privacy policy

(Last revised on 11 March 2023)

introduction

Welcome to the Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) for individual users of the Voice Digital Platform and those that access our services through third parties (together, “you”).

This Privacy Policy explains how the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, trading as Newcastle University (also referred to as “we”, “our” and “us”) collects, processes and/or uses Personal Data about users of our Voice Digital Platform, emails, mobile application, and associated services (collectively, the “Voice Digital Platform” or the “Platform”).

This Policy describes how we use your Personal Data when you use the Platform. It also describes your choices regarding your personal information.

For the purposes of this Policy, Personal Data shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. Your name, address and contact details are all examples of your Personal Data, if they identify you.

We are required by law to treat certain categories of Personal Data with even more care than usual. These are collectively referred to as Special Category Personal Data (including information relating to your health, sex life and sexual orientation, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs and ethnicity) and different lawful bases apply to them. For some of our processing of your Special Category Personal Data, we rely on your explicit consent.

The term “process” means any activity relating to Personal Data, including, by way of example, collection, storage, use, consultation and transmission.

Newcastle University is the responsible controller for the purposes of this Policy. This means that we make decisions about how and why we process your Personal Data and, because of this, we are responsible for making sure it is used in accordance with data protection laws.

how is your personal information collected?

There are a number of situations that may arise during your use of the Platform where you will be asked to provide us (or where you voluntarily provide us) with Personal Data which we will collect and process in accordance with this Policy.  Examples of these situations include;

  • Creating and verifying a Voice member account (registering as a Voice member)
  • Completing your Voice Profile which may include providing your work and or education history, as well as protected characteristics such as sexual orientation and ethnicity
  • Setting your interests, notification preferences and signing up to our email communications
  • Registering for, or applying to take part in or join, an Opportunity or Group via the Platform
  • Information you share during an Opportunity or within a Group
  • Sending messages through the Platform
  • Posting content to the Platform
  • Contacting us for technical support or customer service

We also create some Personal Data ourselves and obtain some Personal Data from other sources. We obtain it from other people and organisations, including our partners and some public sources, such as publicly available directories and online resources.

how we use information we collect

We collect information about you in order to provide our Platform and services to you. We are required by law to always have a “lawful basis” for processing your Personal Data.

We use the Personal Data we collect for a number of different purposes which we have set out below:

  • Registration” - To register you as a member of Voice
  • Authentication” - To authenticate your account
  • Contract” - To manage our contractual relationship with you
  • Personalisation” - To deliver relevant platform content to you either directly or through a third party partner organisation (Voice Collaborator)
  • Security” - To keep your account and the Platform secure
  • Communication” - To communicate with you or initiate communication with you (for marketing or service-related purposes)
  • [“Aggregation” - To convert your Personal Data into anonymised statistical or aggregated form such as statistical or demographic data and use it to conduct research and analysis, including to produce statistical research and reports]

We may collect Special Categories of Personal Data about you (Special Categories includes 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) this will only be in relation to one or more specified purposes and these data will only be processed for the stated purpose with your explicit consent. We do not collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

In addition to those purposes above, we also process Personal Data (including Special Category Personal Data) for the following purposes (and in each case we seek consent for this processing)

  • Equality, diversity and inclusion” - For the purposes of managing platform activity, ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion, managing member experience and inclusion within Opportunities and activities which may include the Aggregation of your Special Category Personal Data.
  • Participation in Voice activities” - To make suggestions and recommendations to you about opportunities and content that may be of interest to you, including relevant opportunities organised by third parties, and registering you for those opportunities
  • Anonymised aggregation for research & analysis” - To convert your Personal Data (including Special Category Personal Data) into anonymised statistical or aggregated form such as statistical or demographic data and use it to conduct research and analysis, including to produce statistical research and reports]

We rely on a number of different lawful grounds or ‘bases’ in order to process your Personal Data, including that we have your consent to the processing. You provide your consent when [you sign up to use the Platform].

It is important that you are aware that where we have indicated that our processing of your Personal Data is either (i) necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation; or (ii) necessary for us to take steps, at your request, to potentially enter into a contract with you, or to perform it, and you choose not to provide the relevant Personal Data to us, we may not be able to enter into or continue our contract with you or the provision of our services through the Platform.

