Privacy policy
Who we are and why we process personal data
We are Teacher Continuing Professional Development (TCPD), within the Department for Education (DfE).
Mentions of "us" and "we" means TCPD and "you" means anyone using this service.
How we look after your personal data
Any information we collect when you use this service will be used and looked after by the DfE.
This means DfE is the data controller.
The Professional development for teachers and leaders service is a new DfE service. We're confident that it has met our security standards, but we'll continue to run security tests as we improve the service.
Why our use of your personal data is lawful
In order for our use of your personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one, or more, conditions in the data protection legislation.
DfE processes your data under the basis of Public Task (Article 6(1)(e) of GDPR). In this case, it is necessary for the department to carry out this work, and to use the information for these purposes, to exercise its functions.
What data we collect
Customer service systems
We use a customer service management system to process some personal data, such as feedback you send us.
Zendesk is currently our preferred customer service management system because it uses various safeguards to look after your data.
We’ll ask if you agree to cookies so that we can get statistics from Google Analytics. If you consent, Google may be able to get your IP address. We use Google Analytics for statistics and will not identify you personally from these.
We also use Google's G Suite to process some personal data. Google processes your data according to our instructions.
Hosting services
We host our services on GOV.UK PaaS, which encrypts your data to prevent it being accessed by unauthorised people.
Why we need your data
We collect your personal data in order to:
- gather feedback to improve this service
- respond to any feedback you send us, if you've asked us to
- send email alerts to users who request them
- monitor use of the site to identify security threats
- monitor the performance of the site to identify inefficiencies and JavaScript errors
We use the information we collect through Google Analytics to see how you use GOV.UK and to see how well the site performs on your device.
We do this to help:
- make sure this service is meeting the needs of its users
- make improvements, for example improving site search
- make performance improvements, for example improving page load time and data usage
We combine Google Analytics information with similar data from other DfE digital services to help understand and improve user journeys.
Our legal basis for processing your data
The legal basis for processing personal data in relation to site security is our legitimate interests, and the legitimate interests of our users, in ensuring the security and integrity of this service.
The legal basis for processing data collected with Google Analytics is your consent.
The legal basis for processing all other personal data is that it's necessary:
- to perform a task in the public interest
- in the exercise of our functions as a government department
What we do with your data
The data we collect may be shared with other government departments, agencies and public bodies. It may also be shared with our technology suppliers, for example our hosting provider.
We will share your data if we are required to do so by law - for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.
The data we collect with Google Analytics cookies is transferred and stored with Google where we analyse it with Google Analytics software (Universal Analytics). We do not allow Google to use or share this data for their own purposes.
We will not:
- sell or rent your data to third parties
- share your data with third parties for marketing purposes
How long we keep your data
We will only retain your personal data for as long as it is needed for the purposes set out in this document or for as long as the law requires us to.
We will:
- keep your feedback data for 2 years
- delete access log data which contain your IP address after 120 days
Where your data is processed and stored
We design, build and run our systems to make sure that your data is as safe as possible at all stages, both while it's processed and when it's stored.
All personal data is stored in the European Economic Area (EEA). Data collected by Google Analytics may be transferred outside the EEA for processing.
How we protect your data and keep it secure
We are committed to doing all that we can to keep your data secure. We have set up systems and processes to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of your data - for example, we protect your data using varying levels of encryption.
We also make sure that any third parties that we deal with keep all personal data they process on our behalf secure.
Your rights
Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to find out what data we have about you. This includes the right to:
- be informed about how your data is being used
- access personal data
- have incorrect data updated
- have data erased
- stop or restrict the processing of your data
- get and reuse your data for different services
- object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances
You can find more information about how we handle personal data in our personal information charter.
Links to other websites
This service contains links to other websites.
This privacy notice only applies to the Professional development for teachers and leaders service, and does not cover other DfE services and transactions that we link to. These services have their own terms and conditions and privacy policies.
Following a link to another website
If you go to another website from this one, read the privacy policy on that website to find out what it does with your information.
Following a link to another website
If you go to another website from this one, read the privacy policy on that website to find out what it does with your information.
Following a link to this service from another website
If you come to this service from another website, we may receive personal information from the other website. You should read the privacy policy of the website you came from to find out more about this.
Contact us or make a complaint
If you want to ask us to remove your data or get access to the data we have about you, you can email us:
continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk
You can also use our contact form to get in touch with our Data Protection Officer.
For further information or to raise a concern, visit the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Changes to this policy
We may change this privacy policy. In that case, the 'last updated' date at the bottom of this page will also change. Any changes to this privacy policy will apply to you and your data immediately.
If these changes affect how your personal data is processed, we will take reasonable steps to let you know.
Last updated 31 May 2022