ISSAC Privacy Notice

How the International Student Support, Advice & Compliance (ISSAC) team stores and shares confidential information.

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How we collect and store your information

The information that you provide will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Your personal data will be collected and processed for the purposes of your immigration advice and compliance.

ISSAC records all  interactions with the team and correspondence on the University's Corporate Information System (CIS).

We also save electronic copies of the following documents securely:

  • Documents and supporting evidence relevant to your immigration case (in line with the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA ) code of standards)
  • Information we are required to hold due to our responsibilities as Student visa licensed sponsor, for example, passport and visa information that is evidence of your right to study in the UK. Refer to this page for more information.

The personal data that you provide the University of Sheffield will be held in compliance with our Retention Schedule. 

The ISSAC team processes your data under a number of lawful bases, found in Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulations. These bases are stated below:

  • You have given consent to the processing of your personal data for a specific purpose
  • Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are the party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract
  • Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the University is subject
  • Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the University

Sharing your information

ISSAC will not disclose your personal data to any external third party, other than where you have given us permission to do so, unless there is a legal basis for us to do so, or where we are required by law. 

We may share your personal data with other internal departments including relevant academic departments where appropriate.

Any advice provided to you by ISSAC relates to your individual case only and it may not be applicable to anyone else, inside or outside of the University of Sheffield. Therefore, we request that you do not share the advice you receive with others. We also request that you do not record your meetings and conversations with ISSAC unless we have given you specific authorisation from us to do so in advance of the interaction.

By engaging with the ISSAC team, you agree to the confidentiality procedures outlined on this page.

Your rights

You have the right to:

  • request a copy of the information we hold about you
  • withdraw your consent (where your consent is the legal basis of our processing)
  • have inaccuracies in the personal data that we hold about you rectified
  • get your data deleted
  • request that the processing of your personal data be restricted
  • object to certain processing activities
  • complain to the Information Commissioner's Office about the way we process your personal data 

You also have the right to object to the use and disclosure of confidential information that identifies you. This may mean the support we can provide is limited, but we will inform you if your decision has implications for the support you will receive.

In certain circumstances, if you have previously consented to your information being shared with a third party, such as UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), once the University has shared your personal details with them, this action cannot be undone. For example:

  • If you apply for a Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) number to make a visa application, your personal information will be recorded on UKVI’s Sponsor Management System (SMS) once the University has entered them before requesting the CAS.
  • If you provide consent for ISSAC to send a query to the University’s account manager at UKVI or the ATAS Team at the FCDO on your behalf, your personal information will be received by, and available to, these bodies once the query has been submitted.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email our head of service: andrew.burton@sheffield.ac.uk.

Further information

For more information - including information on how to contact the University’s Data Protection Team - refer to the University’s Privacy Notice on student data for prospective, current and former students.