Privacy Policy

Purpose and Scope

As part of its social and legal responsibility, Positive Computing Limited is committed to international compliance with data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies worldwide to all Positive Computing Limited locations and staff based on client sites. This policy based on globally accepted, basic principles on data protection and in particular the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Ensuring data protection is a foundation of trustworthy business relationships and the reputation of the Positive Computing Limited as an attractive employer and partner to our customers.

 

Background to the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)

The General Data Protection Regulation 2016 replaces the EU Data Protection Directive of 1995 and supersedes the laws of individual Member States that were developed in compliance with the Data

Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Its purpose is to protect the “rights and freedoms” of natural persons (i.e. living individuals) and to ensure that personal data is not processed without their knowledge, and, wherever possible, that it is processed with their consent.

Document Format

This document makes references to other documents that form the data protection and information security management systems utilised by Positive Computing Limited. The document will be referenced by name and reference number and can be shared within the Operations Drive, with SOP and Procedures folder.

Policy Statement

1.   Overview

  • The Board of Directors and management of Positive Computing Limited Ltd. and all its subsidiaries, with headquarters located at Ransom, Briff Lane, Reading, RG7 6ST are committed to compliance with all relevant EU and Member State laws in respect of personal data, and the protection of the “rights and freedoms” of individuals whose information Positive Computing Limited collects and processes in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This commitment also extends to all countries in which we operate outside of the UK/EU.
  • Compliance with the GDPR is described by this policy and other relevant policies such as the Information Security Policy, along with connected processes and procedures.
  • The GDPR and this policy apply to all of Positive Computing Limited’s personal data processing functions, including those performed on customers’, clients’, employees’, suppliers’ and partners’ personal data, and any other personal data the organisation processes from any source.
  • This policy applies to all employees, contracts and interested parties of Positive Computing Limited such as outsourced suppliers. Any breach of the GDPR or this policy will be dealt with under Positive Computing Limited’s disciplinary policy and may also be a criminal offence, in which case the matter will be reported as soon as possible to the appropriate authorities.
  • Partners and any third parties working with or for Positive Computing Limited, and who have or may have access to personal data, will be expected to have read, understood and to comply with this policy. No third party may access personal data held by Positive Computing Limited without having first entered into a data confidentiality agreement, which imposes on the third-party obligations no less onerous than those to which Positive Computing Limited is committed, and which gives Positive Computing Limited the right to audit compliance with the agreement.

2.   Responsibilities and roles under GDPR

  • Positive Computing Limited is both a data controller and data processor under the GDPR
  • The Board of Director(s) and all those in managerial or supervisory roles throughout Positive Computing Limited are responsible for developing and encouraging good information handling practices within Positive Computing Limited; responsibilities are set out in individual job descriptions.
  • Data Protection Officer (DPO) Job Description and Data Protection Job Description Responsibilities, a role specified in the GDPR, who is accountable to for the management of personal data within Positive Computing Limited and for ensuring that compliance with data protection legislation and good practice can be demonstrated. This accountability includes:
    • development and implementation of the GDPR as required by this policy; and
    • security and risk management in relation to compliance with the policy.
  • Data Protection Officer (DPO), who the Board of Directors considers to be suitably qualified and experienced, has been appointed to take responsibility for Positive Computing Limited’s compliance with this policy on a day-to-day basis and, in particular, has direct responsibility for ensuring that Positive Computing Limited complies with the GDPR, as do senior managers and supervisors in respect of data processing that takes place within their area of responsibility.
  • The Data Protection Officer has specific responsibilities in respect of procedures and are the first point of call for employees seeking clarification on any aspect of data protection compliance.
  • Compliance with data protection legislation is the responsibility of all employees of Positive Computing Limited who process personal data.
  • Employees of Positive Computing Limited are responsible for ensuring that any personal data about them and supplied by them to Positive Computing Limited is accurate and up-to-date.

3.   Data Protection Principles

All processing of personal data must be conducted in accordance with the data protection principles as set out in Article 5 of the GDPR. Positive Computing Limited’s policies and procedures are designed to ensure compliance with the principles.

  • Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently

Lawful – identify a lawful basis before you can process personal data. These are often referred to as the “conditions for processing”, for example consent.

Fairly – in order for processing to be fair, the data controller has to make certain information available to the data subjects as practicable. This applies whether the personal data was obtained directly from the data subjects or from other sources.

