Our data promise

The University through its Alumni operations collects personal data for the general purpose of informing and supporting its alumni community on news, developments and opportunities at the University of South Wales. 

The following personal information may be collected: name, contact details (address, telephone number and email address), education information, employment history, details of relationships with staff and others within the alumni community, information related to graduate’s time at USW, engagement information with the Alumni Team, propensity to volunteer and/or to support the University financially through charitable donations, media articles, donations records, gift aid related information as required by HMRC.

A substantial amount of the information on your alumni record is as you provided for entry to the University as a student. Additional information is required through your interactions with us, either as a result of you updating your record, or by engaging with us in some way e.g. registering for an event or agreeing to share data when you provide an alumni profile. 

The University may periodically use third party services/publicly available data to ensure that data we hold is kept up to date and to ensure that we avoid misdirected communication that could cause personal upset or result in a waste of financial resource.

Personal data is processed in order to help the University maintain an engaged alumni community; information may be used:

• To provide you with services that the University can offer for graduates
• To provide you with benefits that the University can offer such as careers support or post graduate study information
• For administration purposes

These could include: 

• Alumni publications
• Invitations to Alumni events and reunions
• Notification about alumni benefits and services
• Alumni Surveys
• Alumni e-communications
• University news
• Options for further study
• Options related to Careers, Employability and Entrepreneurship
• Information about geographical or special interest groups
• Any information of benefit to you or the University

You may also receive fundraising appeals from us, which could be as a result of both internal and external wealth analysis and research which informs the University’s fundraising strategy and associated communications.

Communications to you may be sent by post, telephone or electronic means depending on the contact details held and the preferences expressed by you.  If you provide us with contact details for a particular method of communication, this will be taken as your consent for us to update your record and communicate with you using this information unless otherwise stated.

Where an individual has indicated that they would like to receive further information from the University in relation to benefits and offers, this information is processed with consent. 

You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the Alumni Team at [email protected]

The University undertakes analysis to monitor and assess the impact of the activity it undertakes. This is necessary for the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest. 

The University may wish to contact you to offer support or guidance or ask for information to help support you as a graduate or the University. This information is processed on the basis that it is in the legitimate interests of the graduate and / or the University.

The Alumni Development Team work closely with USW Careers to provide careers support and promote career graduate opportunities to our alumni. 

The Alumni Development Team works with the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to support the Graduate Outcomes survey of new graduates.  Completion of the survey allows policy makers to understand the higher education sector and the state of the graduate labour market.  As this is a statutory survey, the University is required by law to provide up-to-date contact details for all our graduates so that HESA can send you the survey.  Further information in relation to Graduate Outcomes is available on their webpages.

The University uses third party companies to undertake certain processing activities on its behalf.  Where it does, the University ensures that this is done in compliance with data protection laws and that appropriate contracts and due diligence checks are completed.

The University processes personal data relating to alumni activities within the UK and European Union. 

In the event that future processing activity is transferred outside of the UK and Europe, the University will ensure that any processors provide a similar degree of protection to personal data by ensuring that the following safeguards are in place:

We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to have an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK or where appropriate safeguards are in place (Transfer Risk Assessment and Standard Contractual Clauses or International Data Transfer Agreement where there is a legally binding agreement in place.

We will never transfer your data to any country where there is deemed to be a high risk to your privacy.

The information within your Alumni record is kept indefinitely or until a request for erasure is received.

Keeping Your Information Secure

The University is committed to keeping your personal information secure. This means that confidentiality will be respected, and all appropriate measures will be taken to prevent unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or loss. Only members of staff who have received data protection training and need access to relevant parts or all of an individual’s record will be authorised to do so. Information held in electronic form will be subject to password protection and other technical security restrictions.

Your Rights

Information about the rights afforded to data subjects under the Data Protection legislation can be found here.

Any requests or objections should be made in writing to the University Data Protection Officer:

University Secretary’s Office
University of South Wales
Pontypridd
CF37 1DL

Email: [email protected]

Should you wish to contact anyone regarding your personal data, or if you have any concerns in relation to your personal data, please contact the University Data Protection Officer using the contact details above.

If you remain dissatisfied, then you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

www.ico.org.uk