked and your result will be confirmed again to you: Student Support.

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ICAEW may share your Personal Data with third-party processors who provide services to the organisation, where we have a legal obligation, contract or other legitimate interest to do so, subject to the relevant data protection law. These services include:

1. external assessment, training and examination providers (including test centres) invigilators and providers of online invigilating services.
2. tutors and ICAEW partners in learning;
3. payment providers;
4. business system providers;
5. publishers;
6. companies who run competitions on our behalf;
7. companies who facilitate our communication with you including marketing communications you are registered for and communicating your exam results;
8. website content and hosting providers, including analytics; and
9. if you have special exam requirements such as access arrangements, extra time or other assistance due to illness, disability, religion or other extenuating circumstances, we may share your Personal Data (where necessary, including health data) with third party suppliers engaged by us who need to know such information in order to cater for your special requirements.

We may share your Personal Data with organisations where we have a legal obligation, contract or other legitimate interest to do so, subject to the relevant data protection law, including:

1. Building landlords and facilities management organisations (CCTV and access control systems);
2. Your employer/principal - to meet our contractual obligations. For example, if you have a training agreement with your employer/principal we will share your personal data with your employer/principal to ensure that your training and progress meets the standard required by your employer/principal. Additionally, we may also share exam responses with your employer for investigations in misconduct investigations.
3. Evidence issuing authority: We will share your personal data with the issuing authority of any evidence you provide to ensure authenticity i.e. when you have sent us your educational qualifications and we check them with your educational institution or against UK ENIC managed by Ecctis Ltd.
4. Publishing your exam results: We may share and publish your results and awards that you receive including publishing results online and at prize giving ceremonies. We will only do this where you have provided your consent.
5. District and student societies: We will share your Personal Data with district societies and student societies to allow such societies to communicate with you, if you fall within their remit;
6. International accountancy institutions: If you are on the Pathways route or a similar arrangement, we may share your Personal Data with the home body in your country of residence;
7. Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association (caba) in order for caba to be able to provide services to you;
8. Criminal convictions: If you disclose a criminal conviction, this will be shared with ICAEW's internal professional conduct team and depending on the circumstances may also be shared with third parties such as regulators or other professional bodies;
9. Potential employers through our jobs portal: If you use our jobs portal, we may share your Personal Data with potential employers;
10. Board and Committee Members or Representatives when appropriate and
11. Regulators: When requested to provide such information.
12. We also occasionally work with external organisations to carry out market research about ICAEW or for topics of public interest. We may share your email address with these organisations so that they can contact you directly and carry out this research independently from ICAEW. We only use organisations that adhere to the Market Research Society code of practice.

Your Personal Data may be transferred to other third-party organisations in certain scenarios in accordance with law:

1. If we're discussing selling or transferring part or all of our business. Personal Data may be transferred to prospective purchasers under suitable terms as to confidentiality;
2. If we are reorganised or sold, Personal Data may be transferred to a buyer who can continue to provide services to you;
3. If we are required to by law, or under any regulatory code or practice we follow, or if we are asked by any public or regulatory authority, for example the Police, we may need to share your Personal Data;
4. If we are investigating or defending any legal claims your Personal Data may be transferred as required in connection with defending such investigations and/or claims.

Please be aware that if you are an overseas student, we will be processing data both in the UK and local to you if you are attending a venue. In some cases, we or our suppliers may need to process Personal Data outside your country, the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or United Kingdom (UK). Where this is the case we will only share the minimal amount of Personal Data necessary for the purpose of processing and, where possible, we will share the Personal Data in an anonymised form.

Whenever we transfer your Personal Data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

1. we will only transfer your Personal Data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for Personal Data by the UK;
2. where we use certain processors, we may use specific contracts approved by the UK which give Personal Data the same protection it has within the UK. When we rely on this measure we will ensure that the third-party can comply with the provision of such contracts and we have confirmed that the country to which the Personal Data is transferred has adequate data protection laws in place to protect Personal Data.

Please contact us at dataprotection@icaew.com if you would like further information about the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your Personal Data.

