Northern Ireland Assembly Commission: Research Matters Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice sets out how the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission uses and protects the information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, in relation to the Research Matters blog, www.assemblyresearchmatters.org. Please read this notice to understand our views and practices regarding personal data and how we will treat it.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the ‘data controller’ is:
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission, Parliament Buildings, Ballymiscaw, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3XX.
What we collect
This notice applies to information we collect, hold and manage in relation to:
- Research Matters email subscribers;
- Contact form for enquiries about Research Matters content, and
- Use of ‘cookies’ on the Research Matters
Why are you processing my personal information?
Email subscribers
Users can sign up to receive an email each time a new post is published on the blog. This is done via an application within the WordPress platform. During the process of signing up, users must indicate their consent via a confirmation email which is sent to them. Their email address is then held within the system only for the purposes of an automated email being sent to notify of new content; email addresses will not be used for any other purpose. A list of email addresses (but no other personal data) is accessible to a small number of staff working for the Northern Ireland Assembly via a password login.
Users are provided with the opportunity to unsubscribe to email updates within a message at the footer of every email. Alternatively, users can also visit the WordPress subscription management page and enter their email address, to be able to change their subscription options.
Contact form
Users of Research Matters can send feedback to the blog administrators via a contact web form. Emails received by the blog administrators within the Northern Ireland Assembly will only be held for the period of time it takes to answer the query and will then be deleted. No personal data will be gathered from these emails.
Cookies
Users of Research Matters are asked via an automated message if they consent to cookies being collected. We collect information via cookies so that we can find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. We collect this information in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting any part of Research Matters. We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any personally identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and we will explain what we intend to do with it.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation.
The table below explains the cookies we use and why:
| Cookie Name | Description | Duration for which the cookie is retained |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | To identify the unique session of each user on our website | session |
| SESS | To ensure that a user is recognised when they move from page to page within the site and that any information they have entered is remembered. | session |
| _utma | This cookie keeps track of the number of times a visitor has been to the site pertaining to the cookie, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred. Google Analytics uses the information from this cookie to calculate things like Days and Visits to purchase. | permanent |
| _utmb | utmb is a Google Analytics cookie. It takes a timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor enters a site. | session |
| _utmc | utmc takes a timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves a site. | 30 mins |
| uvc | The uvc cookie is one of the cookies used to track usage of the Addthis.com service. It allows a user to share a webpage with many social sites. | 1 day |
| catAccCookies | This is a cookie set by the UK cookie consent plugin to record that a visitor has accepted the fact that the site uses cookies. | 30 days |
| _utmz | This keeps track of where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keyword was used, and where the user was in the world when they accessed a website. This cookie is how Google Analytics knows to whom and to what source / medium / keyword to assign the credit for a Goal Conversion or an Ecommerce Transaction. | 6 months |
None of the cookies collected by Research Matters are used as ‘targeting cookies’, that is, cookies designed to collect information about your browsing habits in order to make advertising relevant to you and your interests.
While locational information derived from your IP address is collected, it is not possible for the administrators of Research Matters to identify your precise IP address. We would not be able to discover your exact location and would not seek to do so.
Use of cookies and how to control and delete cookies
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the Research Matters blog, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how. Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual. Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of the website.
Third party cookies Google Analytics
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. Google Analytics sets cookies on the Research Matters website on its behalf in order to compile reports for us on user activity.
Google may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using the Research Matters website and consenting to the collection of cookie data, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
How to reject or delete this cookie
If you would like more information about the cookies used by Google Analytics, as well as information on how to opt-out, please see the Google privacy policy.
Cookies set by third party sites
When you visit a page with content embedded from, for example, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube or Twitter, you may be presented with cookies from these websites. The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission does not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the relevant third party website for more information about these. We would urge you to review these as they will govern the use of information you submit or which is collected by cookies whilst visiting these websites.
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites download the Google Analytics opt-out tool.
What is the lawful basis for processing my personal information?
Article 6 (page 36) of the General Data Protection Regulation sets out the legal basis for legitimate processing of personal data. In the case of Research Matters, the legal basis is as follows:
‘(a) the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes’.
Do you share my personal data with anyone else?
As referred to above, subscriber email addresses are held within our WordPress account but can only be accessed by the Research Matters administrators via a password. These email addresses will not be shared with anyone else. Automattic, the parent company responsible for WordPress, has created a page setting out how it intends to meet the requirements of GDPR, including how it handles data on behalf of others.
As the Research Matters website uses a WordPress platform, the email addresses of subscribers may be transferred to a WordPress server for storage. Further details of WordPress compliance with data protection legislation are available on their website. A wider privacy policy from WordPress is also available.
Contact information supplied via the Research Matters contact form will not be shared with any other service. Depending on the nature of the enquiry, it may be necessary to share the substance of a contact email with other Assembly staff in order to respond to the enquirer with the correct information.
Cookie data is processed by Google Analytics. As referred to above, Google Analytics has its own privacy policy.
How long do you keep my personal data?
Email subscribers
Email addresses will be held for as long as the subscriber wishes to keep being informed of new blog content; subscribers can unsubscribe at any time and will be provided with the option of doing so at the footer of every notification email.
Contact information
Contact information supplied via the contact webform will only be retained for as long as is required to answer the query; thereafter, it will be deleted immediately.
Cookies
Changes to this Privacy Notice
This Privacy Notice will be reviewed and updated regularly. It was last updated on 18 April 2018.
What rights do I have?
- You have the right to obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and access to your personal data;
- You are entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
- You have a right to have personal data erased and to prevent processing, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to data portability, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to object to processing, in specific circumstances; and
- You have rights in relation to automated decision making and
Where can I obtain further information?
If you want to request information about this Privacy Notice, or if you would like to make an enquiry about personal information we may hold about you, please contact us at:
Data Controller Name: Northern Ireland Assembly Commission
Address: Parliament Buildings, Ballymiscaw, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3XX
Information Standards Officer: Martina Dalton
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 028 90 521147
If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
Last updated: 23.1.2020
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