Privacy Notice

This is a statement of the practices of The People's Review at Evidence Synthesis Ireland, College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, University of Galway (“the Service”) in connection with the processing of personal data for the purposes of the Service and the steps taken by the University of Galway (“the University”) as a data controller to safeguard individuals’ rights under data protection legislation, specifically the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and Data Protection Acts 1988-2018.

The University of Galway fully respects your right to privacy and actively seeks to preserve the privacy rights of data subjects who share personal data with the University. Any personal information you volunteer to the Service will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality in accordance with data protection legislation.

This Privacy Statement explains the following:

How the Service collects your personal data;
The purpose and legal basis for processing your personal data;
How we securely store your personal data;
Details of third parties with whom we share personal data; and
Your rights under data protection legislation.

Personal information we collect

We collect personal data to provide our services to you. This data may be collected directly from you by our staff or from other systems under the control of the University of Galway.

The People's Review collects information from you via web forms. The personal data that we collect includes: email addresses, country of residence, and age category. By providing us with this information, you consent to this information being collected, used, disclosed, transferred or stored by The People's Review or our third-party providers as described in this privacy policy. In the interest of your privacy, we only collect, use and retain information required, such as processing queries, for analysis and research purposes, tracking your progress through The People's Review, and providing you with up-dates about The People's Review, where your explicit consent was given.

Purpose and legal basis for processing personal data

The personal data we collect from you will only be processed by the Service for the specific and lawful purposes as outlined in this Privacy Statement. The University of Galway will ensure that your data is processed fairly and lawfully in keeping with the principles of data protection as set out under Article 5 GDPR.

How we securely store your personal data

Personal data will be stored confidentially and securely as required by the NUI Galway QA 401 Data Handling and QA400 Data Protection Policy. The University is committed to ensuring that the processing of your data is safeguarded by appropriate technical and organisational security measures relevant to the processing in accordance with Article 32 GDPR requirements.

When we store your personal data on our systems, the data will be stored either on University premises or on secure IT platforms within the European External Area (“EEA”) or external of the EEA, which are subject to Chapter V GDPR requirements.

Details of third parties with whom we share personal data.

We will only share your data with third parties where necessary for the purposes of processing outlined in this Privacy Statement. In accordance with Article 28 GDPR, when we share your data with third parties, the Service will ensure that the data is processed according to specific instructions and that the same standards of confidentiality and security are maintained. The details below outline the third parties with whom your personal data is shared and for what purpose:

1. The People's Review will collect your data via a link to a survey that is hosted by QuestionPro Inc. QuestionPro Inc. is bound by the same GDPR and data protection policies that we are.

2. As part of The People's Review, you will be directed to sign-up/login to the Cochrane Collaboration, so you can access Cochrane Crowd. The Cochrane Collaboration is bound by the same GDPR and date protection policies that we are.

How long will we retain your data?

In keeping with the data protection principle of storage limitation we will only retain your data for as long as is necessary. For the purposes described in this Privacy Statement we will store your data for the duration of The People's Review plus seven years in accordance with the University of Galway’s QA 442 NUI Galway Records Retention Policy and QA 442 Record Retention Schedule.

Cookies

We use information gathered from cookies to help improve your experience of our website. Some cookies are essential so you can move around the website and use its features. Our website also contains third-party cookies detailed further at Cookies and Tracking Technology. You can refuse or consent to third party cookies when you first visit our website.

Your Rights under data protection laws

You have the following rights over the way we process your personal data. Please see the University of Galway’s Data Subject Rights Procedure for further information.

Right to Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data the Service processes and to exercise that right easily and at reasonable intervals.
Right to Consent: You may withdraw your consent to the The People's Review processing your personal data at any time, when consent is the legal basis for the processing. To withdraw your consent, we require you to advise the Service in writing via email ThePeoplesReview@universityofgalway.ie.
Right to Rectification: You have the right to rectify inaccurate personal data that we hold about you.
Right to Erasure: You have the right to delete your personal data where we no longer have any justification for retaining it, subject to exemptions such as the use of pseudonymised or anonymised data for scientific research purposes.
Right to Object: You have the right to object to processing your personal data if:
- We have processed your data based on a legitimate interest or for the exercise of the public tasks of the University if you believe the processing to be disproportionate or unfair to you.
- The personal data was processed for the purposes of direct marketing or profiling related to direct marketing.
- We have processed the personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.
Right to Restriction: You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data if:
- You are contesting the accuracy of the personal data.
- The personal data was processed unlawfully.
- You need to prevent the erasure of the personal data in order to comply with legal obligations.
- You have objected to the processing of the personal data and wish to restrict the processing until a legal basis for continued processing has been verified.
Right to Portability: Where it is technically feasible you have the right to have a readily accessible machine-readable copy of your data transferred or moved to another data controller where we are processing your data based on your consent and if that processing is carried out by automated means.

Further Information

If you have any queries relating to the processing of your personal data for the purposes outlined above or you wish to make a request in relation to your rights you can contact any member of the Service staff at: ThePeoplesReview@universityofgalway.ie, e.quinn34@universityofgalway.ie, chris.noone@universityofgalway.ie or sinead.hynes@universityofgalway.ie

If you wish to make a complaint or escalate an issue relating to your rights you can contact the University of Galway’s Data Protection Officer:

Email: dataprotection@universityofgalway.ie

Post: The Data Protection Officer,

University of Galway, Room A129,

The Quadrangle,

University of Galway,

University Road,

Galway, Ireland

If you are not satisfied with the information we have provided to you in relation to the processing of your personal data or you are dissatisfied with how the University of Galway is processing your data you can make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner at: https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/individuals/exercising-your-rights/complaints-handling-investigations-and-enforcement-individuals

Definitions

Personal data

Any information about an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’).

Special Categories of Personal Data (Sensitive personal data)

Data concerning health
Personal data revealing racial origin, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership
The processing of genetic data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
The processing of biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
Data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation

Processing

Any operation or set of operations performed on personal data. Processing includes storing, collecting, retrieving, using, combining, erasing and destroying personal data, and can involve automated or manual operations.

Data subject

Someone who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Data controller

An organisation, such as the University of Galway, which determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

Data processor

A natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller, traditionally under contract. This does not include Service staff who are processing personal data on behalf of the University as part of their employment duties.

Date: 08/10/2024