Who we are

Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutes (“SEFARI”,“us” or “we”) is a collective of The James Hutton Institute (“Hutton”), Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland (“BioSS”), Moredun Research Institute (“MRI”), Rowett Institute (“RI”), Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (“RGBE”) and Scotland’s Rural College (“SRUC”) and they are joint controllers over any personal data we process about you for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice.  SEFARI is committed to protecting your personal data and adheres to the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when processing your personal data. This privacy notice outlines what personal data SEFARI collects from you through your interaction with this website www.sefari.scot and its sub-domains (the “websites”) and how we use your data.  Please read through the privacy notice to understand how SEFARI uses and protects the information obtained from those visiting and using its websites. If you have any concerns about SEFARI’s processing of your personal data or you have a general enquiry in relation to data protection please contact the Data Protection Officer at The James Hutton Institute on DPO@hutton.ac.uk or by telephone 01382 346814.

Through accessing our website and/or submitting an enquiry through the websites you are consenting to the collection, retention and use of your personal information in accordance with the terms of this privacy notice.

What is personal data?

Personal Data: means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Special Category of Data: means personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

When we use the term ‘personal data’ we mean both personal data and special category of data.

What personal data is SEFARI processing?

·         Personal details (such as your name, e-mail address and telephone number) which you provide by submitting an enquiry via the website.

·         How you use the website and any other information you post, e-mail or otherwise send to us.

·         IP addresses - we may collect information where available about your IP (internet protocol) address, operating system and browser type.  This data provides us with information about users’ browsing actions and patterns. It is used to inform improvements to the website and for internal system administration.

Where did SEFARI obtain my personal data from?

The personal data (name, e-mail and telephone number) is gathered from the information you input on the website’s enquiry page either through the online enquiry form or by submitting an e-mail to info@sefari.scot.  IP addresses may be collected, where available, from data subjects when they access the SEFARI website.

Does SEFARI use Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit SEFARI’s website.  They do not cause your computer any harm nor do they identify you personally, they only identify the computer being used to access the site.  The cookies obtain information in relation to your use of the website. SEFARI uses this information to help us monitor the use of our website and be able to then provide you with a better user experience by remembering how you like things displayed, measuring how you use the website, ensuring the website works properly and improving navigation.  Further information on how SEFARI uses cookies is available in our Cookies Policy.

Where will SEFARI keep my data?

Your personal data will be stored on secure servers located in the UK.

Why is SEFARI processing my personal data?

SEFARI is processing your personal data for the purposes of responding to enquiries and/or sending you communications about events, activities or projects SEFARI is running or otherwise supporting. In relation to IP addresses, we use this to inform improvements to the website and for internal system administration. By using the SEFARI website and providing your personal data via the enquiry page or otherwise through the website you are consenting to SEFARI processing your personal data for these purposes.

Will my personal data be shared with any other organisation/third parties and if so, why?

SEFARI will not share your personal data with any other organisation or third parties without seeking your prior consent. An exception to this would be where we are required to share your personal data in accordance with law or any regulatory requirement to which SEFARI is subject or where we are undergoing a corporate restructure.

Will my personal data be shared outside of the EEA?

SEFARI will not share your personal data outside of the EEA without first seeking your prior consent.

Is my personal data safe?

SEFARI works hard to protect your personal data and have adopted appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep it safe from unauthorised disclosure, alteration or destruction.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal data transmitted to SEFARI via the internet; any transmission is at your own risk.

How can I stop SEFARI using my personal data for marketing purposes if I no longer wish to receive communications from SEFARI?

If  you  no  longer  wish  to  receive  communication  from SEFARI  and  would  like  your  personal  data removed from our database please e-mail our Administrator on info@sefari.scot.

How long will SEFARI retain my personal data?

SEFARI will keep your personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purpose we obtained it for or until such time that you withdraw your consent and exercise your right to request that SEFARI stops processing your personal data.

Does SEFARI make any automated decisions about me or profile my personal data?

SEFARI does not make automated decisions about you and also does not profile your personal data.

What are my rights in relation to the personal data SEFARI holds about me?

We have summarised your rights below. Please contact the Data Protection Officer at The James Hutton Institute on DPO@hutton.ac.uk to exercise these.

• If we are relying on your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time, at which point we shall stop processing your personal data in that way.  Please note this does not affect the legality of our processing up to the date of your withdrawal of consent.
• You can seek to restrict our processing of your personal data, ask us to rectify any personal data we hold about you or object to us processing your personal data for the purposes stated above.  
• You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you think that we have infringed your rights. You can find more information about reporting a matter to the ICO at the following link: https://ico.org.uk 
• You have the right to access personal data held by us about you.
• In certain circumstances you have the right to ask us to provide you with your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format to allow you (or us on your behalf) to transmit this information to another party. More information can be found at
  https://ico.org.uk
• In certain circumstances you have the right to ask us to erase the personal data we hold about you.  Such circumstances include (a) where we no longer need your personal data for the purposes set out above; (b) if  you  withdraw  your consent to our processing; (c) if you object to our processing based on our legitimate interest and we have no overriding legitimate grounds to continue processing your personal data; (d) if we process the data unlawfully; or (e) where the personal data has to be erased to comply with legal obligation
  to which we are subject.  We will consider any such request in line with GDPR. Please note this is not an absolute right and there may be circumstances where we choose not to delete all of the personal data we hold about you.  More information about your right of erasure can be found at https://ico.org.uk 

Third Party Links

SEFARI’s website may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of third parties. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites and any services that may be  accessible  through  them  have  their  own  privacy  notices  and  that  we  do  not  accept  any responsibility  or  liability  for  these  notices  or  for  any  personal  data  that  may  be  collected  through these websites or services, such as contact and location data. Please check these notices before you submit any personal data to these websites or use these services.

Changes to Privacy Notice

We reserve the right  to amend this privacy notice. However any changes we may make to our privacy notice in the future will be communicated to you in some manner.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy notice are welcomed and should be addressed to: DPO@hutton.ac.uk.