FOOTPRINTS – The Digital Resilience and Schools Project

This Privacy Notice explains who we are, the personal data we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what your legal rights are.

Ecorys UK is the organisation responsible for the research study. We are an independent public policy research organisation, headquartered in Birmingham. View our website here.

The purpose of the research is to understand the roles that schools play within children and young people’s digital lives. This will cover:

➢ the issues encountered by teachers and other professionals in their everyday work, and how well equipped they feel to deal with them

➢ the types of policies or other measures that exist at a ‘whole school’ level, to help keep students safe and resilient online; and,

➢ views on any gaps or additional support that might be helpful.

The research is being carried out with schools across England, which have been sampled to provide a good mix by type, geography and catchment.
The aspiration of the study is to gather evidence that would be used to develop a new framework for schools, for which we will seek external funding.

We are carrying out telephone interviews with teachers and schools-based professionals, and online focus groups with young people of secondary school age.
We will hold a certain amount of personal data so that we can contact participants about the research study to arrange for interviews, and to share copies of the draft framework for schools to invite comments and feedback. The personal data we will collect includes names, contact details (including email address, phone number), and other essential information provided by professionals and young people.
We will also gather information relating to professionals’ views and experiences of support provided to young people in relation to their digital lives, and young people’s experiences of interactions with professionals on these topics. This will include things like screen time and social media use, digital skills, peer group networks and relationships, and perceptions of online risks and harms.

Under the UK Data Protection Act 2018, the legal basis for processing data is ‘public task’. Participants can opt to withdraw their consent or amend their data at any time. Refer to the section on ‘Your Rights’ below. For the purposes of data protection legislation, Ecorys is the ‘data controller’ for personal data processed for the project.
Taking part in the study is voluntary. Any information is given with participants’ full and informed consent. Prior written parental consent will be sought from young people who are under 16 years of age at the stage when they join the project.

The personal data you provide will be used for the purpose of making contact to arrange interviews, and any necessary follow-up clarification. It will allow us to link the responses to the schools that are included within the study so that we can analyse the similarities and differences in professionals’ and young people’s views and experiences types of schools (e.g. mainstream, special, and AP).
The research is entirely confidential. Names and contact details will be stored separately from the interview responses and will be replaced with unique identifiers.
We will use the evidence to write a short thematic report, which we intend to publish online. The findings will be made anonymous, and schools and individuals taking part in the research will not be named or made identifiable in any other way.

Ecorys takes our security responsibilities seriously and we will take all of the necessary precautions to ensure that all information is protected from loss, theft or misuse. Security precautions include appropriate controlled and limited access to computer systems, file sharing, and storage.
We will keep all personal data in strict confidence in accordance with this privacy policy and participants will not be identifiable in any published results.
We will only securely share personal data within the Project Team, within the data processing arrangements described above. The Project Team includes the Ecorys team members who are carrying out the research.
We will use personal data and responses solely for research purposes, which will be presented as anonymous research findings and insights in the published reports.

We will only retain personal data in a way that can identify participants for as long as is necessary to support the research project and findings. The project is scheduled to close by the end of March 2021.
We will ask for written permission from participants to re-contact them at a future date for a potential follow-up study. In the event that this permission is not given, we will securely dispose of personal data (email addresses, telephone contact details and names). The anonymised research findings will be securely archived.

You have the right to access your personal data within the period that we hold it.
If you want to contact Ecorys about the data we hold about you, please see our contact details below.
Providing responses to this study is entirely voluntary and is done so with yourconsent. You have the right to withdraw your consent and to object to our processing of your personal data at any time.
You also have the right to rectify any incorrect or out-of-date personal data about you which we may hold.
If you want to exercise your rights, please contact us at the below Ecorys address.
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), if you have concerns on how we have processed your personal data. You can find details about how to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us or by sending an email to: [email protected]

to ask us for access to information about you that we hold
to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
to restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
to object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics
not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you.

All of your personal data used and collected for this study will be stored by the research partners securely and on servers within the United Kingdom.

Contact Ecorys

Lucy Holloway-Bone – Compliance Manager:

Post

Albert House, Quay Place, 92-93 Edward Street, Birmingham

Further information about your data protection rights appears on the Information Commissioner’s website.

You also have the right to raise any concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their website.