stem4 (“stem4” or “we” or “us” or “our“) is a charity registered in England and Wales under registered charity number 1144506 and have our registered office at 51 St George’s Road, Wimbledon, SW19 4EA. We are responsible for any personal information collected and we take our data protection and privacy responsibilities seriously.
This privacy notice explains how we collect, use and share personal information in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the UK GDPR law.
Please be assured that stem4 does not sell, rent or otherwise distribute any user information to third parties.
Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of our site. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, then you must stop using our site immediately.
1. Definitions and Interpretation
In this Policy, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Account” means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site;
“Cookie” means a small text file placed on your computer or device by our site when you visit certain parts of our site and/or when you use certain features of our site. Details of the Cookies used by our site are set out in section 13, below;
“Cookie Law” means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003;
“personal data” means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to us via our site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”).
2. Information About Us
Our site is owned and operated by stem4, 51 St George’s Road, London, SW19 4EA as well as by our development partner, Terra Firma Media, Delta House, Studio Way, Wimbledon, London, SW19 3EU.
3. What Does This Policy Cover?
This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of our site. Our site may contain links to other websites.
Please note that we have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.
4. Your Rights
4.1 As a data subject, you have the following rights under the UK GDPR, which this Policy and our use of personal data have been designed to uphold:
4.1.1 The right to be informed about our collection and use of personal data;
4.1.2 The right of access to the personal data we hold about you (see section 11);
4.1.3 The right to rectification if any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact us using the details in section 13);
4.1.4 The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask us to delete any personal data we hold about you (we only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in section 6 but if you would like us to delete it sooner, please contact us using the details in section 13);
4.1.5 The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
4.1.6 The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
4.1.7 The right to object to us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
4.1.8 Rights with respect to automated decision making and profiling.
4.2 If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, please contact us using the details provided in section 13 and we will do our best to solve the problem for you. If we are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
4.3 For further information about your rights, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
5. What Data Do We Collect?
Depending upon your use of our site, we may collect some or all of the following personal and non-personal data (please also see section 12 on our use of Cookies and similar technologies). In order to access certain material on our Website, you may be asked to register with a username and password, and may be asked to provide the following personal data to us:
- First name;
- Last name;
- School name / organisation name;
- Current job title;
- Contact information (eg email address and telephone numbers);
- Demographic information (eg. physical address, post code);
- Communication preferences (eg. which newsletters you’d prefer to receive from us);
- Financial information such as credit / debit card numbers; (if you do donate or purchase anything from us).
In addition, we may collect certain data in relation to your use of our Website and materials through the following third party sources:
- where you pay for access to certain materials on our Website, the third-party payment provider PayPal;
- Google analytics – This allows us to monitor how well our website is working in terms of its technical function, usability and how helpful it is. Google Analytics 4 collects data related to the device you are using, activities you undertake, and your location, but does not log or store individual IP addresses, so we cannot know your exact location. Google Analytics 4 allows us to follow and report on how people are using our website. It is not possible to identify you as an individual user of our website.
We process any information we collect from you in accordance with this privacy policy and our cookie policy. By using our Website, you consent to such processing and you confirm that all data provided by you is accurate.
6. How Do We Use Your Data?
6.1 All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with our obligations and safeguard your rights under the UK GDPR at all times. For more details on security see section 7, below.
6.2 Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either because it is necessary for our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to our use of your personal data (e.g. by subscribing to emails), or because it is in our legitimate interests. Specifically, we may use your data for the following purposes:
6.2.1 Providing and managing your Account;
6.2.2 Providing and managing your access to our site;
6.2.3 Supplying our products and services to you (please note that we require your personal data in order to enter into a contract with you);
6.2.4 Personalising and tailoring our products and services for you;
6.2.5 Replying to emails from you;
6.2.6 Supplying you with emails that you have opted into (you may unsubscribe or opt-out at any time by replying to the Unsubscribe link on each email).
6.2.7 Product evaluation and impact research;
6.2.8 Providing the training courses and certificates for our online courses,
6.2.9 We need to use your personal information to register your access to certain materials we provide on our Website. For example, we use the information provided by our third-party payment provider to confirm payment has been made for your registration of any paid training course.
6.4 Third parties whose content appears on our site may use third party Cookies, as detailed below in section 12. Please refer to section 12 for more information on controlling Cookies. Please note that we do not control the activities of such third parties, nor the data they collect and use and advise you to check the privacy policies of any such third parties.
6.5 You have the right to withdraw your consent to us using your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it.
6.6 We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Data will therefore be retained for the following periods (or its retention will be determined on the following bases):
6.6.1 As required by law, and for no more than five years after the end of our contract together;
6.6.2 As long as you consent to remain on any mailing lists without unsubscribing.
7. How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
7.1 We only keep your personal data for as long as we need to in order to use it as described above in section 6, and/or for as long as we have your permission to keep it.
7.2 Your data will only be stored on secure WordPress servers in the UK.
7.3 Data security is very important to us, and to protect your data we have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through our site.
