Ystudy

PRIVACY POLICY

Who we are

YStudy App and website refer to apps and webpages hosted at www.ystudy.org and on other related domains and subdomains. This policy may refer to YStudy as “we” and our registered address is 51-52 Calthorpe Road, Birmingham Business Center, office 6, Edgbaston, Birmingham, postcode B15 1TH. We’re responsible for taking care of your personal information in line with the Data Protection Act 2018, and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) when using our sites and services.

The YStudy App services and the sites are provided to support the work of the Dinnovi LTD. YStudy is a brand owned by Dinnovi LTD which is a company limited by guarantee registered in England. Dinnovi LTD owns the YStudy App and related services and sites.

YSTUDY through Dinnovi LTD is committed to protecting the personal information you provide to us and recognises the importance of being clear about how we intend to use it. If you have any questions about our use of personal information or this policy, please contact our Data Protection Officer via info@dinnovi.co.uk

Our privacy policy tells you about the personal information we collect from you, how we use it, and what your rights are. We’ve divided it into headings to help you see what we do with your information.

If we make any major changes to the policy, we’ll add an alert on through the app, website, our social media channels, or through direct contact with you. If you are under the age of 16, you can take a look around our website, but you shouldn’t give us your personal information, as our services are for people aged 16 or over.

Website visitors

Like most websites, YStudy App collects non-personal data information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Such information is used to better understand how YStudy’s visitors use its website. From time to time, YStudy through Dinnovi LTD may release non-personal data information in aggregate (anonymised) from, for example by publishing a report on trends in the usage of its website.

YStudy also collects limited data which may potentially be personal data such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. If you are the only person with access to your computer or device it may be possible to use this data to identify you. We may produce combined statistics about visitors to our website and website traffic patterns, answers to questions, content entered, and related website information. The information used for these purposes is aggregated (i.e. combined with other user data) and anonymised. It’s used to improve our website and will not be shared in a way which identifies individuals.

How we use your personal Information

When you visit our website or use our app, we may collect your personal information based on your use of our services

Collecting and using your personal information

Signing up to obtain more information about YStudy

If you sign up to receive information about YStudy and provide us with your contact information we may send you information about our products and services. We may also invite you to enter competitions or respond to surveys.

If you no longer wish to receive such information you can use the unsubscribe link in any of our emails or contact info@dinnovi.co.uk

When you make use of app the create a profile or provide information to support an application

If you download the app or use the web interface, we will collect your name, password, email address, Date of Birth , Gender, English proficiency level, UK residence/immigration status,or relevant account details used to register your account.

To enable your profile we may ask you to provide your course preference, subjects/topics interested and communication preferences or any other relevant details regarding your education career path.
To support the completion of an application to study through the app we will ask for details of your course choices, whether you have been in care, your parent or guardian’s education and occupational background, your education and qualifications, your English language status, your work experience, UK residence status and history, nationality, gender, Student finance or student loans history and eligibility, course preference, study mode, language proficiency, English certifications, and Details of a person recommended by you(if any). You will be asked to complete a personal statement to support your application and any other relevant documentation.
To support your application to study in the United Kingdom (UK) we will ask for a proof of ID: passport or EU ID, proof of address: Utility bill or council tax or bank statement or UK driving licence, UK immigration status: Share code with the option anything else(fot studies), so the course providers you’re applying to can check your identity and confirm you can study in the UK.
To support your application to study in the United Kingdom we will ask for a: CVresume, Personal Statement or Statement of Purpose, Different university procedural forms and documents that are requested by the university providers and their institutional partners.
You can favourite courses, across the App to help you decide where you wish to apply; we will retain a copy of these choices to assist with your use of our services.
Your account will be a YStudy account, and as such you will have access to hub resources on www.ystudy.org with the ability to log in using the same email and password

Applying for Student Loans and Student GRANTS

The decision to apply for a student loan is personal. Our team will help you in assisting and providing guidance and advice if requested by the applicant. If you apply for a student loan, we may ask you for additional relevant information to help you with your application. We will not share any data supporting your application unless it is a legal request from an authorised UK Body/institution.

Applying for Start-up or other business loans.

YStudy is not responsible and cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of their information published within the app or the website, or for any other reason. YStudy is not providing any financial advice. The information is presented just as an opportunity/a starting point for the users. The user must verify and inform by themselves through all the official channels regarding all the opportunities presented within the app. YStudy may or may not receive a commission or a referral payment from our partners for our services. The users will not be asked to make any payment within the app. Our services for our users are for FREE.

Applying for Student benefits.

‘Special category’ personal information

To support your application, we may ask you to provide special category personal information as detailed below, which may be shared with the course providers you apply to.

It’s up to you if you give details about your ethnicity, nationality , gender identity, as we provide a “prefer not to say” option – this will help course providers check their compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and support us in reviewing the use of our services.
You can choose to give information about any disability you have, so the providers you’ve applied to can support you if you’re invited to interview or offered a place.
You’ll be asked to declare if you’ve got any criminal convictions. This allows providers to consider any potential impact on your application to study or receive student finance in the UK.

Sharing your personal information

We may share your personal information with organisations or individuals, for the purposes listed below.

Supporting your application to higher education

We will pass the personal information in your application to the university providers and their partners you’re applying to, so you can complete successfully your application.

Prevention and detection of crime

We may share personal information with relevant statutory organisations, like the police, to support the prevention and detection of crime.

Supporting your use of the app or website

We may share your personal information with our suppliers who provide services to us, if this is necessary to progress or address your request/enquiry.

