Privacy Information Notice: Commission on the future of employment support

How we protect your data

This Privacy Information Notice tells you more about how your data will be used and stored.

Data protection legislation and personal data

This Privacy Information Notice outlines how your data will be used and stored.

Data protection legislation determines how, when, and why any organisation can process personal data. ‘Personal data’ means any information which can identify someone. ‘Processing’ means any actions performed on personal data, including: collection, storage, alteration or deletion. These laws exist to ensure that your data are managed safely and used responsibly. They also provide you with certain rights in respect of your data and creates a responsibility on IES as data controller to provide you with certain information.

This privacy notice sets out the legal basis for processing data in relation to this project, which is being delivered by the Institute for Employment Studies and has been funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust. This includes who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, your legal rights and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

The legal basis for processing personal data

This project aims to gather evidence on the current employment support system, including what works well, challenges and opportunities. The project aims to have broad societal benefits by developing evidence-led proposals for reforms to the employment support system. Consequently, for this project, the legal basis under which IES and its contractors process personal data and ‘special category data’, such as information about your health and well-being, racial or ethnic origin, is legitimate interest.

The project will involve IES leading:

■    An online Call for Evidence. You will be invited to submit evidence by completing a SNAP survey, completing a Word form and emailing it back or sending documents/comments via email. IES will ask all stakeholders responding to the Call for Evidence to provide their name, organisation, position, email address and to indicate if their response should be treated anonymously, attributed to them or attributed to their organisation. IES will also ask if you are willing to be re-contacted to participate in other evidence-gathering activities for this project.

■    An online stakeholder survey on views and experiences of services and support. IES will not routinely collect any personal data in the survey, asking simply for stakeholder type (e.g. service provider, employer, trade union, local government) but will at the end of the survey offer you the option to provide your name, organisation and  contact details if you are willing to be contacted to provide further inputs to the project.

■    Evidence sessions. These will be virtual sessions. IES will invite people who responded to the Call for Evidence, provided their contact details and gave permission to be contacted. If you agree to attend an evidence session, before the session begins we will seek your permission to attribute your name and organisation to the evidence you provide in reports we produce.

■    Participatory research. IES will conduct in-depth interviews and focus groups with employers and service users identified by IES or partner organisations. Your personal details will not be shared by partner organisations.

■    Town Hall events. IES will work with partners such as charities, local government and/or trade industry bodies. A representative from one of these organisations may invite you to take part in a face-to-face event. No personal data will be shared in advance of the event by the organisation with IES but at the event, we may ask your permission to provide information about your role and demographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic characteristics).

Participation in any of these activities is completely voluntary – just because you are contacted, does not mean that you have to take part. You can decline the invitation without having to give a reason.

Who will have access to my personal data?

Your personal data will be stored on an encrypted server, with access restricted solely to members of IES’ research teams. Even after these contact details have been shared with the research team, you are still free to withdraw from the research and can decline to take part in an interview or event without having to give a reason.

How will my data be treated?

This project will result in two written reports, which will be disseminated widely. Information and data from the activities described above will be used in the reports as follows:

■    If you respond to the Call for Evidence, you can choose how your data is treated. You can choose for your evidence to be reported anonymously, attributed to your organisation or attributed to you.

■    All survey data will be analysed and reported anonymously so no individual or organization can be identified.

■    Information gathered from the evidence sessions will be summarised thematically. We will attribute comments and evidence to individuals, with your permission.

■    If you take part in an interview, your feedback will be summarised alongside feedback from other people. Individuals will not be named in the summary of findings, nor will any information be included that could reveal your identity.

■    Information gathered from Town Hall events will be reported anonymously. We will name the organisation we worked with to organise the event (with permission) but will not name individuals who took part. We will use any data gathered about role and demographic characteristics to understand commonalities and differences in views and experiences. No individuals or organisations will be identifiable in our write up of the event.

All personal data and information will be used for the sole purpose of this project.  

The period for which personal data will be stored

Data protection law requires that personal data are kept for no longer than is necessary. Where applicable, we will anonymise the information you provide as soon as we practically can (i.e. within 2 weeks of the interview/event date).

Your personal information will be securely deleted from the IES systems six months after the project is complete and the final report has been published (the project is currently estimated to end in March 2024). This includes the personal data we may have used to contact you, audio files/recordings of interviews or events, and any transcripts or handwritten notes taken during interviews/events.

Your rights

You have rights under data protection law to make the following requests for the personal data held about you that is being processed for this research, including:

■    To request access to this data

■    To amend any incorrect or inaccurate information

■    To restrict or object to your data being processed

■    To destroy this data

■    To move, copy or transfer your data.

You have the right to withdraw the information you have provided as part of any of the evidence-gathering activities within fourteen (14) days of the activity taking place.

If you wish to discuss these rights, have any concerns, or want to make any requests about your personal data please contact the IES research team: Rakhee Patel (rakhee.patel@employment-studies.co.uk) or Tony Wilson (tony.wilson@employment-studies.co.uk).

Who can I contact with a query about how my data will be used?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact Rakhee Patel (rakhee.patel@employment-studies.co.uk) or Tony Wilson (tony.wilson@employment-studies.co.uk).

Further information on the rights available to you is also available from the Information Commissioner’s Office – the independent body responsible for regulating data protection within the UK. They can also deal with any complaints you may have regarding our use of your data:

■    Tel: 0303 123 1113

■    Email: casework@ico.org.uk

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