Data Protection & Terms and Conditions

Good Thinking, as organisers of the Parallel project, are committed to keeping your information secure and managing it in accordance with our legal responsibilities under privacy and data protection laws where we operate.

This document sets out the Charity’s policy regarding data protection, the collection, storage and use of data, and any other relevant information. It describes the procedures in place to ensure Good Thinking adheres to the General data Protection Regulation. This Privacy Policy also provides information about how we process personal information through Parallel.org.uk.

By visiting our website and creating a user account, you agree to your personal information being used and disclosed in the manner set out in this Policy.

All resources in the Parallel Project are for reasonable use to support teaching and learning within schools/colleges, and individual learners. Parallel resources may not be uploaded to any other website under any circumstances. This includes any site that is only accessible locally such as a school/college virtual learning environment or a school/college intranet.

The personal information we collect

When you use parallel.org.uk, as is the case with most websites, certain limited information (such as your browser type and IP address) will be collected by us automatically.

We will also collect basic contact information about you to set up your account so you can take part in Parallelogram challenges. This will include:

For teachers:

Name
Email address
School name
School contact details

For students:

Name
Email address
Approximate age (in order to assign a Level)
Identifying code to link students to their teachers (optional)

Students who take part in the Parallel Circles webinar series may also be asked to optionally provide:

Optional alternative email address
Parent/guardian email
Month of Birth and Year of Birth (so that we can assign a level accurately)
Gender
Ethnicity
Country
For students who are based in England, Pupil Premium status (as we may have additional free services and support we can offer to Pupil Premium students)
School name
Email address for a school contact (eg teacher)

We will also ask users to register a password so you can gain secure access to your account in the future.

Data protection

Good Thinking is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we will use and store your information in line with this policy and all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016.

All of our users' passwords are hashed, and all user data is encrypted and stored securely on Google Cloud servers. You can find more technical details here: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy.

Any data collected must not be retained for any period or purpose other than that for which its use has been authorised and must be disposed of once that approval is removed or expires.

Our responsibilities

All individuals have the right to access personal information that is held about them. If you wish to make such a request, please contact the Data Protection Officer at contact@parallel.org.uk, who will also act as the contact point for any requests under the Privacy Policy.

How we use personal information

Requests for data are made directly to the individual involved, or to their parent/guardian. Data is confirmed with the individual’s school where appropriate. Some data will be provided by schools who nominate their students for the Maths Masterclass program – but only after the school has gathered the consent of their student. Only data that is relevant and necessary will be collected.

We use the personal information collected from users for:

Enabling users to take part in weekly Parallelogram challenges;
Alerting users to the availability of a new Parallelogram challenge;
Reminding users of Parallelogram challenges to take;
Alerting users to the availability of solutions to the latest Parallelogram challenge;
Enabling users to take part in Parallel Circles webinars;
Alerting users and/or their parents/guardians to the scheduling of Parallel Circles webinars and how to gain access;
Tracking Parallel Circles attendances and engagement in order to award students with points and badges;
Monitoring the diversity of Parallel Circles webinar users, and planning measures to enable wider participation;
Alerting teachers to Parallel features and enrichment offers;
Contacting winners of sporadic competitions.

We do not provide any personal information to any other organisation relating to your account (except where we are required to do so by applicable law).

We will only use your information where we have obtained appropriate permissions from you (e.g. with tick boxes) and will only use the information in accordance with this Policy, or where it is required and authorised by law.

From time to time you may be approached to take part in optional surveys which are aimed at enabling Good Thinking to monitor performance, improve quality and plan future provision.

Keeping information secure

We make every effort to protect your personal information, from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. While we strive to keep the information that you supply secure, please be aware that the internet is not a fully secure medium. We use secure servers for collecting sensitive information.

Personal data collected by the Charity will remain within the Charity and will be processed by appropriate individuals only in accordance with access protocols (i.e. on a ‘need to know’ basis).

In accordance with Data Protection Laws, some of the Charity’s processing activity is carried out on its behalf by third parties, such as IT systems, web developers or cloud storage providers. This is always subject to contractual assurances that personal data will be kept securely and only in accordance with the Charity’s specific directions.

Updating your account and preferences

Please notify us of any changes to your personal information which you have provided to us. You can do this via updating your user preferences through your account page or contacting us using the details below.

Keeping your records

Typically, the legal recommendation for how long to keep ordinary personnel files is up to 7 years following departure from the Charity or its programmes. Good Thinking does not keep paper copies of your data - where your information is no longer required, we will ensure it is digitally disposed of in a secure manner.

Cookies

Our website, like most websites, uses cookies (which includes third party cookies to support analytics functionality).

Cookies are small computer files which are downloaded onto your device and collect information about the way in which you navigate and use our website and the internet. Cookies do not collect information which allows us to identify individual users. The information provided by cookies helps us to provide you with a more personal experience and allows us to make improvements to our services over time. You may delete and block all cookies or decide to just block certain types of Cookie via your browser setting. However, if you choose to block or delete Cookies, this may affect the functionality of the website.

Access rights

You have the right to request copies of your personal information within our custody and control and details of how we use that information. If you think any of the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, you may also request it is corrected. You have a right to have the data we hold on you erased. You also have a right, in certain circumstances, to require us to stop processing your personal information.

In relation to all of these rights, please email or write to us at the address below. Good Thinking will be better able to respond quickly to smaller, targeted requests for information. If the request for information is manifestly excessive or similar to previous requests, the Charity may ask you to reconsider, or require a proportionate fee (only where legislation allows).

In certain circumstances (for example where required or permitted by law) we might not be able to provide you with access to some of your personal information, but where appropriate we will notify you of the reasons for this.

Complaints Process

If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information you may contact us using the details below and we will investigate your complaint.

Updates

We keep this Policy under regular review and place updates on Parallel.org.uk from time to time. Please review this policy periodically for changes.

However, we will always notify you of material changes we make to this Policy and, where required under applicable privacy and data protection legislation, we will appropriately notify or give you the option to consent to changes to the Policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Policy, or would like to exercise your rights with respect to your personal information, please contact us via contact@parallel.org.uk.

Date: November 2022

Downloadable this Data Protection & Terms and Conditions policy