Other uses of your personal information

We may additionally use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to any queries that you may submit to us.
To ensure that our websites and the app’s content is presented in the most effective manner for you and your computer.
We may periodically send promotional emails or push notifications about our new products and services using the email address which you have provided or your YStudy account, you will be able to unsubscribe from any such messaging using the link in our emails or deactivate the push notifications option within the app.
To customise the app, website and communications according to your interests or your activity within the app.
To administer the website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey responses including relevant data sharing within the YStudy and Dinnovi LTD.
To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service when you choose to do so.
To keep the website safe and secure.
To produce and where appropriate publish statistics, monitor equal opportunities and report on the use of the website and app (all such publications will be anonymised).

We use third party suppliers who provide parts of our services for us. We have contracts in place with these suppliers, which require them to use personal data only to provide these services to us in accordance with data protection law.

Where we use the services of a supplier which involves transferring personal data outside the UK will ensure:

that we will transfer such personal data to a country that has been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK; or
we will include approved model contract clauses, which provide safeguards for the personal data transferred.

If you want to know more about international transfers of your personal data, please contact info@dinnovi.co.uk

YStudy does not disclose or process personal data other than as described above. Visitors or app users can refuse to supply personal data, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related or app-related activities.

Lawful basis for processing your information

The above processing of your personal data will be based on the following lawful basis in accordance with the UK GDPR:

Necessary for the performance of our contract with you, such as when you use the app to apply to a postgraduate course (Article 6.1(b)).
• Necessary for our legitimate interests, including to ensure the security and operation of our business, to keep our records up to date and to understand how customers use our app and website (Article 6.1.(f)).
Necessary to comply with our legal obligations (Article 6.1.(c)).
Where you have given us consent for certain processing activity, where applicable (Article 6.1.(a)).

‘Special category’ personal information

Certain data is afforded additional protection under UK GDPR due to its sensitivity. The regulation requires us to identify an additional condition that allow the processing of this data. YStudy collects and processes special category data to assist in supporting your application for study and the provision of our services.

Purpose 1 – Equality monitoring

When applying, you can choose to tell us your ethnicity, sexual orientation. This will be shared with the provider who can use this information to review their performance in meeting their statutory duties in the Equality Act 2010. We may also use this information to produce similar analysis about the users of our systems.

UK GDPR basis for processing – Article 9 2 (g) where the use of personal information ‘is in substantial public interest’, which the Data Protection Act 2018 clarifies can include keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between different groups of people, including differences based on ethnicity, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation.

Purpose 2 – Assisting you if you declare a disability

Confirmation of a disability or any special needs allows providers to arrange additional support and make necessary arrangements for applicants at an early stage.

UK GDPR basis for processing – Article 9 2 (b) where the use of personal information is necessary for carrying out obligations in the field of social protection law.

Criminal convictions

When applying to courses leading to professions or occupations exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974), applicants are required to declare whether they have any criminal convictions, including spent convictions. This enables universities and colleges to identify potential issues at an early stage and undertake ‘fitness to practice’ assessments to identify if an applicant is suitable for a course.

Criminal conviction information may also be required to support visa applications through the relevant course provider.

Data Protection Act 2018 – basis for processing:

Schedule 1, part 2, paragraph 11 – protecting the public against dishonesty.
Schedule 1, part 1, paragraph 1 – necessary for the purposes of performing obligations under the law relating to social protection.
Schedule 1, part 1, paragraph 2 – necessary for health and social care purposes.

Please contact us at info@dinnovi.co.uk if you would like further details about the specific legal grounds upon which we are relying to process your personal data. This will be dependent on the way you have used the app and website.

Emails and Notifications

We may display in-app notifications and send push notifications to your device to inform you about the status of your application or profile. The settings for push notifications, together with the email settings, can be amended in the app settings menu, and you can also unsubscribe from emails at any time via the link at the bottom of each email.

We want to make sure we give you very clear information about the cookies we collect, how we use them, and how to disable them oonce our website is online. – read our Cookies policy.

We use cookies to provide users with the functionality contained in our website or app, and produce anonymous information to help analyse website traffic, usage, and behaviour. This helps us improve the visitor experience on our website, and ensure you receive relevant adverts when you use our app, website, and others.

Retention of your personal data

We will keep your information stored on our systems for as long as it is necessary to provide the services to you. The third parties we engage to provide services on our behalf will keep your data stored on their systems for as long as is necessary to provide those services to you. We will not store your information for longer than is reasonably necessary or required by law.

Your rights

Even if you have accepted the processing of your personal data for marketing purposes (by ticking the relevant box), you have the right to ask us to stop processing your personal data for such purposes at any time. You can exercise this right at any time by contacting us at info@dinnovi.co.uk.

The GDPR provides you with rights in respect of your personal information, including the right to:

Information about how you personal data will be processed, which we supply through this notice.
Request access to your personal data
Request correction or erasure of your personal data 4. Object to processing of your personal data
Object to processing of your personal data
Request restriction of processing your personal data
Request the transfer of your personal data
Withdraw your consent (where applicable)

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us via info@dinnovi.co.uk . Please note that not all these rights will be applicable to your use of our services.

You additionally have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

Security

YStudy takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised access, use, alteration, destruction, or loss of personal data held in our systems.

To support this activity, we use a range of measures to ensure the security of data including the use of firewalls, encryption and access controls.

Other websites you can access through the App

Our website, app and privacy policy may contain links to other websites, operated by other organisations. We’re not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you provide whilst visiting other websites. This privacy policy applies to YStudy App services only. Make sure you read the privacy policy of the website you’re visiting.

Last updated: 18 June 2024