The GDPR has increased requirements about what information should be available to data subjects, which is covered in the ‘Transparency’ requirement.

Transparently – the GDPR includes rules on giving privacy information to data subjects in Articles 12, 13 and 14. These are detailed and specific, placing an emphasis on making privacy notices understandable and accessible. Information must be communicated to the data subject in an intelligible form using clear and plain language.

The specific information that must be provided to the data subject must, as a minimum, include:

  • the identity and the contact details of the controller and, if any, of the controller's representative;
  • the contact details of the Data Protection Officer;
  • the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing;
  • the period for which the personal data will be stored;
  • the existence of the rights to request access, rectification, erasure or to object to the processing, and the conditions (or lack of) relating to exercising these rights, such as whether the lawfulness of previous processing will be affected;
  • the categories of personal data concerned;
  • the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, where applicable;
  • where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a recipient in a third country and the level of protection afforded to the data;
  • any further information necessary to guarantee fair processing.
  • Personal data can only be collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes.
  • Personal data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for processing
    • The Data Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that Positive Computing Limited does not collect information that is not strictly necessary for the purpose for which it is obtained.
    • All data collection forms (electronic or paper-based), including data collection requirements in new information systems, must include a fair processing statement or link to privacy statement and approved by the Data Protection Officer.
    • The Data Protection Officer will ensure that, on an annual basis all data collection methods are reviewed by internal audits to ensure that collected data continues to be adequate, relevant and not excessive
  • Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date with every effort to erase or rectify without delay:
    • Data that is stored by the data controller must be reviewed and updated as necessary. No data should be kept unless it is reasonable to assume that it is accurate.
    • The Data Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that all staff are trained in the importance of collecting accurate data and maintaining it.
    • It is also the responsibility of the data subject to ensure that data held by Positive Computing Limited is accurate and up to date. Completion of a registration or application form by a data subject will include a statement that the data contained therein is accurate at the date of submission.
    • All data subjects should be required to notify Positive Computing Limited of any changes in circumstance to enable personal records to be updated accordingly. Instructions for updating records are contained standard operating procedures. It is the responsibility of Positive Computing Limited to ensure that any notification regarding change of circumstances is recorded and acted upon.
    • The Data Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that appropriate procedures and policies are in place to keep personal data accurate and up to date, taking into account the volume of data collected, the speed with which it might change and any other relevant factors.
    • On at least an annual basis, the Data Protection Officer will review the retention dates of all the personal data processed by Positive Computing Limited, by reference to the data

inventory, and will identify any data that is no longer required in the context of the registered purpose. This data will be securely deleted/destroyed.

  • The Data Protection Officer is responsible for responding to requests for rectification from data subjects within one month. This can be extended to a further two months for complex requests. If Positive Computing Limited decides not to comply with the request, the Data Protection Officer must respond to the data subject to explain its reasoning and inform them of their right to complain to the supervisory authority and seek a judicial remedy.
  • The Data Protection Officer is responsible for making appropriate arrangements that, where third-party organisations may have been passed inaccurate or out-of-date personal data, to inform them that the information is inaccurate and/or out of date and is not to be used to inform decisions about the individuals concerned; and for passing any correction to the personal data to the third party where this is required.
  • Personal data must be kept in a form such that the data subject can be identified only as long as is necessary for processing.
    • Where personal data is retained beyond the processing date, it will be minimised and encrypted in order to protect the identity of the data subject in the event of a data breach.
    • Contractually where Positive Computing Limited has to retain customer data beyond the processing data this will be set out in a contract schedule in agreement with the specific customer.
    • Once personal the data retention date has passed, it must be securely destroyed as set out in this procedure.
    • The Data Protection Officer must specifically approve any data retention that exceeds the retention periods and must ensure that the justification is clearly identified and in line with the requirements of the data protection legislation. This approval must be documented.
  • Personal data must be processed in a manner that ensures the appropriate, security. The Data Protection Officer will carry out a risk assessment considering all the circumstances of Positive Computing Limited’s controlling or processing operations.

In determining appropriateness, the Data Protection Officer should also consider the extent of possible damage or loss that might be caused to individuals (e.g. staff or customers) if a security breach occurs, the effect of any security breach on Positive Computing Limited itself, and any likely reputational damage including the possible loss of customer trust.