7.4 Steps we take to secure and protect your data include:
7.4.1 Keeping data on a password protected database.
7.4.2 Keeping documents on a secure Cloud-based file system.
8. Do We Share Your Data?
8.1 We may sometimes contract with third parties to supply products and services to you on our behalf. These may include payment processing, delivery of goods and learning management systems. In some cases, the third parties may require access to some or all of your data. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law. We will ask for your consent for any sharing of data with third parties.
8.2 We may compile statistics about the use of our site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.
8.3 In certain circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain data held by us, which may include your personal data, for example, where we are involved in legal proceedings, where we are complying with legal requirements, a court order, or a governmental authority.
8.4 If, in the future, we sell or transfer some or all of our business or assets to a third party, we may disclose information to a potential or actual third party purchaser of our business or assets.
8.5 We do not sell or pass your Personal Information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
9. How Can You Control Your Data?
9.1 In addition to your rights under the UK GDPR, set out in section 4, when you submit personal data via our site, you may be given options to restrict our use of your data. In particular, we aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in our emails and at the point of providing your details).
9.2 If the details we have about you are incorrect or incomplete and you have an account with us then the easiest way to change these details is to write to us at DPO@stem4.org.uk or log in to your account and make the necessary changes yourself on your account.
9.3 To protect your privacy rights and to ensure you have control over how we manage our communications with you, you can change the way your browser manages cookies by following the settings on your browser.
9.4 You may also wish to sign up to one or more of the preference services operating in the UK: The Telephone Preference Service (“the TPS”), the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (“the CTPS”), and the Mailing Preference Service (“the MPS”). These may help to prevent you from receiving unsolicited marketing. Please note, however, that these services will not prevent you from receiving marketing communications that you have consented to receiving.
9.5 When and how we undertake profiling and analytics
We will monitor the country from which you access the Website so that we can direct you to the appropriate resources available within that country, if indicated. For more information about the cookies that we use as part of this monitoring, please see our cookies policy
9.6 We recommend you routinely review the privacy notices and preference settings that are available to you on any social media platforms as well as your preferences within your account with us.
9.7 As the security of information depends in part on the security of the computer you use to communicate with us and the security you use to protect usernames and passwords, please take appropriate measures to protect this information.
10. Your Right to Withhold Information
10.1 You may access our site without providing any data at all. However, to use some of our features available on our site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data. However, on these occasions the features are usually for professional use and in general the majority of our website is available without providing any data.
10.2 You may restrict our use of Cookies. For more information, see section 12.
11. How Can You Access Your Data?
You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by us (where such data is held). Under the UK GDPR, no fee is payable and we will provide any and all information in response to your request free of charge. Please contact us for more details at dpo@stem4.org.uk or using the contact details below in section 13.
12. Our Use of Cookies
12.1 Our site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by us and are used only by us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of our site and to provide and improve our products and services. We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy and personal data is protected and respected at all times.
12.2 By using our site, you may also receive certain third party Cookies on your computer or device. Third party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than us. For more details, please refer to section 6, above. These Cookies are not integral to the functioning of our site and your use and experience of our site will not be impaired by refusing consent to them.
12.3 All Cookies used by and on our site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.
12.4 Before Cookies are placed on your computer or device, you will be shown a pop up requesting your consent to set those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies you are enabling us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies; however certain features of our site may not function fully.
12.5 Certain features of our site depend on Cookies to function. UK GDPR deems these Cookies to be “strictly necessary”. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 12.6, but please be aware that our site may not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.
12.6 In addition to the controls that we provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party Cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.
12.7 You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however you may lose any information that enables you to access our site more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, login and personalisation settings.
12.8 It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.
12.9 For more information about the specific cookies that we use on our site, please refer to our Cookie Policy.
13. Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact our Data Protection Lead by email at dpo@stem4.org.uk or by post at stem4, 51 St George’s Road, London, SW19 4EA. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data we hold about you (as under section 11, above).
If you have any questions, concerns or complaints regarding our compliance with this privacy notice, the information we hold about you or if you wish to exercise your rights, we encourage you to first contact our Data Protection Lead or email us at enquiries@stem4.org.uk. We will investigate and attempt to resolve complaints and disputes and make every reasonable effort to honour your wish to exercise your rights as quickly as possible and in any event, within the timescales provided by data protection laws.
You have a right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority (ie your place of habitual residence, place or work or place of alleged infringement), which in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time. We ask that you please attempt to resolve any issues with us before your local supervisory authority.
| What we use your information for | Legal basis for using personal information | Explanation for legal basis of processing |
| Register your access to certain materials on our Website | (a) Identity(b) Contact | With your consent.(b) Contact Performance of a contract with you |
| Take payment for your registration to our Website | (a) Identity(b) Contact(c) Financial(d) Marketing and Communications | With your consentPerformance of a contract with youNecessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us) |
| For anonymised research | (a) Technical | With your consent |
| To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences | (a) Technical(b) Usage | With your consentNecessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers/members for our products and services, to keep our website and software updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
14. Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time (for example, if the law changes). Any changes will be immediately posted on our site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of our site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.
Issue Date of Privacy Notice: 8th November 2023