Alumni Relations Office privacy notice

Information you need to know

The Alumni Relations Office is part of Liverpool John Moores University. See further information on the institution.

Liverpool John Moores University is the Data Controller.

Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at DPO@ljmu.ac.uk

This privacy notice explains how we use your personal information and your rights regarding that information.

For information about how the wider university uses personal data, please see the Privacy notice section of our website.

Information we are collecting

We may collect and hold the following information about you:

• Name and title (including previous names where relevant).
• Date of birth.
• Gender.
• Years of study and degree details (we do not retain academic transcripts – these are held separately by Student Administration).
• University accommodation details, if applicable.
• Contact information such as postal address, telephone number, email address and social media details.
• Professional and business information, including current or previous roles, organisations, professional memberships and qualifications.
• Career highlights, achievements, or awards.
• Interests and memberships that you have chosen to share with us.
• Information published in media articles or publicly available sources relating to you, where relevant to alumni relations.
• Information about family or alumni connections you have told us about (for example, relationships with other alumni).
• Records of alumni events you have been invited to, and your responses or attendance.
• Details of donations or contributions of time, expertise or financial support.
• A record of communications and interactions between you and the university.
• Relevant information drawn from your student record where necessary for alumni relations purposes.
• Any other information you choose to provide to us in connection with alumni activities.

Source of the personal data

Most of the information we hold about you comes directly from you.

In addition to information taken from your student record, the majority of the data listed above is provided by you voluntarily. This may include information you share with us when you engage with alumni activities, such as:

• taking part in interviews, articles or alumni profiles
• responding to communications or surveys
• attending events or maintaining contact with the alumni team
• choosing to link or share information from a social media or professional networking account

Where relevant, we may also use information from publicly available sources, such as media articles, to support alumni relations activities.

Why we are collecting your data and the legal basis for this

We process personal data in accordance with the principles of the GDPR and only where there is a valid lawful basis to do so.

We use your personal data to support and maintain our relationship with you as a member of the LJMU alumni community. This includes using your information to:

• keep you informed about the university and alumni activities
• invite you to events and networking opportunities
• offer opportunities to mentor or support students or other alumni
• provide information about careers, further study, scholarships, bursaries and alumni benefits
• manage alumni engagement, volunteering and mentoring activities
• process donations or other contributions of time, expertise or financial support
• maintain accurate records of our communications and interactions with you

We process your personal data in line with the lawful bases set out in Article 6 of the UK GDPR. In some cases, processing is based on your consent, for example where you have chosen to receive certain communications or to take part in specific alumni activities.

In other cases, we rely on the university’s legitimate interests where processing is necessary to manage alumni relations and engagement in a way you would reasonably expect, and where your rights and interests do not override those interests.

We may process your data to:

• verify your identity and alumni status
• create and manage your account on LJMU Connect
• register you for events or activities you choose to attend
• manage mentoring, volunteering or other alumni opportunities you have agreed to take part in
• process donations
• keep a record of communications between you and the university

In some limited cases, we may contact individuals using professional contact details that are publicly available or that have been shared directly with the university in a professional or alumni context. We only use information that has been made publicly available by you and only where it is relevant to alumni engagement.

You can opt out of receiving communications from the LJMU Alumni Office at any time by contacting alumni@ljmu.ac.uk. Where processing is based on consent, this will not affect processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Communications may be sent by post, telephone or electronic means, depending on the contact details we hold and the preferences you have expressed.

Who has access to this data

Your personal data will only be accessed by relevant LJMU staff where it is necessary for them to carry out their role.

We do not share your personal data with third parties except where this is necessary to deliver alumni services or where there is a legal requirement to do so. This may include sharing data with trusted service providers who act on our behalf, such as organisations that support communications, events or alumni systems.

We may also disclose your information where required by law or to protect or enforce the university’s legal rights.

The LJMU Connect platform is provided by Graduway. Graduway is based in the UK, but some of its service providers may host data on servers located outside the UK or European Economic Area (EEA). Where personal data is transferred internationally, appropriate safeguards are put in place in accordance with UK data protection legislation to ensure your data remains protected. Further information is available in the LJMU Connect privacy notice.

Our alumni records are stored securely within the UK/EEA, including within our alumni database system (Raiser’s Edge).

How the university protects your data

We are committed to keeping your personal data safe in line with data protection legislation and the university’s information security and data protection policies.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not allow third parties to sell or use your data for their own purposes. The information we hold about you is stored securely within password-protected systems and is only accessible to trained university staff where this is necessary to support alumni or stakeholder activities.

When we facilitate communications or activities between alumni, we do so without sharing personal contact details unless you have given permission or chosen to share those details yourself.

How long the university keeps your data

We retain your personal data only for as long as it is necessary to support alumni relations and engagement, and in line with the university’s Records Retention Schedule.

If you remain engaged with the alumni community, we will continue to hold relevant alumni information to support that relationship. Your information will be kept under regular review and updated or removed where it is no longer required.

If you ask us to stop contacting you or opt out of alumni communications, we will remove your personal data from our active alumni systems. We may retain a limited amount of information for a short period afterwards to ensure your request is implemented fully and that you are not contacted again in error.

Where you have made a financial donation, some personal and financial information may need to be retained for longer periods to meet legal and statutory requirements, such as accounting, audit and anti fraud obligations. These records are retained in line with the university’s Records Retention Schedule.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request - this could be in a portable electronic format
• request that the university changes incorrect or incomplete data if you think that it is inaccurate or out of date
• request that the university delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary or legally required for the purposes of processing

If your personal data has been provided by consent, you have a right to withdraw that consent at any time.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Data Protection Officer at DPO@ljmu.ac.uk.

If you do not provide data

You are not required to provide personal data to the university. There is no statutory or contractual requirement for you to share additional personal information with us.

Some basic information is transferred to the Alumni Relations team from your student record when you graduate. If you choose not to provide further information, or do not update the details we hold about you, this may limit our ability to contact you or to offer certain alumni services or opportunities in the future.

Transfers of data outside the UK

We normally keep your personal data within the UK. In some cases, however, we may need to transfer it to another country - for example, to deliver a contract with you or to work with a partner organisation such as a university based overseas.

Whenever this happens, we make sure your information stays protected. This could be through a UK “adequacy regulation” (which confirms that the other country’s data protection laws are up to UK standards) or by putting strong safeguards in place.

These safeguards might include model contractual clauses, formal data sharing or processing agreements, or binding corporate rules. In short, even if your data travels abroad, it will continue to be treated with the same care and respect as it would under UK law.

Automated decision-making

We do not use computers to make decisions about you based solely on your personal data. Any decisions that affect you will always be made by a human, ensuring that you are treated fairly.

How to complain to the university

You have a right to complain to the university if you think it has not properly responded to your request for personal information or feel it has not handled your personal data responsibly.

If you are not satisfied with how your request for information or how your personal data has been handled, you should set out your complaint in writing to:

Maria Burquest
University Secretary and General Counsel
Legal and Governance Services
2nd Floor Exchange Station
Tithebarn Street
Liverpool
L2 2QP

or by email via DPO@ljmu.ac.uk.

How to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office

You have the right to complain to The Information Commissioner if you believe that our processing of your personal data does not meet our data protection obligations. The Information Commissioner can be contacted using the following details:

• By post: Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK95AF
• By phone: 0303 123 1113
• By email: contact can be made by accessing the ICO website