Privacy policy
How we use your personal information
The Find a Learning Aim service is run by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE). For the purpose of data protection legislation, the DfE is the data controller for the personal data processed as part of this service.
When you use this service, the personal information collected will be used for administration and research purposes.
The nature of your personal data that we hold
The personal data that this service holds includes:
- your Internet Protocol (IP) address, and details of which version of web browser you used
- information on how you use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques
How long we hold personal information
Personal data required for research purposes may be retained indefinitely.
Who we share your personal information with
The data we collect may be shared with other government departments, agencies and public bodies. It may also be shared with our technology suppliers, for example our hosting provider.
We will not:
- sell or rent your data to third parties
- share your data with third parties for marketing purposes
- use your data in analytics
We will share your data if we are required to do so by law - for example, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crime.
Why our use of your personal data is lawful
In order for our use of your personal data to be lawful, we need to meet one (or more) conditions in the data protection legislation. For the purpose of this service the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. In this case it is necessary for the department to process your data to enhance the service offering to our users.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have certain rights depending on our reason for processing your personal information.
You have the right:
- to ask us for access to information about you that we hold.
- to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
- to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
- to restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing).
If you need to contact us regarding any of the above, please do so via the DfE site .
You can read how the DfE handles personal information on its personal information charter.
You can read further information about your data protection rights on the Information Commissioner's website.
Withdrawal of consent
Where we are processing your personal data with your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent. If you change your mind, or you are unhappy with our use of your personal data you can contact DfE.
How to complain
Contact us using our secure online contact form or by writing to:
Ministerial and Public Communications Division
Department for Education
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD
If you wish to contact the DfE’s data protection officer, please use the secure online form or write to the address above.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Last updated
We may need to update this privacy notice periodically so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time. This version was last updated in January 2021.
Further information
Further information can be found at the Education and Skills Funding Agency.