Introduction
This is the privacy policy of SciFest CLG. The company’s registration number is 517787 and it is a registered charity with registration number CHY20478. The company is registered with the Charities Regulator, RCN 20081270. We respect your privacy and comply with our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
We are committed to safeguarding your data while also ensuring you obtain the maximum benefit from the use of our services. If you have any particular queries concerning our use of your personal information please contact us by e-mail at info@scifest.ie. We will deal with your query as expeditiously as possible. We reserve the right to take such measures as we see fit to verify the identity of persons making such enquiries.
To apprise yourself of your rights and our obligations to you in regard to the processing and control of your personal data please read the information provided at http://gdprandyou.ie/individuals/.
Collection of Data
We collect and process personal information about you from your use of our services. You may give us information about you by:
- registering on the SciFest@College online entry system
- completing a SciFest@College entry form
- completing a SciFest@School registration form
- completing a SciFest National Final registration form
- joining our Alumni Association
- registering your availability to act as a judge at a SciFest event
- corresponding with us via the 'Contact Us' section of our website or by email to one of the email addresses listed on the website
The information you give us may, depending on context, include some or all of the following data: your name, email address, phone number, age, school name and address. When providing data of this nature to avail of a particular service you will be asked to agree to the use of the data as described below.
You may also send us information by completing online questionnaires. This information may include your computer’s IP address but no other personal information. Data provided in this way is anonymised and used purely for evaluation and statistical purposes.
In addition to the information you provide to us we also collect data using cookies. Please see our cookie policy for further information.
Use of Data
We will use the data which we collect to provide you with the information and services that you request from us and may also send future correspondence in relation to your query and details about our programme that we consider may be of interest to you. You can unsubscribe from this correspondence at any time by emailing us at info@scifest.ie.
Except as described in the following paragraphs we will not share your personal data with any third party unless required to do so by a lawful authority.
The SciFest@College fairs are organised and hosted at 16 separate regional venues by the Dundalk Institute of Technology, TU Dublin, MTU, TUS, ATU, SETU, DCU and St Mary’s College, Derry. Teachers’ contact details, including email addresses and phone numbers, are shared with the organisers at the relevant venue or venues for the purpose of organising the SciFest fair at the venue. Students’ entry data is similarly shared with the regional organisers. The organisers are required to delete this data when it is no longer required in relation to hosting the fairs.
Storage of Data
The SciFest@College online entry system is maintained and hosted by the Business Excellence Institute (BEX). When you register as a teacher on the system your details are stored on the Business Excellence Institute’s secure servers and copied to a SciFest server. Data provided by students entering projects in a SciFest@College fair is also stored on these servers. As a teacher, in order to obviate the need to re-register each year, your data is retained until you ask for it to be removed; you can do this by sending an email to info@scifest.ie. Student data is deleted from the BEX servers as soon as practicable after the entry date. The BEX privacy statement may be viewed here.
Teacher and student data may be retained by SciFest for statistical, scientific and historical research purposes and for archiving in the public interest. Teachers, and students or their guardians, may request the deletion of this data at any time by emailing info@scifest.ie.
Teacher data collected as part of the SciFest@School programme is retained to facilitate an ongoing service to the schools concerned. You may have this data removed or amended at any time by emailing info@scifest.ie.
Members of the Alumni Association and members of the judging panel may have their data removed at any time by emailing info@scifest.ie.
We use Microsoft Office 365 to share data within the organisation The Microsoft privacy statement may be viewed here. Project materials uploaded to our website as part of a judging process are collected using Google Drive and Jotform; for details of relevant privacy procedures please see here and here, respectively.
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the security of your data. However, data transmission over the internet can never be 100% secure and we cannot provide an absolute guarantee against the action of hackers or other third parties of mal-intent, either in relation to our own servers or those of our service providers.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legislation or for other reasons. The amended document will be posted on our website as soon as practicable. As we may not be able to advise you of changes in advance it is suggested that you view this policy before submitting new data to SciFest.
This policy was last modified on 12 April 2021.