Data Protection
The University of Reading needs to use and store certain information about its employees, students and others to allow it to effectively carry out its business. For example, it needs to monitor performance, record achievements, and implement health and safety requirements. It is also necessary to process and keep information so that staff can be recruited and paid, courses organised and to comply with legal obligations to funding bodies and government.
The information the University processes includes personal data. The University must process personal data according to the Data Protection Principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. This requires the University to collect and use data fairly, to store it safely and not to disclose it to any other person unlawfully. The requirement for the University to comply with this Act, in protecting the rights and privacy of individuals, imposes certain responsibilities on its staff, students and others that they should fully understand; it also sets out certain rights for them of which they should be aware.
The University of Reading has developed its Data Protection Policy (PDF-159KB) to ensure that everyone associated with the University understands their rights and responsibilities. It has also drawn up a series of detailed guidelines to help deal with the everyday implications of the policy.
The Data Protection policy and its guidelines are related to other University policies and publications including: