Privacy Policy

Introduction

The OPITO Group (“OPITO”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is made up of different legal entities. This privacy policy is issued on behalf of the OPITO Group so when we mention “OPITO”, “we”, “us” or “our” in the privacy policy, we are referring to the relevant company in the OPITO Group. OPITO Limited is the controller and responsible for this website.

OPITO is strongly committed to protecting personal data. This privacy policy describes why and how we collect and use personal data and provides information about individuals’ rights. It applies to personal data provided to us, both by individuals themselves or by others. We may use personal data provided to us for any of the purposes described in this privacy policy or as otherwise stated at the point of collection. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.

Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable living person. OPITO processes personal data for numerous purposes, and the means of collection, lawful basis of processing, use, disclosure, and retention periods for each purpose may differ.

When collecting and using personal data, our policy is to be transparent about why and how we process personal data. To find out more about our specific processing activities, please go to the relevant sections of this policy.

Our processing activities

To find out more please go to the sections that are relevant to you at the bottom of this policy, the available sections are:

Learner data collation and retention of OPITO approved course certification
Business contacts
Individuals who use our applications (including, without limit, Modern Apprentice applications and Open Learning applications)
Individuals whose personal data we obtain in connection with providing services to our stakeholders (including, without limit, where we receive personal data from Centres that are seeking approval/ accreditation to become one of our approved Centres)
Others who get in touch with us
Recruitment applicants
Staff and apprentices
Suppliers (including sub-contractors and individuals associated with our suppliers and sub-contractors)
Visitors to our offices
Visitors to our website

Security

We take the security of all the personal data we hold very seriously. We have a framework of policies, procedures and training in place covering data protection, confidentiality and security and regularly review the appropriateness of the measures we have in place to keep the data we hold secure. We have put in place appropriate technical, organisational and security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. If you have successfully completed OPITO approved training or assessment, your name and associated certification status will be publicly available for verification of this with us as an awarding organisation via our online certificate validation checker (subject to you sharing these details or where you authorise such parties to verify your OPITO approved training).

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

Reporting of Security Breaches

In the event you become aware of a security breach or perceive one may have happened , please raise this immediately with the Data Protection Officer (data.protection@opito.com or +44 1224 787800)

When and how we share personal data and locations of processing

We will only share personal data with others when we are legally permitted to do so. When we share data with others, we put technological, operational and security mechanisms in place to protect the data and to comply with our data protection, confidentiality and security standards.

We use third parties located in other countries to help us run our business. As a result, personal data may be transferred outside the countries where we and our stakeholders are located. This includes to countries outside the UK and European Union ("EU") and to countries that do not have laws that provide specific protection for personal data. We have taken steps to ensure all personal data is provided with adequate protection and that all transfers of personal data outside the EU are done lawfully. Where we transfer personal data outside of the UK or EU to a country not determined by the UK or European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data, the transfers will be under an agreement which covers the requirements for the transfer of personal data outside the UK or EU respectively, such as the European Commission approved standard contractual clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement and Addendum to the European Commission approved standard contractual clauses.

Personal data held by us may be transferred to:

Third-party organisations that provide applications/functionality, data processing or IT services to us

We use third parties to support us in providing our services and to help provide, run and manage our internal IT systems. For example, providers of information technology, cloud based Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS") providers, identity management, website hosting and management, data analysis, data back-up, security and storage services.

Third-party organisations that otherwise assist us in providing services, information or products

Third-party Centres who have received OPITO accreditation

We will only share personal data with third-party Centres for the purpose of the training and assessment that they will be undertaking for the relevant data subject.

Auditors and other professional advisers

Law enforcement or other government and regulatory agencies or to other third parties as required by, and in accordance with, applicable law or regulation

Occasionally, we may receive requests from third parties with authority to obtain disclosure of personal data, such as to check that we are complying with applicable law and regulation, to investigate an alleged crime, to establish, exercise or defend legal rights. We will only fulfil requests for personal data where we are permitted to do so in accordance with applicable law or regulation.

Third-parties who have a legitimate interest in accessing your personal data

Third-parties may have a legitimate interest in or be required to ascertain your certification status to enable them to provide services to you and vice versa. This includes access to your name and associated certification status which is made publicly available via our online certificate validation checker. If you do not want your data included in our awarding organisation global training repository and accessed via our online verification tool please email us at data.protection@opito.com. Removal of your information from this global training repository may impact the ability of third parties to provide services to you and vice versa.

Changes to this privacy policy

We recognise that transparency is an ongoing responsibility so we will keep this privacy policy under regular review. We recommend that you check back from time to time on this website for any updates.

This privacy policy was last updated in August 2023.

Data controller and contact information

The data controller for this website is OPITO Limited (a limited company registered in Scotland under registration no. SC152175 and with its registration address at Minerva House, Bruntland Road, Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, AB12 4QL). When you purchase a service from the OPITO Group or otherwise enter into a contract or arrangement with a member of the OPITO Group, we will let you know which OPITO Group entity will be the controller for your data.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how and why we process personal data, please contact us at:

Data Protection
OPITO
Minerva House
Portlethen
Aberdeenshire
AB12 4QL

Email: data.protection@opito.com

Telephone: 01224 787800

Individuals’ rights and how to exercise them

Individuals have certain rights over their personal data and data controllers are responsible for fulfilling these rights. Where we decide how and why personal data is processed, we are a data controller and include further information about the rights that individuals have and how to exercise them below.

Right of access to personal data

You have a right of access to personal data held by us as a data controller. This right may be exercised by emailing us at data.protection@opito.com. We will aim to respond to any requests for information promptly, and in any event within the legally required time limit of 30 days.

Right to rectification of personal data

To update personal data held by us, you may email us at data.protection@opito.com or, where appropriate, amending the personal details held on relevant applications with which you registered. When practically possible, once we are informed that any personal data processed by us is no longer accurate, we will make corrections (where appropriate) based on your updated information within 30 days. We may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

Right to erasure

In certain situations, you have the right to request us to erase your personal data. To request the erasure of your data please email us at data.protection@opito.com, we will respond to your request within 30 days and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will delete your data.

Right to restrict processing

In certain situations, you have the right to request the restriction of processing to your personal data. To request that processing of your data is restricted please email us at data.protection@opito.com, we will respond to your request within 30 days and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will continue to store the personal data, but not use it.

Right of data portability

You have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller or to you. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you. If you have any questions regarding this please email us at data.protection@opito.com.

Right to object

This right enables you to object to us processing your personal data where we do so for one of the following four reasons: (i) our legitimate interests; (ii) to enable us to perform a task in the public interest or exercise official authority; (iii) to send you direct marketing materials; and (iv) for scientific, historical, research, or statistical purposes. To object to the processing of your data please email us at data.protection@opito.com.

Right to avoid automated decision-making

This right enables you to contest a decision made about you based on automated processing, currently OPITO does not employ any automated decision-making processes. If you have any questions regarding this please email us at data.protection@opito.com.

Right to withdrawal of consent

Where we process personal data based on consent, individuals have a right to withdraw consent at any time. We do not generally process personal data based on consent (as we can usually rely on another legal basis). To withdraw consent for receiving an email from an OPITO marketing list, please click on the unsubscribe link in the relevant email received from us, or for any other matters please email us at data.protection@opito.com.

Complaints

We hope that you won’t ever need to, but if you do want to complain about our use of personal data, please send an email with the details of your complaint to data.protection@opito.com. We will look into and respond to any complaints we receive.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (“ICO”) (the UK data protection regulator). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance. For further information on your rights and how to complain to the ICO, please refer to the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk) or you can contact them in the following ways:

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

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Further Information on Processing Activities:

Learner data collation and retention of OPITO approved course certification

Collection of personal data

OPITO processes personal data about individual learner achievements.

The collection of personal data about learners will include name, date of birth, system unique identifiers and a list of the individual learner’s OPITO accredited course achievements.

Use of personal data

Personal data relating to learners may be visible to and used by OPITO for:

Administering, managing and maintain a global training repository as a recognised awarding organisation;
Provide verification of learning achievements which may include full training history to employers or other third parties who need to know your training status to provide you with services, employment, work or to obtain services from you; and
Collating the learners’ achievements and making them directly accessible to the learner via applications managed by us (further details below).

OPITO does not sell or otherwise release the personal data that it holds to third parties for the purpose of allowing them to market their products and services under any circumstances.

Data retention

Personal data will be retained by OPITO for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out above (e.g. for as long as we have, or need to keep a record of, a learner’s achievements.)

Business contacts

Collection of personal data

OPITO processes personal data about contacts (existing and potential OPITO stakeholders and/or individuals associated with them).

The collection of personal data about contacts will include name, employer name, contact title, phone, email and other business contact details.

Use of personal data

Personal data relating to business contacts may be visible to and used by OPITO for:

Administering, managing and developing our businesses and services;
Providing information about us and our range of services;
Making contact information available to OPITO personnel, and
Describing the nature of a contact’s relationship with OPITO.

OPITO does not sell or otherwise release the personal data that it holds to third parties for the purpose of allowing them to market their products and services under any circumstances.

Data retention

Personal data will be retained by OPITO for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out above (e.g. for as long as we have, or need to keep a record of, a relationship with a business contact).