When assessing appropriate technical measures, the Data Protection Officer will consider the following:

  • Password protection;
  • Automatic locking of idle terminals;
  • Removal of access rights for USB and other memory media;
  • Virus checking software and firewalls;
  • Role-based access rights including those assigned to temporary staff;
  • Encryption of devices that leave the organisations premises such as laptops;
  • Security of local and wide area networks;
  • Privacy-enhancing technologies such as pseudonymisation and anonymisation;
  • Identifying appropriate international security standards relevant to Positive Computing Limited.

When assessing appropriate organisational measures, the Data Protection Officer will consider the following:

  • The appropriate training levels throughout Positive Computing Limited;
  • Measures that consider the reliability of employees (such as references etc.);
  • The inclusion of data protection in employment contracts;
  • Identification of disciplinary action measures for data breaches;
  • Monitoring of staff for compliance with relevant security standards;
  • Physical access controls to electronic and paper-based records;
  • Adoption of a clear desk policy;
  • Restricting the use of portable electronic devices outside of the workplace;
  • Restricting the use of employee’s own personal devices being used in the workplace;
  • Adopting clear rules about passwords;
  • The imposition of contractual obligations on the importing organisations to take appropriate security measures when transferring data outside the EEA.

These controls have been selected on the basis of identified risks to personal data, and the potential for damage or distress to individuals whose data is being processed.

  • Positive Computing Limited must be able to demonstrate The GDPR compliance with the GDPR’s other principles (accountability)

Positive Computing Limited will demonstrate compliance with the data protection principles by implementing data protection policies, adhering to codes of conduct, implementing technical and organisational measures, as well as adopting techniques such as data protection by design, DPIAs, breach notification procedures and incident response plans.

4.   Data Subjects’ Rights

  • Data subjects have the following rights regarding data processing and the data that is recorded about them:
    • To make subject access requests regarding the nature of information held and to whom it has been disclosed.
    • To prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress.
  • To prevent processing for purposes of direct marketing.
  • To be informed about the mechanics of the automated decision-taking process that will significantly affect them.
  • To not have significant decisions that will affect them taken solely by an automated process.
  • To sue for compensation if they suffer damage by any contravention of the GDPR.
  • To take action to rectify, block, erased, including the right to be forgotten, or destroy inaccurate data.
  • To request the supervisory authority to assess whether any provision of the GDPR has been contravened.
  • To have personal data provided to them in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and the right to have that data transmitted to another controller.
  • To object to any automated profiling that is occurring without consent.
  • Positive Computing Limited ensures that data subjects may exercise these rights:
  • Data subjects may make data access requests; Positive Computing Limited will ensure that its response to the data access request complies with the requirements of the GDPR.
  • Data subjects have the right to complain to Positive Computing Limited related to the processing of their personal data, the handling of a request from a data subject and appeals from a data subject on how complaints have been handled.

5.   Consent

  • Positive Computing Limited understands ‘consent’ to mean that it has been explicitly and freely given, and a specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes that, by a statement or by clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her. The data subject can withdraw their consent at any time.
  • Positive Computing Limited understands ‘consent’ to mean that the data subject has been fully informed of the intended processing and has signified their agreement, while in a fit state of mind to do so and without pressure being exerted upon them. Consent obtained under duress or on the basis of misleading information will not be a valid basis for processing.
  • There must be some active communication between the parties to demonstrate active consent. Consent cannot be inferred from non-response to a communication. The Controller must be able to demonstrate that consent was obtained for the processing operation.
  • For sensitive data, explicit written consent of data subjects must be obtained unless an alternative legitimate basis for processing exists.
  • In most instances, consent to process personal and sensitive data is obtained routinely by Positive Computing Limited using standard consent documents e.g. when a new client signs a contract, or during induction for participants on programmes.

