Data Privacy Notice for Students
Your Personal Data – what is it?
“Personal Data” means any information that relates to or identifies you as an individual.
How will Tyndale process your Personal Data?
Tyndale Theological Seminary will process your personal information as a result of your being admitted as a student at the Seminary. Tyndale complies with its obligations under the EU Data Protection Law by keeping Personal Data up to date, by storing it securely, by not collecting or keeping excessive amounts of data, by protecting Personal Data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect Personal Data. The Seminary shares your personal information interdepartmentally for different academic, administrative and statistical purposes in accordance with agreed procedures.
What Personal Data will be processed?
Tyndale Theological Seminary will use the information you provide on your application form, together with any supporting admission documents and additional information provided by any references. We will also maintain records about your studies at Tyndale, and about your use of academic and non-academic services and facilities that we offer. This Personal Data will include information such as your name, home address, date of birth, email address, courses studied, financial information, and information about your examinations, assessments and results.
Your Personal Data is created, stored and transmitted securely in a variety of paper and electronic formats, including databases that are shared between Tyndale departments. Access to your Personal Data is limited to the Tyndale staff who have a legitimate interest in it for the purpose of carrying out their duties for you as our student, and our use of your Personal Data will not exceed fulfilling these purposes.
In addition, the Seminary may process limited information about you that the law classifies as “sensitive” or “special category” Personal Data. This includes information concerning your ethnicity, religious beliefs or health/disability that may be used for planning and statistical purposes, or in order to provide care or help in adjusting to seminary life. These items require additional security protocols. The Seminary will seek to provide you with further details about our use of any such data before we obtain it from you.
What is the legal basis and purpose of the processing?
Tyndale Theological Seminary will process your Personal Data referred to above for various purposes, including:
- To deliver and administer your education, record the details of your studies (including any placements with external organizations, e.g. for internships), and determine/confirm your academic achievements
Where relevant (e.g. for MET students with theses), to monitor, evaluate and support your research activity - To administer the financial aspects of your relationship with the Seminary
- To allow you access to facilities (e.g. library, dormitory)
- To enable your participation at events (e.g. student trips, graduation)
- To communicate with you by post, email and phone
- To operate security, governance, disciplinary (including plagiarism and academic misconduct), complaint, audit and quality assurance processes
- To support your medical and safety requirements
- To compile statistics and conduct research for internal and reporting purposes, especially in regard to accreditation requirements
- To fulfill and monitor our responsibilities under immigration and public safety legislation
- To enable us to contact others in the event of an emergency (our assumption will be that you have checked with the individuals before you supply their contact details to us).
We consider the processing of your Personal Data for these purposes to be either necessary for the performance of our contractual obligations to you (e.g. to manage your student experience while studying at Tyndale), necessary for compliance with a legal obligations (e.g. immigration requirements), or necessary for the pursuit of the legitimate interests of the Seminary or an external organization (e.g. Ministry of Education requirements). If we require your consent for any specific use of your Personal Data, we will ask you for it at the appropriate time and you can withdraw this at any time. Tyndale does not use any wholly automated decision-making process, so none of your personal information will be used in that manner.
With whom will your Personal Data be shared?
As described above, your Personal Data is shared with relevant staff at the Seminary on a need to know basis. In addition, it is shared as permitted or required by law, on a confidential basis, with external organizations, including the following:
- Your sponsors (if you have consented to this)
- The providers of any external or collaborative learning and internship possibilities
- External examiners and assessors from accrediting agencies and external individuals involved in relevant Seminary committees or procedures
- Relevant Government Departments (e.g. Department of Education, Department of Health, Immigration)
- Local authorities (e.g. townhall registrations/de-registrations)
- If legally required, the police and other law enforcement agencies
- Where necessary, auditors
- Companies or organizations providing specific services to, or on behalf of, the Seminary (e.g. medical insurance companies).
We will seek to confirm details of your transcripts and degrees awarded to external organizations and will provide references to third parties. Your name and the type of degree awarded will be published in the relevant graduation program. Your name will be posted on class lists outside the appropriate classrooms at the Seminary and on the list of dormitory occupants (if you stay in the dormitory) on the outside of the dormitory. Your picture and relevant details will be publicly displayed on the student map in the Seminary dining hall unless you choose not to complete the form for this action. We will include your basic contact details in the Tyndale Address List that is accessible to staff.
On occasion, the above types of sharing may involve the transfer of your Personal Data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) (e.g. to facilitate your participation in an internship or to report to an overseas supporter). Such transfers are usually necessary in order to meet our contractual obligations with you, and are carried out with the appropriate safeguards in place to ensure confidentiality and security of your Personal Data.
Other than as set out above, we will not publish or disclose any Personal Data about you to other external inquirers or organizations unless you have consented to it, or unless it is in your vital interests to do so (e.g. in an emergency situation).
How is your Personal Data used after you graduate?
After you graduate, your complete student file will be held for seven years. At that point, your student file will be purged with the exception of the following information: your transcript, diploma, diploma supplement and all official Tyndale letterhead communication. This material is retained indefinitely so that the details of your academic achievements can be confirmed and for statistical and historical research. Your contact information and core personal details are passed to the Alumni and Development area upon graduation so that you can be added to the alumni database. A separate privacy notice for alumni lays out how their personal information is used. (See Data Privacy Notice for Alumni)
How can you access your Personal Data?
You have the right to receive details of the Personal Data concerning you which is stored and processed by Tyndale Theological Seminary. Further details are set out in the “Data Subject Access Request Form.”
You also have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate Personal Data we hold about you, to delete Personal Data, or otherwise restrict our processing, to object to processing or to receive an electronic copy of the Personal Data you provided to us. These requests will be processed in consideration of the exceptions provided within the law.
How long do we keep your Personal Data?
We store your Personal Data as part of your student record for the duration of your studies. Information about how long different types of data are retained by Tyndale Theological Seminary is published in the Record Retention Policy.
Who can you contact?
If you have any questions about how your Personal Data is used please consult first our Data Protection Policy. If you need further assistance, please contact the Seminary at info@tyndale-europe.edu.