Accessing your personal data

All staff and students (and any other person whose personal data the University processes) have the right to:

• be informed what personal data about them the University holds and what it is used for
• access this personal data
• update the personal data the University holds
• be informed how the University is complying with its obligations under the Data Protection Act (DPA)
• complain to the Data Protection Officer if they feel that the Data Protection Policy has not been followed

Staff will usually have access to their HR records via their staff portal, or via informal request to their Head of School or Department, or to HR.

Students wishing to look at and check the accuracy of the personal data held about them centrally can use the RISIS web portal, or call into Student Services, as described in the Students' guidelines.

Any person wishing to access their personal data under the provisions of the DPA should make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) as described below.

Making a data subject access request

Any person wishing to access their personal data under the provisions of the DPA should make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) in writing to the Data Protection Officer. You can download the Data Subject Access Request form as either a Word document (65KB) or a PDF (71KB). Alternatively hard copies can be obtained from the IMPS Office.

The Data Protection Officer has a duty to establish the identity of the requester and, as permitted by the Act, a charge of £10 may be made for each request.The Data Protection Officer will then coordinate the gathering together of the appropriate information. The University will comply with DSARs as quickly as possible but will ensure that the information is provided within 40 days of receipt of a completed form unless there is good reason for delay. In such cases the reason for delay will be explained in writing to the requestor.