Individuals who use our applications

We provide external users access to the applications which are managed by us. Such applications will contain their own privacy policy explaining why and how personal data is collected and processed by those applications. We encourage individuals using our applications to refer to the privacy policies available on those applications.

Individuals whose personal data we obtain in connection with providing services to our stakeholders

Collection of personal data

Our policy is to collect only the personal data necessary for agreed purposes and we ask the applicable organisations only to share personal data where it is strictly needed for those purposes.

We collect and use contact details in order to manage and maintain our relationship with those individuals. Please see the Business contacts section of this privacy policy for more information about our processing of this type of data.

Given the diversity of the services we provide to stakeholders, we process many categories of personal data, including:

Information about management and employees, including the experience and qualifications of instructors at OPITO approved training providers and competency management system organisations;
Training records of delegates who have completed OPITO approved training, assessments and programmes;
Contact details, and
Business activities.

Use of personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

Providing global standards, qualifications, accreditation, certification and other associated services;
Maintaining your training records and learner registrations forms where you have provisioned learning direct from OPITO;
Maintaining your OPITO approved certifications in a global training repository; and
Providing access to your certification status via a publicly accessible online certificate validation tool.

We provide a diverse range of services. Some of our services require us to process personal data in order to provide approval of training, advice and deliverables:

Administering, managing and developing our businesses and services

We process personal data in order to run our business, including:

Managing our relationship with stakeholders;
Developing our businesses and services (such as identifying stakeholder needs and improvements in service delivery);
Maintaining and using IT systems;
Hosting or facilitating the hosting of events;
Administering and managing our website and systems and applications, and
Security, quality and risk management activities.

We have security measures in place to protect personal data, which involve detecting, investigating and resolving security threats. Personal data may be processed as part of the security monitoring that we undertake; for example, automated scans to identify harmful emails. We monitor the services provided to stakeholders for quality purposes, which may involve processing personal data stored on the relevant stakeholder file. We have policies and procedures in place to monitor the quality of our services and manage risks in relation to stakeholder engagements. We collect and hold personal data as part of our stakeholder engagement and acceptance procedures. As part of our stakeholder review and engagement acceptance, we carry out searches using publicly available sources (such as internet searches and sanctions lists) to identify politically exposed persons and heightened risk individuals and organisations and check that there are no issues that would prevent us from working with a particular stakeholder (such as sanctions, criminal convictions (including in respect of company directors), conduct or other reputational issues).

Complying with any requirement of law, regulation or a professional body of which we are a member

As with any provider of services, we are subject to legal, regulatory and professional obligations. We need to keep certain records to demonstrate that our services are provided in compliance with those obligations and those records may contain personal data.

We are continually looking for ways to help our stakeholders and improve our business and services. Where agreed with our stakeholders, we may use information that we receive in the course of providing services for other lawful purposes, including analysis to better understand a particular issue, industry or sector, provide insights back to our stakeholders, to improve our business, service delivery and offerings and to develop new services and offerings. To the extent that the information that we receive in the course of providing services contains personal data, we will remove the personal data prior to using the information for these purposes.

Data retention

We retain the personal data processed by us for as long as is considered necessary for the purpose for which it was collected (including as required by applicable law or regulation).

Personal data may be held for longer periods where extended retention periods are required by law or regulation and in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.

Others who get in touch with us

We collect personal data when an individual gets in touch with us with a question, complaint, comment or feedback (such as name, contact details and contents of the communication). In these cases, the individual is in control of the personal data shared with us and we will only use the data for the purpose of responding to the communication.

Recruitment applicants

When applying online for a role at OPITO via the vacancies page on the website, applicants are able to provide their personal details, a CV and any further information that they choose to submit. The personal data supplied is only used as part of the relevant recruitment process and the information of unsuccessful applicants is retained for 6 months after the end of the process.

Staff and apprentices

We collect personal data concerning our own personnel (both staff and apprentices participating in the Oil and Gas Technical Apprentice Programme (“OGTAP”) scheme) as part of the administration, management and promotion of our business activities.

Staff and apprentices should refer to the Data Protection section of the Employee Handbook and the Apprentice Handbook for information on why and how personal data is collected and processed.

Suppliers (including subcontractors and individuals associated with our suppliers and subcontractors)

Collection of personal data

We collect and process personal data about our suppliers (including subcontractors and individuals associated with our suppliers and subcontractors) in order to manage the relationship, contract, to receive services from our suppliers and, where relevant, to provide services to our stakeholders.

Use of personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

Receiving services

We process personal data in relation to our suppliers and their staff as necessary to receive the services. For example, where a supplier is providing us with facilities management or other outsourced services, we will process personal data about those individuals that are providing services to us.

