Privacy policy

What information is gathered and how do we use it?

When we collect contact information about you, this is on the understanding that we will only hold and process your details for the purposes stated at the time you registered or otherwise provided or changed your information. We will amend your registration if and when you ask us to, including opting you out of particular services where previously you may have opted in.

Our information charter sets out the standards you can expect from us when we handle your personal information. The kind of information we collect from you depends on which part of the site you are visiting. For example:

• Unless you have actively opted in to receive other services, if you are obtaining a publication from us online or by any other means, we will ask you for your name and delivery address as appropriate only*.
• If you are subscribing to a newsletter, you will only* receive the specified edition of the newsletter unless you have actively opted in to receive all later editions of the same newsletter and/or other services (or both).

Unless the type of communication is obvious, for example where we are offering an e-newsletter which, clearly, we'll be circulating by email, we may ask you to specify how we may contact you (email, postal service, phone). So we may ask you for your email address, postal address and/or phone number.

We invite feedback about the Becta site by voluntary completion of feedback forms and by enquiries you can send to the Becta webkeeper. We use any feedback information given voluntarily to develop the site and improve it for users. If using the feedback form, please include your email address if you want a response.

* We may from time to time analyse usage of areas of our websites and take-up of particular newsletters, publications and other services. This will not involve contacting you in any way unless you have opted in to receive such communications. Please note that this statement was added on 18 July 2006 and applies to all registrations with Becta from this date. When we ask you to verify data after this date, you will need to confirm that you have read and agree this privacy statement. If you do not opt-in for any products and services, we won't be able to hold or process your data.

Note: Different privacy rules apply if you send messages to a mailing list or other open communications channel. See Mailing lists and forums below.

Usage tracking and cookies

We track 'user traffic' (in other words, how mahy people use the site and what they do when using the site), but this information is not correlated to data about individual users except where you have registered for a specific purpose.

Our website policy is not to use cookies to track patterns of user traffic - however, there may be some sub-sites connected to our previous sites where cookies do collect such data. We are identifying and eradicating this practice.

Cookies are used to provide certain facilities on the site, such as the automatic delivery of content best suited to the browser; and to break down statistics to analyse the domain name and browser type of visitors to the site. We use this information to ensure that the Becta website and its content meet the needs and interests of the majority of visitors.

Sharing of the information gathered

We promise to keep your details secure and in line with our Data protection policy.

We do not usually share information about individual users with third parties, but where we do share it we aim to make this clear at the point of data collection and wil give you the opportunity to opt out.

Correct/update policy

We promise to offer you the opportunity to correct or change the information collected at the time of registration. We'll say how to do this alongside the registration form.

We do not currently enable users to automatically delete personal information they gave at the time of registration. If you experience problems or have questions, please contact our data controller by emailing dataprotection@becta.org.uk or write to us at the following address:

The Data Controller
Becta
Millburn Hill Road
Science Park
Coventry
CV4 7JJ

Registered contacts

Several areas of the Becta website offer visitors the chance to give personal details - for example to receive a personalised homepage and email alerting service, or be included in directories.

From time to time we also offer optional registration on feedback forms attached to specific areas of the content on our website.

We'll use details provided through these registration forms only for the purposes indicated. Where we would like to use your information for other purposes, such as selectively sending out Becta information, we will state this and invite you to opt-in to the specific purposes, in line with data protection law, electronic marketing regulations and best practice.

Mailing lists and forums

Users of Becta's mailing lists and forums must register separately for these services. The services are free and you will only need to register when posting messages. The mailing lists and forums explain how to subscribe and unsubscribe from them.

If you do not want other subscribers to our mailing lists and forums to have access to your email address, do not subscribe to these services.

Subscribers should only use these services for authorised purposes, and should never pass on the email addresses of other subscribers to unconnected third parties. Any unauthorised use will result your subscription being cancelled and, depending on the extent of your unauthorised action, civil legal action may be started against you.  If you are unsure whether a particular course of action is authorised, you should first contact the Becta webkeeper.

The views and opinions expressed in any email either to a noticeboard or to a subscriber's personal email address are the author's own and may not reflect the views and opinions of Becta. In addition, Becta cannot be held responsible for any acts or omissions of subscribers or for any breaches of data protection legislation by subscribers. Becta reserves the right to remove any material which it considers inappropriate as well as removing access permissions from any subscriber as outlined in the paragraph above.