More details on the purposes for which we process Personal Data on Buyers, Professionals and Website Users, and the lawful bases we rely on, can be found in the table below. When you create and verify a Voice member account (registering as a Voice member), we collect the following types of personal information for the following purposes:

Data Category Voice User Data Types (* = required info) Purpose Lawful basis

Identity / Contact Information

Name * Such as first or last name

  • Registration
  • Contract
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests [in granting you access to your account where you can securely and easily access information relevant to you and in optimising your experience]
  • To enter into or perform a contract with you

Identity / Contact Information

Email Address * Including but not limited to a hashed email address

  • Registration
  • Authentication
  • Security
  • Contract
  • Personalisation
  • Marketing
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in granting you access to your account, keeping you updated with helpful updates, providing relevant services to you and in personalising and optimising your experience]
  • To enter into or perform a contract with you
  • Consent

Contact Information / Location

Post code / Region *

  • Personalisation
  • Marketing
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in optimising your experience]

Identity / Other data

Date of Birth / Computed Age *

  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]
  • To enter into or perform a contract with you

Contact Information / Location

Country *

  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in optimising your experience]

Other data

Preferred / primary language *

  • Contract
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in ensuring our platform functions correctly and to personalize and improve your experience]

Other data

Interests / Notification Settings *

  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests [in keeping you updated with helpful updates and optimising your experience]

Sensitive Information

Ethnicity

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Consent

Identity / Other data

Gender

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in optimising your experience]

Sensitive Information

Sexual Orientation

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Consent

Other data

Employment Status

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]

Other data

Education Level

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]

Financial Information

Household Income Level

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]

Other data

Skills & Experience

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]

Other data

Job Sector Experience

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Our legitimate business interests [in providing relevant services to you and in better understanding your needs and interests]

Health & Fitness / Sensitive Info

Health and medical data, including but not limited to data from the Clinical Health Records API, HealthKit API, Movement Disorder APIs, or health-related human subject research or any other user provided health or medical data

  • Contract
  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Personalisation
  • Identification and Participation
  • Communication
  • Consent

When you register for, or apply to take part in or join, an Opportunity or Group we collect the following types of Personal Data:

Data Category Voice User Data Types (* = required info) Purpose  

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Experience of_________ Sensitive qualitative data

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Photos or Videos: The user's photos or videos

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Audio Data: The user’s voice or sound recordings

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Survey Data: Data submitted as part of a survey

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Insights Diary: Data submitted as part of a survey

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Special Category Personal Data / Other data

Other User Content: Any other user generated content

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Consent
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Other data

Opportunity Management Data: Attendance data / rejections / accepted / applied

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Personal Data / contact information / other data

Customer Support: Data generated by the user during a customer support request

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Other data

Feedback Data Including but not limited to user generated content as messages, ratings, audio

  • Diversity Monitoring
  • Identification and Participation
  • Our legitimate business interests in [keeping the platform up to date and improving its functionality for the benefit of our users ]

Aggregation - We also convert your Personal Data into anonymised statistical or aggregated form such as statistical or demographic data to better protect your privacy, or so that you are not identified or identifiable from it. Anonymised data cannot be linked back to you. We may use it to conduct research and analysis, including to produce statistical research and reports. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature.

Pseudonymisation - We may also pseudonymise your Personal Data to help secure it. We increasingly look to share pseudonymised Personal Data with third parties in the place of Personal Data, to protect you.

information we collect automatically

When you use the Platform, your device is automatically providing information to us so we can respond and customize our response to you. The type of information we collect by automated means generally includes technical information about your device, such as your IP address or other device identifier, the type of device you use, and operating system version. The information we collect also may include usage information and statistics about your interaction with the Platform and other associated applications. That information may include the URLs of our web pages that you visited, URLs or apps of referring and exiting pages, page views, time spent on a page, number of clicks, platform type, location data (if you have enabled access to your location on your device), and other information about how you used the Platform.

automated means of data collection include the following:

Cookies And Tracking Technologies

Technologies such as: cookies, web beacons, locally shared objects (sometimes called “flash cookies”), mobile identifiers, and similar technologies (“Cookies”) are used by Voice.  We use Cookies to remember users’ settings as well as for authentication and analytics. These technologies may be used in analysing trends, administering the Platform, tracking users’ movements around the Platform, and gathering demographic information about our user base as a whole. You can control the use of Cookies at the individual browser level, but if you choose to disable Cookies, it may limit your use of certain features or functions on our website or service.

