Confidentiality Policy
About Olymp Group
We are one of the UK’s leading providers of post-secondary education consulting and placement services.
We partner with accredited educational institutions including colleges, universities, and training centres to help our communities to develop professional competencies through certified academic courses. We help individuals to analyse a range of trajectories to their chosen career goal, to successfully secure a place onto a suitable academic course of their choice, as well as to secure funding for the course and appropriate financial support throughout their education.
About this Privacy Notice
This Data Protection Notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal data when you use our services or otherwise make contact with us.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Notice, you can Contact Us.
What is ‘Personal Data’?
We take ‘personal data’ to mean any information about you, such as name, contact, government identifiers, health data, and financial information, for example. ‘Sensitive personal data’ refers to a specific subset of personal data that includes, for instance, information about your ethnic origin and disabilities, among other categories of data.
For the purposes of this Data Protection Notice, ‘personal data’ means any information that does, or can identify you as an individual. Examples include, but are not limited to: your name, date of birth, parents’ names, postal address, photographs of your face, identification numbers (Passport, National Identity, National Insurance, Vehicle Registration, and/or Driving Licence), location data, health data, and economic data, among many other types of information.
‘Sensitive personal data’ refers to a special group of personal data that includes information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic, biometric and health data, as well as information about your sex life or sexual orientation.
Our Privacy Principles
We are committed to protecting your personal data and facilitating your privacy rights. To this end, we adhere to principles relating to processing your personal data responsibly under applicable data protection regulations.
The following principles govern how and why we collect and use your personal data under the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 and the U.K. Data Protection Act 2018:
Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency. We process your personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.
Purpose Limitation. We only collect personal data about you for the specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes listed in this Notice. We do not process your personal data for any other purposes.
Data Minimisation. We only collect personal data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what we need for the purpose for which we collect your data.
We take every reasonable step to ensure that the personal data we collect is accurate and kept up-to-date and give you every opportunity to rectify or erase any inaccuracies.
Storage Limitation. We only keep your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which we collected it.
Integrity and Confidentiality. We take technical and organisational measures to ensure that personal data is adequately protected.
Our Role in Your Privacy
For the purposes of processing your personal data, Olymp Group acts as both a Data Controller and a Data Processor, depending on the nature and purpose of each processing operation that we carry out using your personal data.
Olymp Group as ‘Data Controller’
For the purposes of providing our education consulting and placement services to you, Olymp Group acts as a “Data Processor”, meaning that we process your personal data in accordance with your instructions as our client, and as determined by educational and financial institutions’ application processes in their capacity as “Data Controllers”.
What Data Do We Collect About You and Why?
We collect different types of personal data about you, depending on the nature of your relationship with Olymp Group
Depending on the nature of your relationship with us and the way in which you interact with our organisation, we collect the following categories of personal data, for the specific purposes detailed below.
Our Clients (University Applicants)
In providing our expert services to you in connection to your academic application with educational institutions, we collect the following information about you: Full Name, Date of Birth, Email, Telephone, Location, Postal Address (and proof thereof), Nationality, National Insurance Status/Number, Residency Status, Employment Status, Civil Status, Educational Background, Student Loan Status, Photo Identification (Passport, National Identity Card and/or Driving Licence), Academic Certificate(s) and/or Diploma(s), Personal Statement, Reference Letters, Professional Resume, and any other information that you specifically choose to provide us with through any free textboxes available at any stage of the application process.
Additionally, we also process sensitive personal data about you for the purposes of assisting our clients decide the most appropriate type of financing that they are eligible for, based on their individual circumstances to secure funding for their academic education. This sensitive personal data includes ethnical origin, health data such as disabilities, and marital status.
Where you specifically give us permission to do so, we will additionally use your Name, Email, Telephone, and/or Postal Address to keep you informed about our company and services. You can opt-out of our marketing communications at any time by using the ‘Unsubscribe’ facilities provided as part of our digital marketing campaigns or emailing us about unsubscribing from receiving further marketing communications from us.
