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Who are we?
We are the Education Authority (‘EA’). EA are in charge of delivering education in Northern Ireland and help with all aspects of your education and journey through school.
EA are the ‘Controller’ of any Personal Data we collect from or about you.
Why are we collecting and using your personal information?
EA’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Services collect and use your personal information in order to provide you with support if you have Special Educational Needs or Disabilities.
Law
We can only use your personal data if we have a legal reason to do so. EA’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Services collect and use your personal information to carry out our role which is set out in law.
The proper name for this lawful basis is ‘public task’ and “substantial public interest’.
What information about you do we use?
We will need to use basic personal information about you such as your name, address, parent details, contact details and date of birth. We may also need to use some more sensitive information about you such as information about any medical conditions, special educational needs or disabilities you may have.
Who will see your information in EA?
When we collect or use your personal information, we follow the rules of Data Protection Law. This means that we will keep your personal information, safe and protected so that it will only be seen by those who need to see.
In EA, your personal information will only be seen by EA staff that need to see it to carry out the work we do for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Will we share your information with anyone?
In order to do the work EA does for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, EA may also need to share your personal information with others, such as your school or Health and Social Care Services. For example, EA may need to ask your school or your doctor for information about you so that EA can consider what support you may need.
How long do we keep your information for?
We will only keep your personal information for as long as we need to. We will keep it for as long as we need to for the reason we collected it, or for as long as the Law says we have to keep it.
What are your rights?
Under Data Protection Law, you have certain rights:
- Request access to your personal information (often called a "subject access request"). This means you can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about.
- Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This means you can ask to correct any information about you we hold which is wrong.
- Request erasure of personal information. This means you can ask us to delete your personal information where there is no good reason for us keeping it.
- Object to processing of personal information. This means you can ask us to stop using your personal information in the way we are using it because you don’t think we should be using it in that way.
- Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This means you can ask us to pause the use of your personal information (for example, until it has been confirmed if the information correct).
- Request the transfer of your personal information to another party. This means you can ask us to provide the personal information we hold about you to someone else.
Questions & Further Information
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or want to complain, then our Data Protection Officer can be contacted by:
Post: Data Protection Officer, Education Authority, 40 Academy Street, Belfast, BT1 2NQ,
Telephone: 028 8241 1300
Email: dpo@eani.org.uk
This child-friendly Privacy Notice is intended to set out in clear language how EA’s SEND Services will collect and use your personal information. There is also a more detailed adult version of this Privacy Notice which you can request from our Data Protection Officer using the contact information above.
EA’s general Privacy Notices, setting out how and why we process personal information, are also available on our Privacy Notices webpage or can be requested by calling 028 8241 1300 or by emailing dpo@eani.org.uk.
If you are concerned about how we use your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioners office. They ensure that organisations comply with Data Protection Law and can be contacted by:
Post: Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113.
Website: Information Commissioner's Office