Privacy notice: graduation ceremonies

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information when you attend a graduation ceremony as a graduand or guest. Personal information (or personal data) is any information which relates to and identifies you. Data protection legislation (the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA)) set out how we should handle your personal information.

The University of Central Lancashire Higher Education Corporation is the data controller for the personal information we process, unless otherwise stated. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and our registration number is Z5512420.

There are many ways you can contact us, including by phone, email, social media and post. View our main contact details.

UCLan’s Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer can be contacted on DPFOIA@uclan.ac.uk. Further information and contact details can be found on our Data Protection web page.

If you are eligible to receive an award at one of our graduation ceremonies, the University uses information held in our student records systems, as well as information you provide on your graduation booking form and during any email or telephone exchanges.

If you are attending a ceremony as a guest, we use information about you, such as details about any access requirements you may require, that is provided by our graduands on the graduation booking form or in any other communications.

We also use photographs and video footage of all attendees at our graduation ceremonies, captured by official photographers and UCLan staff.

We use your personal data to organise, manage and administer our graduation ceremonies, and for marketing and publicity purposes. Further information about the main purposes for which we use your personal data is set out below:

Administration purposes

As a graduand, we use your information to communicate with you by email, post and telephone about your eligibility to attend the ceremony; to collect information about you and your guests, including any information you choose to provide about disability and access requirements to enable us to accommodate any special arrangements you have requested; to produce tickets; to manage guest numbers and plan seating, ceremonial and catering arrangements; and to update your contact details in our student and alumni records systems. We will also use your information to produce Graduation Programmes which will include your name, qualification obtained and degree classification. These will be provided to all graduands who attend a ceremony.

Marketing, publicity and live streaming

Professional photographers and videographers will be present at our ceremonies. UCLan staff will also take photographs and videos. We will use photographs and video of graduands and guests at our graduation ceremonies for marketing and publicity purposes, which will include using images and video on our website and social media channels, and in other types of online and hardcopy publications. We will also film the ceremony, which will be streamed live on YouTube. A recording of the ceremony will remain on YouTube to view after the live event.

Individual photographs of graduands will be taken at the ceremony and will be made available to purchase from our official photographer.

Providing an alumni service

When you complete and pass your course, you automatically become a UCLan alumnus and will be provided with information about the University’s Alumni Network and the benefits associated with being a member. We will use information about you to offer you an alumni network, which includes keeping you informed of University news, publications and events, career opportunities, academic and professional development opportunities and much more. Further information is available in the Alumni Privacy Notice. When you complete your graduation booking form, we will use the information on your form to update your contact details in our alumni system. If you opt in to receiving communications from the Alumni Network, your information will be used to send those communications using the channels you have selected. You can opt out of receiving communications from the Alumni Network at any time by contacting the Alumni team.

Security and crime prevention

The University operates a CCTV system for security and crime prevention purposes. This covers University buildings (inside and outside) and public areas across the main campus. Your images are likely to be captured by the CCTV system while you are on, in, or near University premises. CCTV footage will be used to maintain the security of the University community, enhance public safety, prevent and detect crime and apprehend and prosecute offenders. CCTV footage may be used, where there is a lawful basis, in the investigation of complaints and allegations made under the University’s rules, regulations, procedures and codes of practice and may also be disclosed to other organisations such as the police.

Research, reporting and statistics

We will use your information to compile statistics and for research, surveys and market research to help with corporate planning, reporting and University administration, as well as for statutory reporting purposes to external agencies, where required. We will also use your information to ensure and monitor our compliance with legislation including laws relating the equality and health and safety.

The University relies on the following lawful bases from the UK GDPR to process information about you for the purposes set out in this notice:

Article 6(1)(a) and Article 9(2)(a), which allow us to process personal data where you provide your consent. If you provide information to us about any disabilities, medical needs or other health data to request any special arrangements during the ceremony, you are consenting to us using that information to make reasonable adjustments. If you are a graduand you must ensure you have the consent of your guests to provide any similar information relating to them. Once we have taken action to make any reasonable adjustments, we will rely on Article 6(1)(c), Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR and Schedule 1(6) DPA to retain information to demonstrate how we have acted on your request, to comply with equality legislation.

Article 6(1)(c), which allows us to process personal data when it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation. We are legally required to process some information for the purposes of complying with equality and health and safety laws.

Article 6(1)(f), which allows us to process personal data where it is in our, or someone else’s, legitimate interests to do so and it does not unduly prejudice your rights and freedoms. We rely on this condition to, among other things:

• administer the ceremonies. It is in our and our students’ and graduands’ interests to offer and run graduation ceremonies to celebrate our graduates’ successes.
• deliver some services and facilities to you such as the Alumni Network, and ensure the alumni team holds up-to-date contact details for graduates. It is in the interests of you, our graduate, to have access to all the advice, services and networks provided by our Alumni Network to help you plan for your future, and to be provided with other beneficial services as part of your University experience to help you get the most out of your time at UCLan and beyond.
• produce marketing and publicity materials to showcase our fantastic graduates at their graduation ceremonies, and to share images of what it is like to graduate from UCLan. It is also in the interests of UCLan and our graduates, their families and friends to live-stream and record our ceremonies so that those who cannot attend in person can share in the celebrations live or at a later date.
• provide a security service and CCTV monitoring. It is in the interests of the University community and the general public to make UCLan a safe and secure place to live, study and visit.
• produce some internal reports, research and statistics. It is in our legitimate interests to use these to evaluate, plan and assess how the University is operating and make any changes we think are appropriate and will benefit current and future students and graduates.

We share your information with some external organisations, including suppliers who are processing personal data on our behalf to provide services to us. We only share your personal data with another person or organisation where the law allows us to and we consider it to be appropriate under the circumstances. The external parties we may share information with include the following:

• University insurers: information, including accident forms, is shared with our insurers to provide insurance cover and to enable us to make insurance claims.
• Internal and external auditors to provide assurance that the University is following its risk management, governance and internal control processes and to independently inspect our financial statements and records.
• Companies or organisations acting on our behalf: We use data processors who are third parties who provide elements of services for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct. We use third party suppliers to produce and print our graduation programmes; to act as official photographers and videographers; and to live-stream ceremonies.
• Members of the public and other graduates when we use your images or videos for marketing and publicity purposes; to live stream or publish recorded ceremonies; and to provide graduation programmes to all graduands who attend a ceremony.

When we live stream your ceremony or publish a recording of the ceremony, footage of those in attendance who are captured on the video will be available worldwide on the internet, via YouTube. Images and video footage used in marketing and publicity materials will also be available worldwide via the UCLan website and social media channels, and other online publications.

We retain information about your award indefinitely.

We will retain information you provide on your graduation booking form and other administrative information associated with the ceremony for six months after the completion of the ceremony. If you book on one ceremony then defer your place to attend a different, later ceremony, we will retain your information for six months after the ceremony that you attend.

Some of the information we hold will form part of our alumni records. We hold records about our alumni indefinitely. You can see how we process your personal data as one of our alumni in the Alumni, Donors and Supporters privacy notice.

Under data protection law, you have rights we need to make you aware of. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information. Further information about each of these rights can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

Your right of access

You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This right always applies. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process. For further information or to make a request, please see the data protection pages of our website.

Your right to rectification

You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies.

Your right to erasure

You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to restriction of processing

You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.

Your right to object to processing

You have the right to object to any processing we carry out, if we carry it out on the basis that it forms part of our public task or is in our legitimate interests. You also have the right to object to your personal information being used for direct marketing purposes.

Your right to data portability

This only applies to information you have given us. You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us from one organisation to another, or give it to you. The right only applies if we are processing information because we have your consent or because it is necessary for your student contract, and the processing is automated.

We work to high standards when it comes to processing your personal information. If you have queries or concerns, please contact the Graduation Team, or the Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer, and we will respond.

If you remain dissatisfied, you can make a complaint about the way we process your personal information to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK supervisory authority for data protection. Further information can be found on the data protection pages of our website.