Log File Information

Log file information is automatically reported by your browser or mobile application each time you access our Platform. For example, when you access the Platform, our servers automatically record certain information that your web browser sends when you visit any website. These server logs include information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, referring/exit pages and URLs, number of clicks, domain names, landing pages, and pages viewed.

Device Information

We collect information about the device you use to access the Platform, including type of device, operating system, settings, and unique device identifiers, and IP address. Whether we collect some or all of this information often depends on what type of device you’re using and its settings. For example, different types of information are available depending on whether you’re using a Mac or a PC, or an iPhone or Android phone. We collect the device type and any other information you choose to provide, such as username, geolocation, or email address. We also use mobile analytics software to allow us to better understand the functionality of our mobile software on your phone. This software records information such as how often you use the application, the events that occur within the application, aggregated usage, performance data, and where the application was downloaded from.

emails

We may also use contact information to send you information about the Platform, including sending you targeted Opportunities based on your interests and notification settings, provided that you have given the relevant consent to be contacted in this way.

Please note:

You can unsubscribe from our emails using the mechanism found at the bottom of a Voice email. Note: unless you choose to delete your account, you cannot unsubscribe from certain communications that are required as part of your use of the Platform (e.g., emails about changes to this Policy, required system generated emails relating to the management of a particular Opportunity you have registered or applied for).

You can use your mobile notifications settings in the app or on your device to control mobile notifications you receive from Voice.

profile, posts, and comments

When you create and verify a Voice member account (registering as a Voice member) on the Platform, you will create a profile that includes certain personal information you provide (a “Profile”). You may provide Voice with certain information for your Profile, such as your work experience, skills and/or photo. Certain additional information we request from you is not required or mandatory to create your Profile; however, providing more detailed profile information to us will help you to get more from our Platform, including providing you with more personalised opportunity and content recommendations, and a greater ability for us to ensure the global Voice membership is diverse and is as representative as possible.

A Public Profile is the profile displayed to other Platform users. It contains some of the information associated with your Profile.

Users can post and comment using their name and public Profile. You acknowledge that Voice cannot guarantee your anonymity since, depending on your specific situation and circumstances and the contents of your posts, someone may be able to identify you or narrow down your identity. You should understand this risk before contributing content to the Platform.

how we share your information

From time to time we may ask third parties to carry out certain business functions for us, such as the administration of our IT support. These third parties will process your Personal Data on our behalf (as our processor). We will disclose your Personal Data to these parties so that they can perform those functions. Before we disclose your Personal Data to other people, we will make sure that they have appropriate security standards in place to make sure your Personal Data is protected and we will enter into a written contract imposing appropriate security standards on them. Examples of these third party service providers include service providers and/or sub-contractors, such as our IT systems software and maintenance, back up, and server hosting providers.

We only disclose your personal information to third parties who will receive it as controllers of your Personal Data in their own right for the purposes set out above, as follows:

voice collaborators

Subject to your prior consent given at the point of registration and agreement to the Voice Member Terms and Conditions, Voice may collaborate with selected partner organisations (“Voice Collaborators”) from anywhere in the world in order to broaden the reach of the Voice Programme and increase the number and breadth of opportunities for Voice members. In such cases, opportunities will appear on the Voice digital platform and may be included in notification messages. We will aim to make it as clear as possible which organisation is responsible for each opportunity and therefore who you would be sharing your Personal Data with to the extent necessary in order to enable Voice Collaborators to contact you about, and manage, the selected opportunity.

In any given country there is a ‘Lead Collaborator’ who will have access to Personal Information of members who have joined that country’s chapter, including: physical location information; demographic information, including gender, date of birth, postal/ZIP codes, etc.; or any personal information that has been anonymised, aggregated, or de-identified.

All Personal Data is protected and secure and is not shared with Collaborators without your express permission, for example, when you apply to take part in an opportunity. All Voice Collaborators have agreed to strict obligations in advance to ensure any Personal Data they do collect is protected and secure at all times in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Further information regarding Voice Collaborators can be found on our About Us pages or by contacting Voice Head Office.

internal third parties

Other entities in the Newcastle University group acting as joint controllers or processors and who are based in the UK.

other

  • When you like, re-share, comment on or otherwise visibly interact with another user’s Content, others will be able to view these “social actions” and associate them with the identifier which is dependent on your Profile settings.
  • We will disclose data if we believe in good faith such disclosure is necessary in order to:
    • comply with relevant laws or to respond to subpoenas or warrants or legal process served on us
    • enforce our Terms of Use and this Policy;
    • prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity;
    • act in a manner we otherwise deem necessary and is permitted by applicable laws to protect and defend the rights or property of us, the users of our services, or third parties; or
    • act as permitted under applicable laws to meet national security and similar requirements.
  • We will otherwise share personal information with your consent.
  • If we transfer, purchase, reorganise, merge or sell any part of our business or the business of a third party, and we disclose or transfer your Personal Data to the prospective seller, buyer or other third party involved in a business transfer, reorganisation or merger arrangement (and their advisors).
  • If we need to disclose your Personal Data in order to comply with a legal obligation, to enforce a contract or to protect the rights, property or safety of our employees, customers or others.

We have set out below a list of the categories of recipients with whom we are likely to share your Personal Data:

  • clients;
  • consultants and professional advisors including legal advisors and accountants;
  • courts, court-appointed persons/entities, receivers and liquidators;
  • business partners and joint ventures;
  • trade associations and professional bodies;
  • insurers; and
  • governmental departments, statutory and regulatory bodies including the Department for Work & Pensions, Information Commissioner’s Office, the police and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

We may also share your Personal Data with third parties, as directed by you.

your privacy rights

Voice operates globally and therefore may be subject to a variety of data privacy laws that confer a range of privacy rights upon our users. We provide many of these privacy rights to our users regardless of their location.

We have set out below the commonly available rights in the UK and EU, these do change over time and may vary where different privacy laws apply.

Your right What does it mean? Limitations and conditions of your right

Right of access

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have access to your Personal Data (this is more commonly known as submitting a “data subject access request”).

If possible, you should specify the type of information you would like to see to ensure that our disclosure is meeting your expectations.

We must be able to verify your identity. Your request may not impact the rights and freedoms of other people, eg privacy and confidentiality rights of other staff, Buyers or Professionals.

Right to data portability

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to receive the Personal Data which you have provided to us and which is processed by us by automated means, in a structured, commonly-used machine readable format.

If you exercise this right, you should specify the type of information you would like to receive (and where we should send it) where possible to ensure that our disclosure is meeting your expectations.

This right only applies if the processing is based on your consent or on our contract with you and when the processing is carried out by automated means. It covers only the Personal Data that has been provided to us by you.

Rights in relation to inaccurate personal or incomplete data

You may challenge the accuracy or completeness of your Personal Data and have it corrected or completed, as applicable. You have a responsibility to help us to keep your personal information accurate and up to date.

We encourage you to notify us of any changes regarding your Personal Data as soon as they occur, including changes to your contact details.

Please always check first whether there are any available self-help tools within your profile on our website to correct the Personal Data we process about you. This right only applies to your own Personal Data. When exercising this right, please be as specific as possible.

Right to object to or restrict our data processing

Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to object to or ask us to restrict the processing of your Personal Data.

This right applies where our processing of your Personal Data is necessary for our legitimate interests. You can also object to our processing of your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes.

Right to erasure

Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have your Personal Data erased (also known as the “right to be forgotten”), e.g. where your Personal Data is no longer needed for the purposes it was collected for, or where the relevant processing is unlawful.

We may not be in a position to erase your Personal Data, if for example, we need it to (i) comply with a legal obligation, or (ii) exercise or defend legal claims.

Right to withdrawal of consent

As stated above, where our processing of your Personal Data is based on your consent you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you withdraw your consent, this will only take effect for future processing.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, you may do so by contacting us at [email protected]. We may require you to verify your identity in order to process your request.

Newcastle University does not process your information for the purpose of making automated decisions about you which have a legal or other significant effect.

Newcastle University does not discriminate against users’ that exercise any of these privacy rights. We respond to all requests we receive from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. We will respond to all requests within a reasonable timeframe. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we reserve the right to keep any information in our archives that we deem necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

choices regarding your personal information

In addition to your rights outlined above, if you are an individual member of the Platform, you can manage your account settings in the “Account Settings” page on the Platform where we may provide you with the opportunity to ‘opt-out’ of having your personal information used for certain purposes, for example marketing purposes.

We will send you notifications and if, and to the extent, you have opted-in to promotional communications, or other messages using the contact information (e.g., your email address, your mobile device identifier) you provided to us when you registered or when you requested information from us. You may opt out of continuing to receive optional messages by following the instructions included in each message. Also, you can control most of the emails you receive from us by editing your email preferences via the settings page available through the unsubscribe mechanism found in our emails. You can control the mobile push notifications within the settings section of the mobile app or via your device’s settings.

We will send you service-related announcements when we believe it is necessary to do so. Generally, you cannot opt out of these announcements, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive these announcements, you have the option to delete your account. In some cases, you can stop or limit the information we collect by automated means. To learn more about how you may be able to stop or limit our receipt of that information please review the section entitled “Cookie Policy”.

how long we keep your personal information

We keep your personal information only so long as we need it to provide the Platform to you and fulfil the purposes described in this Policy. This is also the case for any party that we share your personal information with and which carries out services on our behalf. Retention periods can vary significantly based on the type of information and how it is used. Our retention periods are based on criteria that include legally mandated retention periods, pending or potential litigation, our intellectual property or ownership rights, contract requirements, operational directives or needs, and historical archiving. When we no longer need to use your personal information and there is no need for us to keep it to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements, we’ll either securely remove it from our systems or de-identify it so that we can’t identify you.

security safeguards

We employ physical, electronic, and managerial measures to safeguard the information we collect online in accordance with the applicable data protection laws. However, no company can fully eliminate security risks, so we cannot make guarantees about any part of our services. You are responsible for keeping your username and password secret. Once you have registered with us, we will never ask you for your password. Please create a unique password for your account and do not use it for any other web services or applications. Do not share your password with anyone else.

privacy of minors

To access or use the Platform you must be at least 18 years of age, otherwise you may not use the Platform. If you become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, please contact at [email protected]. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal information without parental consent, we remove such information and terminate the child’s account (except where we are required to retain all or a portion of such information for compliance purposes).

where your personal data is transferred to

When we share Personal Data about you in accordance with this Policy, this may include a transfer of your Personal Data to recipients outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK, including in the United States. We take additional measures when information is transferred from the EEA and the UK, in accordance with our obligations under applicable data protection laws. This includes having standard clauses approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office and/or the European Commission in our contracts with parties that receive information outside the EEA and the UK. We also rely on the Information Commissioner’s Office and European Commission adequacy decisions about certain countries, as applicable, for data transfers to countries outside the EEA and the UK.

updates to our privacy policy

We may revise this Policy from time to time by posting an updated version on the Platform. The revised Policy will be effective immediately for unregistered users and users registering accounts or otherwise acknowledging the Policy on or after the revision date. For other users who registered accounts before the revision date, it will also become effective immediately. However, they can object to the new Policy within thirty (30) days after the revision date. If we make a change that we believe materially reduces your rights or increases your responsibilities, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on our website or in-app prior to the change becoming effective. We may provide notice of changes in other circumstances as well. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. Your continued use of the Platform is subject to the most current effective version of this Policy. If you object to the Policy after it becomes effective for you, you may no longer use the Platform. Prior versions of the Policy can be found here.

contact us

If you would like to discuss this privacy policy, you can contact us at [email protected].

voice member terms and conditions

The terms and conditions which you are requested to confirm agreement to at the time of registering to be a member of the Voice programme. A copy of the ‘Voice Membership Terms and Conditions’ can be accessed here.