Research into ELATT’s Connected Youth programme: Privacy Information Notice

Data protection legislation and personal data

Data protection legislation determines how, when and why any organisation can process personal data. ‘Personal data’ means any information which can identify someone. ‘Processing’ means any actions performed on personal data, including: collection, storage, alteration or deletion. These laws exist to ensure that your data are managed safely and used responsibly. They also provide you with certain rights in respect of your data and creates a responsibility on the Youth Futures Foundation (YFF) and the research organisations it works with to provide you with certain information.

This privacy notice sets out the legal basis for processing data in relation to this research project, which is being completed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). This includes who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, your legal rights and who you can contact if you have a query or a complaint.

The legal basis for processing personal data

The legal basis under which IES processes personal data and ‘special category data’, such as information about your health and well-being, criminal allegations, proceedings or convictions, racial or ethnic origin, is to fulfil YFF’s legitimate interests as funder of the Connected Youth support from 2021-2023.

This legal justification applies to this research project, which is a process evaluation of the Connected Youth programme of support at ELATT, examining how it works to improve job, training and education outcomes for young people who may have additional needs. The study will involve IES leading analysis of learner data that ELATT collects, and conducting in-depth interviews with Connected Youth programme participants, staff and partner organisations / employers.

IES will analyse an anonymised version of the learner data held by ELATT collected from enrolment to leaving ELATT. IES will receive information covering personal characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity etc), course information (subject, qualification level etc), Connected Youth support received, learning outcomes and destination for all learners eligible for Connected Youth who provide consent. Learner data will be anonymised by ELATT before it is shared with IES, meaning it will not contain any personal details such as your name, address or date of birth. Despite this, you may still be identifiable based on the potentially unique set of information held about you. This data will be transferred and held securely on IES servers. It will not be published in this format at any time.

IES will use the learner data to do the following:

• Understand the experience and outcomes of learners on the ELATT Connected Youth programme
• Select learners to invite to take part in interviews about their experience and outcomes.

If you are selected to be invited to interview, your name and contact details (phone number or email address) will be shared with the IES research team in order to arrange these interviews. This personal information will only be processed for the purposes of completing this research. Participation in the research is completely voluntary – just because you are contacted, does not mean that you have to take part and you can decline the invitation without having to give a reason.

Who will have access to my personal data?

For learners invited to interview, your contact details will be stored on the IES encrypted server, with access restricted solely to members of the research team at IES. Even after these contacts details have been shared with the research team, you are free to withdraw from the research and can decline to take part in an interview without having to give a reason.

If you agree to take part in a research interview, any information you provide will be summarised in an anonymised format – this means we will remove any information that could be used to identify you. 

How will my data be treated?

If you are invited and choose to take part in an interview, the information you give will only be used for purposes of this study. IES will produce progress reports summarising the main findings from the interviews. These will be shared with YFF but is not intended for wider publication, though it could be shared with other stakeholders. Individuals will not be named in the reports, nor will any information be included that could reveal their identity.

When the interviews are completed, we will produce a final report drawing together the findings from the process evaluation. This report will be made publicly available. We will also produce a final report on feasibility for further analysis which will be shared with YFF.

Data protection law requires that personal data are kept for no longer than is necessary. We will anonymise the information you provide as soon as we practically can (i.e. within 2 weeks of the interview date). The personal data we used to contact you will be securely deleted from the IES systems six months after the project is complete (currently estimated to be October 2024).

At the end of the research period, numeric learner data will be transferred to the YFF data depository; that is, information covering personal characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity, whether person has special educational needs or not etc), course information (subject, qualification level etc), Connected Youth support received, learning outcomes and destination. It will not contain any identifiers such as names, address, contact information or the learner code that ELATT uses. The data from the interviews will not be transferred to YFF. The data stored in the YFF data depository will only be used for research purposes that have been approved by YFF.

Who can I contact if I would like to withdraw my interview or learner data?

You have rights under data protection law to make the following requests the personal data held about you that is being processed for this research, including:

■    to request access to this data

■    to amend any incorrect or inaccurate information

■    to restrict or object to your data being processed

■    to destroy this data

■    to move, copy or transfer your data.

You have the right to withdraw the information you have provided as part of the interviews up to 2 weeks after the interview date. After this point the information will have been anonymised and will no longer be treated as personal data.

If you have taken part in an interview but would like your data withdrawn or have consented to share data ELATT hold about you and want to change your mind, please contact: joy.williams@employment-studies.co.uk.

Who can I contact with a query about how my data will be used?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact Joy Williams, Project Manager at IES: 
joy.williams@employment-studies.co.uk.

Who can I contact with a complaint?

Further information on the rights available to you is also available from the Information Commissioner’s Office - the independent body responsible for regulating data protection within the UK. They can also deal with any complaints you may have regarding our use of your data:

■    Tel: 0303 123 1113

■    Email: casework@ico.org.uk

■    Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF