Privacy Notice
We means the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), run by Department for Education (DfE) and STEM Learning.
Website means the Teach Computing website: teachcomputing.org.
You and Your is the user connecting to the website using a web browser.
Your IP Address is a numerical identifier assigned by the computer network to allow the website to communicate with your computer.
Cookie is a small piece of information sent by the website, stored by your web browser, and returned by your web browser to the website whenever your use our website.
The Teach Computing website, part of the NCCE, is a Government run programme to support computer science teachers and students in England. It is delivered by STEM Learning on behalf of the Department of Education
The overall aim of the NCCE, is to raise the quality of Computing related teaching. This is achieved by providing quality CPD, support, Teacher certification, enrichment and industry outreach programmes to teachers in England. NCCE also engage at school level, promoting planning, consultancy and collaboration (school engagement).
We take the care of your personal data seriously. This privacy notice is here to explain how the personal data you supply to us is collected and used in accordance with data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
We ensure that we use your information in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information. In this document we will explain:
- Who we are
- What information we collect about you
- Why we collect that information
- How we collect and store that information
- What we use your information for
- On what legal basis we use your information
- Who we share your information with
- How long we keep your information for
- Your rights
- Information about cookies
- About changes to our privacy policy
- How to contact us about your data
1. Who we are
The NCCE is a programme funded by the Department for Education. The Department for Education is the data controller for all information collected as part of this programme of work. STEM Learning has been contracted by the Department for Education to deliver this programme as the data processor.
2. What information we collect about you
We aim to collect only the information that we think is required for the purpose for which we collect it, and to process this information in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Notice.
We collect and process personal data about you when you interact with Isaac and our other products, or participate in any of our programmes. The personal data we process includes:
- Personal information required to create an account, i.e., name; email address and/or phone number. This might also include your work address, job title and areas of interest
- teacher/pupil unique identifiers – optional
- dietary and accessibility requirements (when attending an event in person)
- your image and audio data will be processed during participation in online courses
- payment and invoicing details, including information required to support application
- technical information as described below
When you visit our website, we may collect technical information relating to your use of our website, including your browser type or the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the internet. For more on this, see section 10, “Information about cookies”.
As the information we collect about you will be stored on our IT infrastructures, it may also be shared with our data processors who provide email, relationship management, anonymous analytics and storage services.
Student dataWhere students engage with the NCCE, we may need to collect their data. We only collect the data we need to provide the activity (for example student events and surveys). You can find out more about how we will use your data here.
3. When we collect that information
We collect your information when you:
- sign up to participate in any of our programmes
- sign up to view or download our resources
- register for activities, events or services
- visit our website
- participate in surveys or research
- sign up to receive our marketing emails
- have made a request for information from us
- are providing a service to us
4. How we collect and store that information
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate, and up to date, and that it is kept only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used. You should be aware that the use of the internet is not entirely secure, and although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information that is transferred from you or to you via the internet. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features such as encryption to try to prevent unauthorised access.
5. What we use your information for
We use the information we have collected:
- To deliver activities, information, events or services connected with NCCE
- Administer any user accounts you have with us
- Send you information about our services and other related activities which may be of interest to you via marketing emails you subscribe to.
- Where we have asked for your consent, we may use your image or quotes in our marketing materials. Please note that where information has been used in printed material, it will not be possible for this to be withdrawn.
- To carry out surveys/research, for example to measure our impact, and to evaluate/report on outcomes.
- Where you have agreed, we may provide your information to our trusted partners for research purposes.
- Ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you.
- Where you are providing a service to us, we will use your information for administrative, reporting and management purposes.
- Process a request that you have made for information from us.
- Safeguarding purposes - keeping young people and vulnerable adults safe.
6. On what legal basis we use your information
We have a lawful basis for collecting your data as set out in section 6, “On what legal basis we use your information”, and for using the data for the purposes described in section 5, “What we use your information for”.
We use several legal bases when processing your personal data. These are:
Consent: We may ask for your consent to process and share your personal information. For example, you can use a sharing code you receive from a coach (e.g. teacher) to grant the coach access to your personal information. You may withdraw your consent for us to process or share your personal data in this manner at any time. This can be done through the website interface.
Public interest: As a Public Authority as defined in the Freedom of Information Act. As such, we may receive requests which require us to process your personal data in fulfilment of our duties as either a government department (DfE). For example, a member of the public may ask us to calculate the total number of active users on the website in any given year.
7. Who we share your information with
We never sell your information to any third party.
We do use third parties to process your personal data on our behalf. These third-party processors are listed below. We do change these processors from time to time and will do what we can to update this table regularly.
| Third party processor | For what purpose |
|---|---|
| STEM Learning Limited | Business processing, marketing and reporting |
| Computing Hubs, CS Champions, Subject Matter Experts | Business processing, local marketing and reporting |
| Email system – Adestra | To send marketing emails to users who have signed up to this service |
| Digital badges - Credly | To issue digital badges as part of our certificate programmes |
| Research organisations | We will provide relevant information to our funders and research partners for research purposes, including those suppliers contracted by the Department for Education to evaluate the National Centre for Computing and associated programmes |
| CPD/training venues and deliverers | If you are booking a CPD activity we will share only the information necessary to complete your CPD activity |
| CPD sponsor | If it is clear on the CPD activity that there is a professional development sponsor then the professional development sponsor may hold and process your information, and you may be contacted by them regarding their relevant products and services |
| Assessors | When completing certification your information will be passed to external assessors for processing |
| Service providers | Suppliers and consultants we use to help us to deliver our services to you, for example: IT service providers, marketing support providers |
We may share your information with other relevant organisations if you are asked and you agree that your information can be shared in that way.
As the information we collect about you will be stored on our IT infrastructure, it may also be shared with the data processors who provide us with email, relationship management, anonymous analytics, document management, and storage services.
As part of the services offered to you through the National Centre for Computing Education, the information you provide may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. When transferring your information outside of the EU in this way, we take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.
8. How long we keep your information for
The Department for Education will keep your personal data for the purposes of evaluation of the Isaac Computer Science programme until 31/08/2027, which is two years after the end of the current programme.
We keep your information for no longer than is necessary for our purposes, or for any period required by law, for example for compliance with HMRC requirements, if this is longer. What is necessary will depend on the reason for which the information was collected. We are developing a data retention schedule and will share this in due course.
Your account: we will delete your STEM and NCCE Teach Computing account if you have not signed in to either website during a 2 year period. Any personal information we hold about you will be removed at this stage. We will email you to notify you before this happens and give you the opportunity to keep your account. .
Activity data: we will retain any activity information we hold - such as course bookings, STEM Ambassador activities and impact data, for up to 8 years after the end of the activity. If we have deleted your account due to inactivity, then this data will be held anonymously.
Regulatory lifetime data: for regulatory data, normally related to finance or HR, we will retain data in compliance with other legislation or regulatory requirements.
If you have any questions about how long we keep your information, contact us at [email protected]
9. Your rights
Right of access — you have a right to ask us to confirm whether we are processing information about you, and to request access to this information.
Right to rectification — it is your responsibility to see that the information held on the website is up to date. We may also update some information if we identify it is out of date, for example a school closes and reopens with a different name. You may ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate, and you may also ask us to remove information which is inaccurate or incomplete. If you inform us that your personal data is inaccurate, we will inform relevant third parties with whom we have shared your data so that they may update their own records.
In order to ensure we do not hold any out of date information for individuals we regularly remove registered users for whom we do not have a valid email address; this includes those accounts to which the email address has been reported as undeliverable.
Right of portability — you have a right to obtain your personal data from us and reuse it for your own purposes.
Right to be forgotten — You have a right to seek the erasure of your data, for example where it is no longer necessary for us to continue holding or processing your personal data. This right is not absolute, as we may need to continue processing this information to comply with a legal obligation.
Right to restriction — you have a right to ask us to restrict our processing of your information if:
- You contest its accuracy and we need to verify whether it is accurate.
- You ask us to restrict use of it instead of deleting it.
- We no longer need the information for the purpose of processing, but you need it to establish or defend legal claims.
- You have objected to processing of your information being necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests. The restriction would apply while we carry out a balancing act between your rights and our legitimate interests. If you exercise your right to restrict processing, we would still need to process your information for the purpose of exercising or defending legal claims, for the purpose of protecting the rights of another person, or for public interest reasons.
You can always unsubscribe from any marketing emails. There is a link at the bottom of each email. If you have any problems unsubscribing please email [email protected].
Accessing your personal information — you can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’. If we do hold information about you we will:
- give you a description of it
- tell you why we are holding it
- tell you who it could be disclosed to
- let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form
To make a request for any personal information we may hold or exercise any of your rights, you need to put the request in writing addressing it to:
The Data Protection Officer, STEM Learning, University of York, York, YO10 5DD or emailing [email protected].
We may ask for your help in locating specific information and confirming your identity. We will act in accordance with your instructions as soon as reasonably possible, and there will be no charge.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
Alternatively, you can make a subject access request in writing or through the DfE contact form.
To make your request in writing, post your request to:
Data Protection OfficerDepartment for Education (B2.28)7 & 8 Wellington PlaceWellington StreetLeedsLS1 4AW
Our use of your data processed in the UK is regulated by the Information Commissioner. You have a right to report any of your concerns about our use of your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
10. Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. In this policy the term “cookie” describes a range of technologies, including cookies, web beacons and pixel tags.
There are two main types of cookies that are used on the website:
| Session cookies | These are set at the start of your visit to the website and only exist for the time you remain on the website. They are removed when you close your browser. |
|---|---|
| Persistent cookies | These remain on your until they expire or are deleted. Many have automation deletion dates so your device isn’t overloaded with cookies. |
The website uses both types of cookies to simplify the user journey and enhance the user’s experience of the website.
Cookies can also be classed as 1st or 3rd party cookies:
| 1st Party cookies | These cookies are set and owned by the website. |
|---|---|
| 3rd Party cookies | These cookies are set and owned by a party other than that of the website. These are usually a partner who is providing services to us as the website owner. |
Use of cookies by this website
A number of the cookies that we use on the website are essential for parts of the site to operate and some have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from the site, but parts of the site will not work.
There are a number of different types of cookies which have different purposes:
- Necessary – enable you to use our site and services
- Functional – remember choices you make to improve site experience
- Performance/analytics – anonymised and aggregated information collection about how visitors use our site and services
- Targeting and advertising – collect information about browsing habits to deliver ads relevant to you and your interests. Usually placed by ad network with our permission
The following cookies are used by the website:
Necessary and Functional Cookies
These are necessary and/or functional types of cookies. Disabling these would affect the functionality and may restrict access to certain parts of the website.
| Cookie | Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Rails Session ID | _teach_computing_session | Used by the website to identify a user that is logged in |
| PHP Session ID | SSESS PHPSESSID |
Used by the website to identify a user that is logged in |
| Ratings | ratings | Used by the website to identify a user rating on a course |
| SimpleSAML | SimpleSAMLAuthToken SimpleSAMLSessionID |
Used as part of the website authentication process that enables users to remain logged in and allows the website to track unique login sessions. |
| Drupal core | has_js | Used by the website to see if the user’s browser has javascript enabled or not |
| Drupal core | Drupal.tableDrag.showWeight | Used by the website to remember if you would like to show weights column in tables with drag/drop functionality to sort it. |
| Drupal Module: module_filter |
DrupalModuleFilter | Added by the website to remember preferences about last access to the admin/module page. |
| Drupal Module: eu_cookie_compliance |
cookie-agreed_[date] | This is used to remember that you have accepted the cookie warning so you don’t have to accept it every time you visit the site |
| Drupal Module: stem_comm_resource |
community_resources_by_user- dashboard_resources-sort_by |
This cookie is used to store your sorting preferences for the "My Resources" list of the dashboard. |
| Drupal Module: stem_comm_resource |
community_resources_by_user- panel_pane_2-sort_by |
This cookie is used to store your sorting preferences for the "My Collections" list of the dashboard. |
| Drupal Module: stem_og_invite_register |
Drupal_visitor_stem_og_register_validated | Used to remember if an invite to groups has been validated or not. |
| Drupal Module: stem_user |
stem_user_privacy_policy_banner_link | Used to remember if the Privacy Policy banner has been shown to the user or not. |
| Drupal Module: stem_course_ab |
stem_course_ab stem_course_ab_nid |
Used to redirect a user to the correct course during A/B testing. |
| Custom Javascript | isSideMenuOpenCookie | Used to remember if the sidebar is open or closed when on the STEM Ambassador area of the website. |
| Wistia | __distillery wistia-http2-push-disabled |
Used by our video system to recall a playback position and resume from that point if interrupted. |
Performance Cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use the website, for example which pages visitors go to most often. All information collected by these cookies collect is aggregated and anonymous.
| Cookie | Name | Purpose | Privacy Policy | Opt Out | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google analytics | _ga, _gat, _gid, _gcl_au, _ga_GRKX55937M, _rollupGA, _rollupGA_gid | These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use the website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited. Read Google's overview of privacy and safeguarding data | Read Google's overview of privacy and safeguarding data | Privacy Policy | Opt out |
| Google Analytics - Doubleclick | IDE DSID |
This cookie is used to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor’s device and behaviour. It tracks visitors across devices and marketing channels. | Privacy Policy | Opt out | |
| Google Maps - Iframe // Recaptcha |
1P_JAR APISID HSID NID OGPC SAPISID SID SIDCC SSID |
These cookies are added by Google Services which we use on the website to identify user/session and track it. | Privacy Policy | How to opt out | |
| MessageFocus conversion tracking (Adestra) | adestra_ctrk | This cookie is used to track the website activity of a visitor who has clicked through to the website from an email. | Privacy Policy | Opt out |
How do I change my cookie settings?
Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
When someone visits our website we use Google Analytics to collect standard internet log information, details of visitor behaviour patterns and search terms being used on the site. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout..
Targeting and Advertising Cookies
These cookies are used to serve advertisements that are more relevant to you and your interests. You can manage the use of internet-based advertising cookies and disable the sharing of information about your online activities across websites and interactive properties.
| Cookie name | Purpose | Privacy Policy | Opt out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Advertising cookie | Privacy Policy | Opt out |
| These cookies are used by Twitter in order to integrate functionality into our website. The cookies are used for a variety of purposes including targeted advertising and campaign measurement. | Privacy Policy | How to opt out | |
| This is a ‘web beacon’ that is used to serve you with advertisements that may be relevant to you and your interests. It may also be used to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. | Privacy Policy | How to opt out |
Interest-based advertising
Some targeted advertisements that we display to you across third party operated websites and properties may include the “Ad Choices” icon or another mechanism to opt out of receiving interest-based advertisements. You can click on the AdChoices icon or visit www.aboutads.info to receive more information about your online activities or to opt out of having your data used for interest-based advertising by Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) participating companies.
11. Updates to this policy
We may occasionally make changes to this policy.
When we make changes to this policy, we will provide you with a prominent notice e.g by displaying a notice on the website.
12. How to contact us about your data
If you have a question, or feel your data has been mishandled, you can contact us by: using our secure DfE contact form.
Or writing to:
Data Protection OfficerDepartment for Education (B2.28)7 & 8 Wellington PlaceWellington StreetLeedsLS1 4AW
You can also complain to the ICO by writing to:
Information Commissioner’s OfficeWycliffe House Water LaneWilmslowCheshireSK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113. Or use the online ICO contact form.