Your Personal Data may be transferred to other third-party organisations in certain scenarios:

1. If we are discussing a merger or acquisition, Personal Data may be transferred to respective third parties under suitable terms as to confidentiality;
2. If we are reorganised or sold, Personal Data may be transferred to a buyer who can continue to provide services to you;
3. If we are required to by law, or under any regulatory code or practice we follow, or if we are asked by any public or regulatory authority, for example the Police, we may need to share your Personal Data; or
4. If we are investigating or defending any legal claims your Personal Data may be transferred as required in connection with defending such investigations and/or claims.

Whenever we transfer your Personal Data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

1. we will only transfer your Personal Data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for Personal Data by the UK;
2. where we use certain processors, we may use specific contracts approved by the UK which give Personal Data the same protection it has within the UK. When we rely on this measure we will ensure that the third-party can comply with the provision of such contracts and we have confirmed that the country to which the Personal Data is transferred has adequate data protection laws in place to protect Personal Data.

Please contact us at dataprotection@icaew.com if you would like further information about the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your Personal Data.

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent Personal Data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your Personal Data to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your Personal Data will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Under the relevant data protection law, you may have rights including:

1. Your right of access – You have the right to request access to, or ask us for copies of, your Personal Data.
2. Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify Personal Data you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete Personal Data you think is incomplete.
3. Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your Personal Data in certain circumstances.
4. Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances.
5. Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances.
6. Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the Personal Data you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
7. Rights related to automated decision making, including profiling – You have the right to ask for explanations on a decision based on automated processing that may significantly affect you, and the right not to be subjected to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) which may significantly affect you. We do not make any employment decisions, solely using automated decision-making technologies. 

In most cases we will deal with your request as soon as possible and at the latest within one calendar month of the request, subject to the relevant data protection law. If we need to extend the time period for responding to your request, we will let you know within the period. We do not charge a fee for any such requests, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact our Data Protection Office via email using dataprotection@icaew.com.

If you have any concerns about the Personal Data we use about you, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues, by contacting them at www.ico.org.uk, or the relevant data protection authority of your country as mentioned in the applicable Appendix. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO or the relevant data protection authority, so please feel free to contact us in the first instance via email using dataprotection@icaew.com.

This Appendix applies to individuals who reside in the People's Republic of China (for the purposes of this privacy notice, excluding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region and Taiwan) (China).

This Appendix supplements the main body of this privacy notice should be read together with the main body. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between this Appendix and the main body of this privacy notice, this Appendix shall prevail.

Legal basis for processing your Personal Data

We process your Personal Data for the purposes mentioned in the main body of this privacy notice with your consent or as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law (e.g. where the processing is necessary for concluding or performing a contract with you, where the processing is necessary to perform legal obligations, etc.).

Processing of your Personal Data upon the expiry of the relevant retention period

We will irreversibly destroy or anonymize your Personal Data upon the expiry of the relevant retention period in a way that prevents that information from being restored or reconstructed.

Sensitive Personal Data

Sensitive Personal Data is Personal Data that, once leaked or illegally used, may easily cause the personal dignity of a natural person to be infringed or his/her personal or property security to be endangered. It includes data related to biometrics, religious belief, specific identity, medical health, financial account and location tracking, the Personal Data of a minor under the age of 14 (Minor Personal Data), as well as government issued ID information. The sensitive Personal Data about you we process may include certain Identity Data (such as information related to identification documents), Financial Data, Criminal Offence Data, Equal Opportunities Data, Health Data, certain Remote Invigilation Data (such as images of your face, recordings of your voice, visible or audible physical health data, racial/ethnic origin/religious beliefs captured in recordings of your examinations), and certain Reference Data (such as details of any conduct grievance or performance issues during your previous academic or employment history). We only process your sensitive Personal Data where such processing is strictly necessary for the relevant purposes identified in the main body of this privacy notice. Our processing of your sensitive Personal Data will adhere to the safeguards mandated by applicable laws and regulations. However, depending on the specific type of sensitive Personal Data involved, such processing may result in various impacts, including potential harm to your reputation, property, or personal safety in the event of a data breach.

We will not knowingly collect or process Minor Personal Data except with consent of the parent or guardian or as otherwise permitted by law. When we collect or process Minor Personal Data, we will process such data in accordance with the safeguards set out in applicable laws and regulations.