Recruitment Candidates
If you are a recruitment candidate applying for employment with us, whether directly or through a third party recruitment platform or agency, we collect the following information about you to facilitate a fair recruitment process by adequately evaluating all factors relevant to your candidacy and communicating the outcome of your application: Full Name, Address, E-mail, Telephone, Employment History, Academic Education, Professional Qualifications, Certifications, and/or Awards, Professional Skills, Reference Information, Salary Expectations, Work Permit/Visa Requirements, and any additional information that you feel may be relevant to your candidacy and choose to provide to us.
Additionally, we will also collect a copy of your national identity card and/or passport and/or proof of (pre-)settlement status, and proof of address such as a utility bill, for example, in order to verify your legal right to reside and work in the United Kingdom.
When providing names and contact information of third-party references in connection with applying for a position with Olymp Group, you represent that you have obtained permission from your references to provide us with their personal information. Any providers we engage during the screening process will be vetted to ensure they have the appropriate privacy and security practices in place.
If you do not provide us with all the requested information, we may not be able to consider your job application.
Business Partners & Vendors
When we have, or are developing a business relationship with you, we collect contact business information, such as: Full Name, Job Titles, Contact Information including Email and Telephone, as well as areas of business interest and potential synergies for future projects.
When receiving or providing services, we also collect payment information, conflict checks and credit reference information (including background checks when appropriate and according to local laws).
If you do not provide us with the information required, we may not be able to do business with you.
Members of General Public
We also collect personal data about members of the general public who interact with us through our ‘Contact Us’ web form, including Full Name, Telephone, and Email, in order to adequately and effectively respond to enquiries regarding our suite of services and expertise.
How Do We Get Your Information?
We typically only collect personal data about you directly from you. We do not collect your information from third-party sources.
Olymp Group does not collect personal data about you from any sources other than yourself. As such, you will be aware of any personal data that we collect about you at all times. Personal data we receive directly or indirectly from you includes:
Contact Registration: Information that you provide when you contact us or use our services to apply to an academic course.
Job Applications: Information that you provide when you apply for a job position with Olymp Group, whether directly or indirectly through third-party recruitment platforms and/or services.
Legal Bases for Data Processing & Use
The purposes for which we collect and use your personal data may vary depending on the type of relationship that you have with us, such as if you are a client, website user, recruitment candidate, business partner or vendor. We only collect and use your personal data when there is a fair and lawful basis for each processing operation, such as when we need to collect and use your data to enter into a contract with you, when we have your valid consent, or a legitimate interest of Olymp Group. Where we rely on legitimate interest to process your personal data, we will specifically detail the nature of the interest we are pursuing.
Contractual Relationship
We process personal data about our business partners, third-party vendors and suppliers, recruitment candidates, and members of the general public for the purposes of entering into a contractual arrangement with them, or providing information requested by them with a view to entering into a contract with them. In all these cases, we rely on the necessity of processing your data for the purpose of entering into a contractual relationship with you.
Individual Consent
We also process personal data about our clients for the purposes of providing them with our expert, education consulting and placement services. We may also use their contact information to distribute promotional material about our company and services.
In these cases, we process personal data relying on individuals’ permission to collect and further process their data. Please note that once you have provided us with consent to process your personal data for any of these purposes, you have the right and opportunity to withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
Legitimate Interest & Balancing Test
We also use your personal data in the context of the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring system that we have installed at our business premises. Video images capturing you while visiting us in person are also considered ‘personal data’. We process these relying on our legitimate interest in preserving health and safety and preventing crime from taking place on our business premises. We also let our visitors know that CCTV is in operation by displaying a clearly visible and readable sign to this effect, along with the details of the system operator.
Balancing test: In all cases where we rely on our legitimate interests to process your personal data, we balance the necessity of each processing operation against your interests, rights, and freedoms. In doing so, we consider the following factors:
The nature of our relationship with you;
Whether your data is particularly sensitive or private;
Whether you would expect us to use your data in this way;
Whether you are likely to object to our processing or find it intrusive;
The possible impact of our processing on you;
Whether the data processed involves children;
Whether you belong to a category of vulnerable individuals;
Whether we can adopt safeguards to minimize the impact of our processing on you; and
Any opportunity we may have to offer you a chance to opt-out of this processing.
To Whom Do We Send Your Data and Why?
We do not send your personal data to third-party recipients, whether within or outside United Kingdom territory, save in limited and exceptional circumstances.
