Global Alumni Careers Survey privacy notice 2023-24

This Privacy Notice covers the University of London’s global Alumni Careers Survey carried out by Shift, an external market research agency. It can be read alongside the general University of London Privacy Notice and the Development Privacy Statement.

What is the Alumni Careers Survey and how are we collecting data?

The Alumni Careers Survey is used by the University of London to help us evaluate and promote our courses, and to contribute to the positioning and profile of the University around the world. Alumni responses will also be influential in empowering our current and future students make informed choices about their courses and career development.

Alumni will be contacted by email or SMS in relation to this survey. The survey is administered on behalf of the University of London by Shift Insight, a market research organisation. Shift will store the data on the University’s behalf and only according to our instructions. Results are analysed by Shift to bring objectivity to the process and improve the reliability of findings. Results are shared with the University of London for analysis and review.

What data is collected for these surveys? How and why does the University need to do this?

The survey collects a range of data in relation to the career paths and development of recently graduated alumni. Alumni will be asked different questions depending on their responses.

The University wants to use this data to understand whether recent graduates are working, in further study or undertaking other paths after completing their studies. This data helps current student with their career planning as well as for actioning planning and influencing the careers offer from the University’s Careers Service.

For the purposes of these surveys, we will group survey responses based on the following characteristics:

Programme of study
Mode of study (e.g. independent learner or student at teaching centre; name of teaching centre)
Domicile and nationality
Stage of study (e.g. programme start date, number of modules completed)
Equality characteristics (e.g. disability status)
Academic progression
Level of study (e.g. undergraduate or postgraduate)
Gender
Age group (e.g. 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-64, 65+)

Additionally, the University will use the information you provide regarding job title and the name and details of the company for which you work to update your alumni record. If you prefer we do not retain this information about you, you can contact us at alumni@london.ac.uk.

Data quality will be ensured via the following processes:

Survey populations will be verified prior to survey launch by the Development Office team.
Standardised question types will be used wherever possible within a survey, and most responses will be via selecting an option.
The system has standardized methods of processing the data to display the results.

Data protection laws require us to have a legal basis to process your data. When we process your survey responses, the University will be fulfilling its legitimate interests to analyse data to carry out quality assurance and plan for educational enhancement. A legitimate interest assessment and data protection impact assessment have been carried out.

Students who complete the Alumni Careers Survey will be given the chance to opt into a prize draw. Where we collect your contact details in relation to the prize draw, the data you provide as part of this process will only be used for managing the draw and notifying winners. This information will not be linked to your survey responses.

Your rights as a data subject

You have a number of rights in regards to your data submitted in the survey. Some of these are available for a limited time as once the survey has been completed and reports written it will be difficult for the University to remove or adjust the data. There are also some exemptions in data protection law which allow the University to refuse rights requests if the data is used for research purposes, subject to the safeguards we are putting in place (described above).

Right of access by the data subject: alumni may request a copy of their survey data through the designated email address (salman.mayo@shift-insight.co.uk) within one month of the survey closure date.

Right to Rectification: alumni may request to correct their data for the survey through the designated email address (salman.mayo@shift-insight.co.uk) within one month of the survey closure date.

Right to erasure ('right to be forgotten'): alumni can ask the University to remove information held about them for the survey through the designated email address (salman.mayo@shift-insight.co.uk) within one month of the survey closure date.

Right to restrict processing: students may ask us to withdraw their data from survey analysis within one month of the survey closure date.

Right to object to automated decision making: the University will not make any decisions about individuals based on whether they complete the survey or how the respond to any of the questions.

Data retention

The survey data will be retained by Shift Insight for a period of eight years and by the University of London Careers Service for a period of 10 years in order to support longitudinal analysis of careers performance and strategic planning.

The information you provide regarding job title and the name and details of the company for which you work will be used to update your alumni record. Data will be absorbed into our Development Office and Careers Service in line with the Development Office Privacy Statement.

Who to contact

For questions about the survey and how it is carried out, please contact careers@london.ac.uk

For general data protection questions please contact the University of London’s data protection officer at data.protection@london.ac.uk

For more information, please visit the University’s data protection policy pages.