Privacy & Cookies

OQA is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience.

This Statement of Privacy explains how we use the personal data you provide in compliance with UK data protection law and the General Data Protection Regulation EU 2016/679 (GDPR). For the purposes of the GDPR, OQA is the ‘controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.

Who do we process personal data about?

As a data controller, we process personal data about our customers, potential customers, business contacts, our learners, third party service provider staff, consultants, legal advisors, our staff and other business partner contacts.

Why do we need to process personal data?

We only process personal data where this is necessary

• for the purposes of fulfilling a service you have contracted to receive.
• Establishing or negotiating agreements to provide our services.
• Promoting our own goods and services.
• Managing our accounts and records.
• If required by law, including responding to law enforcement authorities and competent bodies to prevent or detect crime, fraud and money laundering.

Uses of your Personal Information

OQA only uses personal information to:

• Operate, maintain and monitor the OQA website to ensure the quality, security and continual improvement of the service.
• Establish and deliver the products and services you have contracted to receive, including fulfilment of our own record keeping and regulatory reporting obligations
• Complete payment transactions for goods and services you have ordered such as replacement qualification certificates or badges.
• Email you with routine service updates or issues relating to your use of our services
• Respond to your requests to be contacted or answer your queries including if you telephone, email or write to us.
• Resolve any complaints or disputes.
• Send you offers and promotional material relating to our own products and services if you have given us your consent to do so, including updates, awards, events and news which may be of interest to you.

Sharing Personal Information

OQA does not sell, rent or lease its data to any third parties.

OQA may share data with trusted partners including regulatory bodies and when required to do so by law or similar obligation placed upon OQA.

Service providers who to help us deliver our goods and services, perform statistical analysis, manage email or postal mail services, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All service providers are prohibited, under contract from using your personal information for any purpose except to provide these services to OQA and they are required to maintain the confidentiality, security and lawful use of your information.

Special category (sensitive) personal data

OQA may collect and process special category data, only where necessary. The special category data we use is limited to:

Evidence of physical or mental health or condition required to provide confirm eligibility for special learner adjustments. OQA will not process this information for any other purpose. You have a right to withdraw your consent for processing this special category information at any time except where the processing relates to an overriding legal or regulatory obligation placed upon OQA. Withdrawing consent for processing medical data may result in the withdrawal or refusal for learning support arrangements.

OQA may collect and process information such as race, religion and ethnicity where we are legally required to report on statistics relating to equal opportunities, discrimination and diversity.

Marketing

Where you have given your express consent to receive marketing communications, we may use your personal data to send you newsletters, surveys, information about our awards and events, offers, and promotions, related to products and services offered by OQA which may be of interest to you.

Where you have consented to receiving communications from us, you may change your preferences by emailing us should you wish to do so.

How long do we retain your personal data?

We will retain your personal data for the duration of any contract between us, and for a period of seven years following its termination or expiry, to ensure we are able to comply with any contractual, legal, audit and other regulatory requirements.

Security of your Personal Information

OQA secures your personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. We have robust processes in place to deal with any suspected security incidents that include notifying you and any regulatory bodies where we are legally required to do so. Our computer servers and applications operate in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, damage or destruction.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that a website can put on your hard drive in order for it to remember something about you at a later time. The information is in the form of a text file, which will only be understood by the web site that initially set the cookie.

The web site uses cookies for certain applications, for example to remember your name when filling in online forms.

A cookie is also used to anonymously track how visitors interact with the website, including where they came from and what they did. This is then used to ultimately provide a better online experience for all our audiences.

Google Analytics

We use traffic log cookies to gain information about the use that is made of pages on our website. We use the information from cookies to generate reports on the usage of our website which are used for evaluation and analysis. The purpose is to improve our website by tailoring it to the needs of users. No data specific to any identifiable user is retained.

You can stop your browser exchanging cookies with web servers at any time by changing the settings in your web browser. To opt out of this, please visit the following site and it will involve installing a browser add-on http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking advantage of the website. For more information about cookies visit http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Your Rights

Under the GDPR, and UK data protection law, you have specific rights over the processing of your personal data. These include:

• A general right to be informed about the processing of your personal data.
• A general right to have your information processed securely.
• A right to request access (e.g. receive a copy of the personal data OQA holds about you).
• A right to have inaccurate personal data corrected (rectification).
• A right to be informed about how long your personal information will be retained.
• A right to request erasure of your personal data if OQA has no legal, statutory or regulatory reason for processing it.
• A right to restrict the processing of your personal information causing, or likely to result in harm or distress (subject to OQA’s legal obligations for processing).
• A right to have any automated processing explained to you.
• A right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner if you believe your rights have been breached and OQA have been unable to resolve the issue.

Changes to this Statement

OQA will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. OQA encourages you to periodically review this Statement to stay informed of how OQA is protecting your information.

Contact Information

OQA welcomes your comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. To contact us with regards to the statement or any of our services, please visit the website www.oqa-uk.com. Alternatively, call at: +44 (0)208 554 4449 or email at: info@oqa-uk.com