6.   Security of Data

  • All employees are responsible for ensuring that any personal data that Positive Computing Limited holds and for which they are responsible, is kept securely and is not under any conditions disclosed to any third party unless that third party has been specifically authorised by Positive Computing Limited to receive that information and has entered into a confidentiality agreement.
  • All personal data should be accessible only to those who need to use it. All personal data should be treated with the highest security and must be kept:
    • in a lockable room with controlled access; and/or
    • in a locked drawer or filing cabinet; and/or
    • if computerised, password protected in line with corporate requirements and/or
    • stored on (removable) computer media which are encrypted in line with Secure Disposal of Storage.
  • Care must be taken to ensure that PC screens and terminals are not visible except to authorised employees of Positive Computing Limited.
  • Manual records may not be left where they can be accessed by unauthorised personnel and may not be removed from business premises without explicit written authorisation. As soon as manual records are no longer required for day-to-day client support, they must be removed from secure archiving.
  • Manual records that have reached their retention date are to be shredded and disposed of as ‘confidential waste’. Hard drives of redundant PCs are to be removed and immediately destroyed before disposal.
  • Processing of personal data ‘off-site’ presents a potentially greater risk of loss, theft or damage to personal data. Staff must be specifically authorised to process data off-site.

7.   Disclosure of Data

  • Positive Computing Limited must ensure that personal data is not disclosed to unauthorised third parties which includes family members, friends, government bodies, and in certain circumstances, the Police. All employees should exercise caution when asked to disclose personal data held on another individual to a third party. It is important to bear in mind whether or not a disclosure of the information is relevant to, and necessary for, the conduct of Positive Computing Limited’s business.
  • Disclosure of data is permitted with consent for one or more of the following purposes
    • to safeguard national security;
    • prevention or detection of crime including the apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
    • assessment or collection of tax duty;
    • discharge of regulatory functions (includes health, safety and welfare of persons at work);
    • to prevent serious harm to a third party; and
    • to protect the vital interests of the individual, this refers to life and death situations.
  • All requests to provide data for one of these reasons must be supported by appropriate paperwork and all such disclosures must be specifically authorised by the Data Protection Officer.

8.   Retention of and Disposal of Data

  • Positive Computing Limited shall not keep personal data in a form that permits identification of data subjects for longer a period than is necessary, in relation to the purpose(s) for which the data was originally collected.
  • Positive Computing Limited may store data for longer periods if the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to the implementation of appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject.
  • Personal data must be disposed of securely in accordance with the sixth principle of the GDPR – processed in an appropriate manner to maintain security, thereby protecting the “rights and freedoms” of data subjects.

9.   Data Transfers

  • All exports of data from within the European Economic Area (EEA) to non-European Economic Area countries (referred to in the GDPR as ‘third countries’) are unlawful unless there is an appropriate “level of protection for the fundamental rights of the data subjects”.

The transfer of personal data outside of the EEA is prohibited unless one or more of the specified safeguards, or exceptions, apply:

An adequacy decision

The European Commission can and does assess third countries, a territory and/or specific sectors within third countries to assess whether there is an appropriate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of natural persons. In these instances, no authorisation is required.

Countries that are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) but not of the EU are accepted as having met the conditions for an adequacy decision.

A list of countries that currently satisfy the adequacy requirements of the Commission are published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/international-transfers/adequacy/index_en.htm 

Privacy Shield

If Positive Computing Limited wishes to transfer personal data from the EU to an organisation in the United States, it will check that the organisation is signed up with the Privacy Shield framework in the U.S.

Department of Commerce. The obligation applying to companies under the Privacy Shield are contained in the “Privacy Principles”.

In making an assessment of adequacy, Positive Computing Limited will take account of the following factors:

  • the nature of the information being transferred;
  • the country or territory of the origin, and final destination, of the information;
  • how the information will be used and for how long;
  • the laws and practices of the country of the transferee, including relevant codes of practice and international obligations; and
  • the security measures that are to be taken as regards the data in the overseas location.

Binding Corporate Rules

Positive Computing Limited may adopt approved binding corporate rules for the transfer of data outside the EU. This requires submission to the relevant supervisory authority for approval of the rules that Positive Computing Limited is seeking to rely upon.

Model contract clauses

Positive Computing Limited may adopt approved model contract clauses for the transfer of data outside of the EEA. If Positive Computing Limited adopts the model contract clauses approved by the relevant supervisory authority, there is an automatic recognition of adequacy.

Exceptions

In the absence of an adequacy decision, Privacy Shield membership, binding corporate rules and/or model contract clauses, a transfer of personal data to a third country or international organisation shall only take place on one of the following conditions:

  • the data subject has explicitly consented to the proposed transfer, after having been informed of the possible risks of such transfers for the data subject due to the absence of an adequacy decision and appropriate safeguards;
  • the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the data subject and the controller or the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken at the data subject's request;
  • the transfer is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject between the controller and another natural or legal person;
  • the transfer is necessary for important reasons of public interest;
  • the transfer is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and/or

the transfer is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of other persons, where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent.

