Privacy

Privacy

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read the following privacy policy to understand how we use and protect the information that you provide to us. By using this website, you consent to the collection, storage, use and transfer of your information under the terms of this policy.

We only process your personal information based on your consent. If you wish to withdraw your consent, please let us know in one of these ways:

• email our Data Protection Officer at DPO@sds.co.uk

• write to us at Skills Development Scotland, Monteith House, 11 George Square, Glasgow G2 1DY

Who manages this website?

This website [Apprenticeships.scot] is operated by The Skills Development Scotland Co. Limited, a company registered in Scotland with company number SC202659 and having its registered office at Monteith House, 11 George Square, Glasgow G2 1DY ("we" or "us").

What information do we collect about you?

You provide some data yourself:

1. Personal information that you provide to us for the purpose of registering on the website. This could include your name, email address, date of birth, or other information relating to your current situation.

2. Information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our website services, email notifications and/or newsletters

3. Information that you elect to transmit to a third party through the Site, where we facilitate such transmission. This may include, without limitation, information you provide when applying for an Apprenticeship (such as a CV or a covering letter etc) which is advertised on the Site by a third party.

We collect some data automatically:

1. Information about your computer and about your visits to and use of the website, including your:

• IP address

• geographical location

• browser type and version

• operating system

• referral source

• length of visit, page views, and website navigation

We use this data to help us improve the website and the services we provide to you.

2. If you're signed in, we’ll also know how you use the website. This helps us give you a better, more personalised service.

We'll never ask unnecessary questions beyond what is required to provide you with the best service. Information may be provided by either:

• you

• a guardian or parent, if you're a young person

• another agency working with you

How do we use your data?

We use your data to undertake a number of activities, including:

• to administer the website

• to improve your browsing experience by personalising the website

• to enable your use of the services available on the website

• to send you general (non-marketing) commercial communications

• to send you email notifications which you have specifically requested

• to send you newsletters and other marketing communications which we think may be of interest to you by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications)

• to address enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website

• to analyse the information we collect so that we can administer, support and improve and develop our business and the services we offer

• to provide you with access to certain parts of our website 

• for all other purposes consistent with the proper performance of our operations and business

• to contact you for your views on our services

Applications

When you click “apply” for a vacancy, one of two things may happen and so your personal information may be used in one of two ways:

1. If the employer posted the vacancy on Apprenticeships.scot

Many employers post vacancies on Apprenticeships.scot. In this case, you'll view the vacancy and apply for it on Apprenticeships.scot. Any personal information that you enter into the application form will be sent directly to the employer. We'll retain a copy as back-up, to use in the event of a transmission failure. We won't use the information for any other purpose other than the following:

We'll retain basic contact details such as your name and email address for traceability purposes.

We'll separately retain equalities information such as your gender or ethnicity so that we may comply with our reporting obligations to the Scottish Government, but we'll anonymise that equalities information and hold it separate from any information that may be used to identify you. The equalities information sections of the application form won't be shared with the employer.

2. If the employer posted the vacancy on another website

An employer can also post an apprenticeship opportunity on a website operated by a third party such as Universal Jobmatch. If you select a job on our vacancy search page you'll go first to the job description on Apprenticeships.scot. If you select 'Apply now', you'll be directed to a third party’s website: either the job-search website or the employer’s own website. If you're taken to a third party’s website, then that third party’s own website terms and conditions and privacy policy will apply.

Job alerts

When you ‘Sign up for the latest apprenticeship vacancies’, this is what will happen and how your personal information may be handled.

1. You'll receive an email so you can explicitly confirm these regular vacancy alert emails. Once you've opted in for this, we'll send you an email vacancy alert with a selection of the latest apprenticeships vacancies on the site on a weekly basis.

2. If you take no action or decline the opt-in message, the details you provided during sign-up will be deleted from our system.

3. If you've opted in and you change your mind about receiving a regular email update of vacancies, you can unsubscribe by selecting the link within the email.

4. We won't provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.

How do we protect your information?

Skills Development Scotland maintains a high standard of both physical and network security designed to protect paper or electronic forms of storage to hold and process your personal information.

Information that we hold about you will be subject to rigorous safeguards to ensure that it isn't accessed or disclosed inappropriately. We also take steps so that your information isn't damaged or rendered unavailable to those who have a right to see it.

To meet confidentiality requirements for our customers, stakeholders and staff, Skills Development Scotland has Confidentiality, Data Protection, Information Technology and Systems Policies in place and we ensure that staff are fully aware of these and the associated guidance in relation to your personal information. These also apply when we dispose of paper records and delete electronic information in ways that ensure that your information cannot be recreated.

When might we share your information?

Your postcode and date of birth will be matched with your existing customer record in our internal customer database. This helps us create an accurate match with your record, so that we can tailor and generally improve the service and support we can offer you.

We may need to share some of your personal information with partners that work with us to deliver our services to you. Our partners are obliged to keep your information secure and to use the information only to fulfil specific and agreed purposes. We'll check where possible that appropriate steps have been taken by the recipient to protect your information.  

Because we want your experience of our website to be as informative and useful as possible, we may provide links to websites operated by third parties ("Third-Party Websites").

The website may also include functionality that allows you to publish your information onto Third-Party Websites.

Please be aware that we do not control such Third-Party Websites and that such Third-Party Websites may send their own cookies to users, or otherwise collect data or solicit personal information.

We assume no responsibility for the information gathering practices of Third-Party Websites that you can access through our website, and we encourage you to review each Third-Party website's privacy policy before disclosing any personally identifiable information.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This information is used to track visitor use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above websites tell you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.

For more information on cookies on this website, read our Cookies policy.

How long we'll store your personal information

When you give us any personal information, if appropriate we’ll let you know how long we’ll hold it for. If we don’t state a specific length of time, then we'll follow these principles:

1. We only hold your information for as long as we're running the activities we told you about.

2. We think about what type of information it is, the amount we have collected, how sensitive it might be and any legal requirements for us to store the data.

3. We design our services so that we don’t hold your information any longer than we have to, after which we delete it.

4. We always think about the potential risk from anyone using or sharing this information without permission and have a number of procedures and checks to ensure only authorised people can view your data.

What if I have an account?

We’ll hold the personal information you give us as part of your account for as long as you're using an account with us.

We may close your account if you haven’t used it in the last 3 years. We’ll send you an email to tell you that we plan to do this before we delete anything, so please check to see if we’ve sent you any emails about this

If you delete your account, then your personal information will be deleted, and the remaining information made anonymous. We might then use it to help us improve our services.

Policy amendments

We may update this privacy policy by posting a new version on the website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you're happy with any changes and any substantial changes will be highlighted on the website.

Your rights

Under Data Protection legislation – including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 – you have a number of rights in relation to how your personal information is processed.

If you wish to find out what these rights are, please see www.sds.co.uk/privacy and get in touch with DPO@sds.co.uk if you wish to find out more information or enact one of those rights.

Updating information

Please let us know if the personal information which we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.

Data Controller

The data controller responsible in respect of the information collected on this website is The Skills Development Scotland Co. Limited, which is notified to the Information Commissioner as a data controller with registration number Z1445093.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response following any review related to a request you have made regarding your personal data, you're entitled to appeal to the Information Commissioner. Such an application should be sent to the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our treatment of your personal information, you can get in touch with our Data Protection Officer at dpo@sds.co.uk.

You can also write to us by post at Skills Development Scotland, Monteith House, 11 George Square, Glasgow G2 1DY.