We do not generally send personal data that we collect from you to third parties under any circumstances. Any third parties receiving your personal data, including academic institutions and Student Finance England, will be collecting your personal data directly from yourself upon submitting your application directly with them.
Our services are exclusively limited to providing expert consulting and advisory services in connection with your applications. We will not submit applications on your behalf. While we will support you every step of the way, the decision whether or not to apply, and what specific institutions you choose to apply to are for you to decide and action upon.
We may, however, share your personal data including CCTV records where there is a compelling reason to do so, such as where a crime has taken place and we are under a legal obligation to disclose this information when requested by police investigating the matter.
For How Long We Store Your Personal Data?
We uphold the privacy and confidentiality of your personal data and uphold technical and organisational security measures around our data storage facilities. We do not unnecessarily hold on to, and securely dispose of your personal data records after the purpose of collecting them has been fulfilled.
All personal data that we process in relying on the necessity to enter into or fulfil a contract with you is stored for a period of 6 years. This is permitted by applicable data protection laws and regulations, specifically for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.
We keep recruitment information for up to 5 years for potential future opportunities unless you request that we delete your information sooner. If you are successful and offered an employment with Olymp Group, this information will be retained and transferred to your personnel file and used to manage your employment or other relationship with Olymp Group (e.g. to administer benefits, training, performance reviews, regulatory compliance).
With regards to remaining personal data, the rest of retention periods are determined by the purposes defined above for which the information is collected and used, for instance when it is necessary to continue providing a service or to comply with our professional obligations, taking into account applicable data protection laws, and legal requirements, including tax and anti-money laundering regulations.
We will delete or block your personal data after these retention periods, unless you authorise us to keep it, or when it is necessary to enforce our agreements or resolve disputes. These storage terms apply unless agreed otherwise in a contract with Olymp Group or in applicable legislation.
Your Data Protection Rights
If you are a national of, or you reside in, or otherwise find yourself in a European Economic Area (EEA) country, Olymp Group is committed to facilitating the exercise of your privacy rights as granted by applicable data protection laws and regulations. You can contact us at any time to exercise your rights or discuss your privacy questions or concerns.
European and British data protection regulation provide you with the following privacy rights:
Right to Information about whether, what, and how we process personal data about you;
Right to Access a copy of the personal data that we hold about you;
Data Portability gives you the right to request us to provide a copy of your data to a third-party, instead of yourself, such as when you would like to change service providers;
Restriction of Processing, which allows you to request us to stop specific processing operations, or all processing operations using your personal data altogether;
Permanent erasure, meaning that you can request us to permanently erase your personal data from our records;
Right to Object and Withdraw Consent to Processing at Any Time, means that you can object to specific processing operations and withdraw any consent that you have previously provided us with to process your personal data, in which case all processing operations based on consent must stop. For example, we only send you marketing communications with your consent. You have the right to unsubscribe from our marketing campaigns at any time by using the ‘Unsubscribe’ facility that we provide with each communication.
Right to Complain to Data Protection Authorities, should you feel concerned about our data protection practices and/or unsatisfied with our response to you.
Contact Us About Your Privacy
We welcome any questions or concerns that you may have about this Data Protection Notice, or our approach to privacy, as well as any requests to exercise your privacy rights.
Whether you have questions or concerns about any of the above, or you would simply like to exercise your data protection rights, our dedicated Privacy Office, including our Data Protection Officer, is here to help:
info@olympgroup.co.uk
How to Complain About Your Privacy
You also have the right to complain to the data protection authorities about our approach to privacy, although we encourage you to try and let us help you first.
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, we advise that you Contact Us in the first instance as we welcome the opportunity to make things right for you. If you are still not happy with our response to your data protection concerns or complaint, you are also welcome to complain to the national data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House,Water Lane,Wilmslow,Cheshire,SK9 5AF,ICO Helpline: 0303 123 1113, ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
Changes to this Notice
We reserve the right to modify this Data Protection Notice at any time. We will duly inform you of any changes.
This Privacy Policy may be amended by us at any time. If we make any material changes to how we treat personal data, we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on our website. The time stamp you see on the policy will indicate the last date it was revised.
This Policy was last updated on 10/10/2023.