Providing services to stakeholders

Where a supplier is helping us to deliver services to our stakeholders, we process personal data about the individuals involved in providing the services in order to administer and manage our relationship with the supplier and the relevant individuals and to provide such services to our stakeholders (for example, where our supplier is providing people to work with us as part of an OPITO approvals team providing services to our stakeholders).

Administering, managing and developing our businesses and services

We process personal data in order to run our business, including:

Managing our relationship with suppliers;
Developing our businesses and services (such as identifying stakeholder needs and improvements in service delivery);
Maintaining and using IT systems;
Hosting or facilitating the hosting of events;
Administering and managing our website and systems and applications, and
Security, quality and risk management activities.

We have technical, organisational and security measures in place to protect our own and our stakeholders’ information (including personal data), which involve detecting, investigating and resolving security threats. Personal data may be processed as part of the security monitoring that we undertake; for example, automated scans to identify harmful emails. We have policies and procedures in place to monitor the quality of our services and manage risks in relation to our suppliers. We collect and hold personal data as part of our supplier contracting procedures. We monitor the services provided for quality purposes, which may involve processing personal data.

Providing information about us and our range of services

Unless we are asked not to, we use business contact details to provide information that we think will be of interest about us and our services. For example, industry updates and insights, other services that may be relevant and invites to events.

Complying with any requirement of law, regulation or a professional body of which we are a member

Data retention

We retain the personal data processed by us for as long as is considered necessary for the purpose for which it was collected (including as required by applicable law or regulation).

Personal data may be held for longer periods where extended retention periods are required by law or regulation and in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.

Visitors to our offices

We require visitors to our office to sign in and record any vehicles in the car park at reception and keep a record of visitors for a short period of time. Our visitor records are securely stored and only accessible on a need-to-know basis (e.g. if an issue arises).

We have external CCTV at our office buildings and, where applicable, there are signs showing that CCTV is in operation. The images captured are securely stored and only accessed on a need to know basis (e.g. to look into an incident). CCTV recordings are typically automatically overwritten after a short period of time unless an issue is identified that requires investigation.

Visitors to our website

Collection of personal data

Visitors to our website are generally in control of the personal data shared with us. We may capture limited personal data automatically via the use of cookies on our website. Please see the section on Cookies below for more information.

We receive personal data, such as name, title, company address, email address, and telephone numbers, from website visitors; for example when an individual subscribes to updates from us.

We ask that you do not provide sensitive information (such as race or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; physical or mental health; genetic data; biometric data; sexual life or sexual orientation; and, criminal records) to us when using our website; if you choose to provide sensitive information to us for any reason, the act of doing so constitutes your explicit consent for us to collect and use that information in the ways described in this privacy policy or as described at the point where you choose to disclose this information.

Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy policies. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

Cookies

We use small text files called ‘cookies’ which are placed on your hard drives to assist in personalising and enriching your browsing experience by displaying content that is more likely to be relevant and of interest to you. The use of cookies is standard operating procedure for most websites. However, if you are uncomfortable with the use of cookies, most browsers now permit users to opt-out of receiving them. You need to accept cookies in order register on our website. You may find other functionality in the website impaired if you disable cookies. After termination of the visit to our site, you can always delete the cookie from your system if you wish.

You can find out more details regarding our use of cookies on our Cookies page.

Use of personal data

When a visitor provides personal data to us, we will use it for the purposes for which it was provided to us as stated at point of collection (or as obvious from the context of the collection). Typically, personal data is collected to:

Register for certain areas of the site;
Subscribe to updates;
Enquire for further information;
Distribute requested reference materials;
Submit CV;
Monitor and enforce compliance with our terms and conditions for use of our website, and
Administer and manage our website, including confirming and authenticating identity and preventing unauthorised access to restricted areas, premium content or other services limited to registered users; and aggregate data for website analytics and improvements.

Unless we are asked not to, we may also use your data to contact you with information about OPITO’s business, services and events, and other information which may be of interest to you. Should visitors subsequently choose to unsubscribe from mailing lists or any registrations, we will provide instructions on the appropriate webpage, in our communication to the individual, or the individual may contact us by email to data.protection@opito.com.

Our website does not collect or compile personal data for the dissemination or sale to outside parties for consumer marketing purposes or host mailings on behalf of third parties. If there is an instance where such information may be shared with a party that is not an OPITO group member, the visitor will be asked for their consent beforehand.

Data retention

Personal data collected via our website will be retained by us for as long as it is necessary (e.g. for as long as we have a relationship with the relevant individual).

In relation to all of the sections above, we may retain your personal data for a longer period than as set out in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.