If you are a parent or guardian who believes that we collect or process any Minor Personal Data of your child without your consent or would like to erase, correct, or exercise any other right regarding any Minor Personal Data of your child, or have inquiries or complaints about how we process Minor Personal Data, please contact our Data Protection Office, which is in charge of protection of Minor Personal Data, through the means mentioned in the main body of this privacy notice.

Sharing of your Personal Data

With your express consent where required, we may share your Personal Data with third parties as described in the main body of this privacy notice.

Some of the third parties may process your Personal Data for their own purposes as data controllers, in which case their own privacy policies will apply, including as to the purposes and means of processing and categories of Personal Data processed. The following list specifies the identity of the third-party data controllers that we may share your Personal Data with, basic information about their data processing activities and links to their privacy policies (which you may refer to for more details about how they process your Personal Data and their contact information).

Overseas transfer of your Personal Data

As ICAEW operates globally, with your express consent where required, we may transfer your Personal Data outside of China, including to the UK and other jurisdictions where we, our service providers and other relevant third parties conduct business. In particular, your Personal Data may be transferred to our office in the UK for our storage and processing in accordance with this privacy notice.

We may also share your Personal Data with third parties outside of China. The following list specifies the identity of the third parties outside of China that we may share your Personal Data with, basic information about their data processing activities and links to the relevant privacy policies (which you may refer to for more details about how they process your Personal Data, their contact information, and procedures to exercise data subject rights with them).

Your additional rights

Besides the rights listed in the "Your Rights" section in the main body of the privacy notice, you also have the following rights:

1. Your right to deregister your account – You can request to deregister any account you may have with us. However, if you deregister your account, certain services or processes may be disrupted or become unavailable.
2. Your right to withdraw your consent – You can withdraw your consent to our processing of certain Personal Data about you when we rely on your consent for such processing. Please note that your withdrawal may lead to certain consequences (e.g. disruption or unavailability of certain services or processes) if such processing is strictly necessary for a certain purpose and consent is the only legal basis for our processing.

Inquiries or complaints

If you have any requests to exercise rights, inquiries or concerns about the Personal Data we use about you, please contact us at china@icaew.com. You also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC) or its local counterparts.

This Appendix applies to individuals who reside in the Republic of Singapore. It supplements and should be read together with the main section of this privacy notice. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between this Appendix and the main body of this privacy notice, this Appendix shall prevail.

Consent

We will collect, use or disclose your Personal Data for purposes which you have provided your consent which can be express, deemed or by notification, unless exempted, in accordance with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (2012) and its regulations (PDPA). Where we have collected, used or disclosed your personal data based on consent, you may withdraw consent with reasonable notice, and we will inform you of the likely consequences of the withdrawal. 

Purpose limitation & notification

We will only collect, use or disclose Personal Data for the purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate under the given circumstances and for which you have given consent (unless exempted by law). 

Accuracy, access & correction

We will make reasonable effort to ensure that your Personal Data collected is accurate and complete. You have right to access Personal Data which we hold about you, request a copy of that information and details of what we have done with that information (i.e., how long we kept it for and to whom we disclosed it) within a year before your request.

You have a right to request us to correct your Personal Data where it is inaccurate or out of date. We will make the necessary corrections as soon as practicable and send the corrected data to other organisations to which your Personal Data was disclosed pursuant to this privacy notice within a year before the correction was made.

Retention limitation

We will cease retention of your Personal Data or dispose of it in a proper manner if it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and we have no other legal ground for processing the data, or if the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Data was based on consent and the consent has been withdrawn.

Transfer limitation

For international transfers (i.e., a cross-border disclosure) of your Personal Data from Singapore to overseas, we will put in place contractual measures to ensure the overseas recipients process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and have in place technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data with a level of protection comparable to the protection under the PDPA.

Data breach notification

We will notify you of any data breach that is or is likely to be of significant scale, or results in or is likely to result in significant harm to you.

Data portability

Where required by law, at your request, we will transmit your Personal Data that is in our possession or under our control, to another organisation in a commonly used, machine readable format.

Inquiries or complaints

If you have any requests to exercise rights, inquiries or concerns about the Personal Data we use about you, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@icaew.com.  If we are unable to help you, you may contact Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission.