The following statements explain our policy regarding the personal information we collect about you when you visit the ACER website (www.acer.ac.uk).
This information is used to improve the content of our website, to customise the content and / or structure of our pages, help us develop new initiatives or to help us predict demand for our services. We never sell, rent or share any of the information we collect by this method (except anonymous aggregate information) with any third party.
Information we may collect as you browse our web site:
We monitor and record, extensively, connections to and from our servers. We do this for security, statistical, and performance-measurement purposes, and in order to detect and prevent abuse. The monitoring data we collect includes browser type, domain names, traffic volumes, temporal data, IP information, and data posted from web-forms on our site.
Sometimes we may use cookies to customise web page content based on your browser type, IP address or other anonymous information.
About Cookies
Cookies are text files that identify your computer to our server. Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, just the computer used. Many web sites do this whenever a user visits their site in order to monitor visitor traffic.
Cookies themselves only record those areas of the site that have been visited by the computer in question, and for how long. Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these, of course, means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided to that user.
Use of optional information
On certain web pages, you may be asked to provide your name, e-mail address or other personal information (for example, when requesting further information). We will not use this information for any other purpose; it is never sold, rented or shared with any third party. We may however use any demographic information you provide for internal market research purposes only.
If you contact us by e-mail to request information, report a problem or provide feedback on our services we will only use the information you provide (including your e-mail address) to respond to your message. We do not share this information in any way.
Data Protection:
The Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all organisations that hold personal data on individuals including data which is held electronically or paper based filing systems.
ACER adheres to these policies and when users of our website send us personal information, such as their email address, the data the College receives and holds will be:
• Fairly and lawfully processed – anybody providing personal data should not be misled as to the purpose to which the data is put.
• Processed for limited purposes – the data should be obtained only for the specified purpose and we should state why the data is being processed.
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive – this relates to the purposes for which it is intended to be used. We should not be collecting additional information.
• Accurate – data that is stored must be accurate and up to date.
• Data must be processed in accordance with an individual's rights. The website user has a right to see any data the College has kept on them. They are also able to enforce the correction of any inaccuracies, including the erasure of data.
• Secure – website users are entitled to believe that their personal data will be held securely so that only those who are supposed to have access, obtain access.
Providing information
The information you provide may be passed on to funding bodies / Government departments such as the Learning and Skills Council ( LSC) and the Eurpoean Social Fund (ESF). The LSC is responsible for funding, planning and encouraging education and training for young people and adults in England and is registered under the Data Protection Act of 1998. The information you provide may be shared with other organisations for the purposes of administration, careers and other guidance and statistical / research purposes. Other organisations with which we may share information include the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Connexions, Higher Education Statistics Agency, Higher Education Funding Council for England, educational institutions and organisations performing research and statistical work on behalf of the LSC or ESF or thier partners. The LSC is also a co-financing organisation and uses European Social Funds from the European Union to directly or indirectly part-finance learning activities, helping develop employment by promoting employability, business spirit and equal opportunities, and investing in human resources.
At no time will your personal information be passed to organisations for marketing or sales purposes of third party companies. From time to time, students are approached to take part in surveys by mail and phone which are aimed at enabling the College, the LSC and its partners to monitor performance, improve quality and plan future provision.
Future developments
Should there be an unanticipated need to change the way in which data collected on this website is used, we will post the policy changes on this page. Where your implicit or explicit consent is required for the data we collect, we will always advise you of the purposes for which the data will be used at the point of collection. Should these purposes change, you will be advised and we will only use data collected from the time of the policy change onwards for these new purposes.
Security
We have appropriate security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of information we have collected from you.
Access to information
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information Peterborough Regional College holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. (There may be a small charge for information requests). Upon such a request we will provide you with access to all the information we maintain about you subject to the conditions of the Data Protection Act 1998. Please request this service by writing to us at the address below.
Users agree:
not to use the website in such a way that disrupts the use of it by other users; not to transmit materials through the website which are false, defamatory or unlawful or which infringe the rights of any person anywhere in the world (this may not be relevant); not to reverse engineer, decompile, copy or adapt any software forming part of this website or attempt to transmit via the website any information containing a virus or other harmful component and; not to change, interfere or misuse data contained on this website and entered by or relating to any third party user of this website.
Feedback
If you feel this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us at info@acer.ac.uk or write to Data Protection Officer, Association of Colleges in the Eastern Region, Suite 1 Lancaster House, Meadow Lane, St. Ives, Cambs PE27 4LG.