10.        Information Asset Register / Data Inventory

  • Positive Computing Limited has established a data inventory and data flow process as part of its approach to address risks and opportunities throughout its GDPR compliance project:
    • business processes that use personal data;
    • source of personal data;
    • volume of data subjects;
    • description of each item of personal data;
    • processing activity;
    • maintains the inventory of data categories of personal data processed;
    • documents the purpose(s) for which each category of personal data is used;
    • recipients, and potential recipients, of the personal data;
    • the role of the Organisation Name throughout the data flow;
    • key systems and repositories;
    • any data transfers; and
    • all retention and disposal requirements.
  • Positive Computing Limited is aware of any risks associated with the processing of particular types of personal data.
    • Positive Computing Limited assesses the level of risk to individuals associated with the processing of their personal data. Data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) are carried out in relation to the processing of personal data by Positive Computing Limited, and in relation to processing undertaken by other organisations on behalf of Positive Computing Limited.
    • Positive Computing Limited shall manage any risks identified by the risk assessment in order to reduce the likelihood of a non-conformance with this policy.
    • Where a type of processing, in particular using new technologies and taking into account the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, Positive Computing Limited shall, prior to the processing, carry out a DPIA of the impact of the envisaged processing operations on the protection of personal data. A single DPIA may address a set of similar processing operations that present similar high risks.
  • Where, as a result of a DPIA it is clear that Positive Computing Limited is about to commence processing of personal data that could cause damage and/or distress to the data subjects, the decision as to whether or not Positive Computing Limited may proceed must be escalated for review to the Data Protection Officer.
  • The Data Protection Officer shall, if there are significant concerns, either as to the potential damage or distress or the quantity of data concerned, escalate the matter to the supervisory authority.

11.        Breaches of the Policy

Breaches of this Data Protection Policy or any subsequent instructions or local policies may result in disciplinary action and if appropriate, dismissal.

12.        Related Policies

Information Security Disciplinary Policy

13.        Definitions 

The Definitions used by Positive Computing Limited are drawn from the GDPR.

  • Material scope (Article 2) – the GDPR applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means (i.e. by computer) and to the processing other than by automated means of personal data (i.e. paper records) that form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system.
  • Territorial scope (Article 3) – the GDPR will apply to all controllers that are established in the EU (European Union) who process the personal data of data subjects, in the context of that establishment. It will also apply to controllers outside of the EU that process personal data in order to offer goods and services or monitor the behaviour of data subjects who are resident in the EU.

Article 4 definitions

  • Establishment – the main establishment of the controller in the EU will be the place in which the controller makes the main decisions as to the purpose and means of its data processing activities. The main establishment of a processor in the EU will be its administrative centre. If a controller is based outside the EU, it will have to appoint a representative in the jurisdiction in which the controller operates to act on behalf of the controller and deal with supervisory authorities.
  • Personal data – any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an

the online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

  • Special categories of personal data – personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade-union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.
  • Data controller – the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.
  • Data subject – any living individual who is the subject of personal data held by an organisation.
  • Processing – any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
  • Profiling – is any form of automated processing of personal data intended to evaluate certain

personal aspects relating to a natural person, or to analyse or predict that person’s performance at work, economic situation, location, health, personal preferences, reliability, or behaviour. This definition is linked to the right of the data subject to object to profiling and a right to be informed about the existence of profiling, of measures based on profiling and the envisaged effects of profiling on the individual.

  • Personal data breach – a breach of security leading to the accidental, or unlawful, destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. There is an obligation on the controller to report personal data breaches to the supervisory authority and where the breach is likely to adversely affect the personal data or privacy of the data subject.
  • Data subject consent - means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data.
  • Child – the GDPR defines a child as anyone under the age of 16 years old, although this may be lowered to 13 by EU Member State law. For the purposes of this policy Positive Computing Limited adopts this definition globally. The processing of personal data of a child is only lawful if parental or custodian consent has been obtained. The controller shall make reasonable efforts to verify in such cases that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child.
  • Third-party – a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data.
  • Filing system – any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis.