Privacy Policy

We, International Ocean Institute Alumni ("us", "we", "our"), promise to respect any personal data belonging to our constituents (“you” and “your”) and to keep it safe. Keeping all individuals connected to us informed about exactly how your data is being used is a key principle of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which as of 25 May, 2018, has replaced the 1998 Data Protection Act. This privacy notice is to inform you why this is important and what your rights are under GDPR. We aim to be clear about our processes when we collect your data and not do anything with your information that you wouldn’t reasonably expect.

If you would like to change your preferences or update the details we hold about you, please contact us at ioi@alumnichannel.net or write to us at:

International Ocean Institute Alumni 
International Ocean Institute Headquarters (IOI HQ) 
University of Malta 
P.O. Box 3 
Tal-Qroqq, Msida, MSD 2080 
MALTA (Europe) 

We are relying on Legitimate Interest to establish our basis for the use of personal data. Our legitimate interests (and these need to be revised and made generic for my 70 organizations) for processing data and sending communications are as follows:

1. For basic administration of a degree granting institution, we maintain University records for alumni and award verification purposes
2. Under our charitable purpose as an education provider, we fundraise to support students and the work of the University
3. With the goal of supporting the university community, we focus on employability of alumni all over the world, we promote the Brunel network, including careers support, networking, mentoring, business support and available facilities AND organise and publicise social and professional networking events for the benefit of the Brunel community AND publicise further study options, including scholarships, open to our alumni AND find volunteers for mentoring, speaking and other opportunities for the benefit of the Brunel community
4. For archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, we comply with mandatory government research and other research for the benefit of Brunel and/or higher education in general
5. Under our duty to provide news about its activities to stakeholders and public engagement mission, we disseminate key news about Brunel to its stakeholders to help meet the requirements of funding bodies, statutory bodies and supporters, as well as to generate further opportunities 

We collect information in the following ways:

1. Information we get from alumni and student records, which may include personal information like your name, course and degree details, date of birth, and your contact details such as postal address, email address, and telephone number. The relationship our former students have with Brunel University London is lifelong and you become a member of our Alumni Community upon graduation or leaving. Our team aims to provide support as well as communicate important information and opportunities on a regular basis in order to keep you informed and engaged with what is happening at Brunel.
2. Information you give us. For example, when you engage with our social media or message boards, make a donation to us, register for an event, or otherwise update or provide us with your details and personal information.
3. Information from third parties. We may also receive information about you from third parties. This can include updates on information such as your name, postal address, email address, and phone number.

1. Data screening and cleansing, to check if we have accurate contact details for you. We continuously review records of website account holders to ensure your data is as accurate as possible. We may consult alternative sources in order undertake these checks, such as: the National Change of Address database (NCOA), reviewing information that you have made publicly available via social media; Newspaper articles, publications and company websites; Other publicly available sources.
2. Share your name, mailing address, phone and email data with class agents who are trusted to communicate and organize events for your class.

We ensure that there are appropriate technical controls in place to protect your personal details. For example, our online forms are always encrypted and our network is protected and routinely monitored. We undertake regular reviews of who has access to information that we hold to ensure that your information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors.

Some of our suppliers may run their operations outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Although they may not be subject to the same data protection laws as companies based in the UK, we will take steps to make sure they provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with GDPR and UK law. By submitting your personal information to us you agree to this transfer, storing, or processing at a location outside the EEA.

We may need to disclose your details if required to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors. We will never sell your data and will only ever share your data in other circumstances if we have your explicit and informed consent.

GDPR and the electronic privacy directives require active consent for marketing purposes that are communicated via email, telephone, or text message. You may alter your preferences or remove yourself from these communications at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in our emails and e-newsletters or by emailing ioi@alumnichannel.net.

Email marketing: If you provide us with your personal or business email address, we may contact you for marketing purposes by email. By subscribing to our emails or opting-in to email communication from us, you grant us the right to use the email for both email marketing purposes and advertisement targeting.

Telephone/text marketing: If you have provided us with your mobile, home or business telephone number we may send you direct mail or telephone you about our initiatives/projects/events unless you have told us that you would prefer not to receive such information.

Postal marketing: We may send you direct mail about our initiaves/projects/events unless you have told us that you would prefer not to receive such information. Where possible, we encourage our contacts to opt-in to electronic communications to reduce the cost and environmental impact of postal mail.  

The Data Controller for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation is Brunel University London. The Brunel Data Protection Officer is Mary Liddell who can be contacted on data-protection@brunel.ac.uk.

If you think your data has been misused or has not been kept secure, you should contact us and we will address your concerns as soon as possible.

We may update the terms of this policy at any time, so please review it from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary contact address you have provided to us or by placing a prominent notice on our website, publications, and e-newsletters.