Consumer Lab Privacy Notice

Overview

Consumer Lab is managed by the University of Bristol (the “University”, “us”, “our” or “we”). The University processes personal data and is a ‘data controller’ in relation to your personal data (registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number Z6650067). In this Privacy Notice, in accordance with our responsibilities under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we set out what information we collect, why we collect it, where we collect it from and with whom we will share it. We also outline your rights in relation to the information. The notice is subject to change and any changes in the future will be notified on this page. By continuing to work with us and supporting our activities, you are agreeing to such changes. We recommend you check this privacy notice and the University Privacy Policy regularly.

By submitting or providing your personal information, you are consenting to Consumer Lab holding and using it in accordance with this notice. If you have any questions or comments regarding this notice, or you wish to exercise any of your rights (see below), you should contact the Consumer Lab manager at consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk. You can also contact the University’s Data Protection Officer by email at data-protection@bristol.ac.uk or by phone at (0117) 455 6325.

1. Information that we collect from you and your use of this website

1.1 Information you give us

We currently collect and process the following information.

For those applying for membership of the hub or to attend hub events:

• Email address
• First name
• Last name
• Organisation
• Position/Job Title
• Whether you are an early career researcher (yes/no)
• Which best describes your interest in consumer lab (academic member/industry member/trade or public body member, general/public member)

 For those applying for funding from the hub:

 Applica­nt/Co-Applicant:

• Name
• Position
• Institution
• Address
• Email
• Telephone contact details

 Non-University Partner:

• Name
• Position
• Organisation
• Registered address or Company registration number
• Website
• Annual Turnover
• Company headcount
• Telephone contact details
• Email

1.2 Automatic information

We may automatically receive and save certain types of information whenever you interact with this website. We use the information to monitor website traffic and to assist with the navigation and user experience of the website. Information that we may automatically receive includes:

• Requested URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
• IP (Internet Protocol) address (this may or may not identify a specific computer)
• Device details
• Domain name from which you access the internet
• Referring URL
• Location data
• Software (browser/operating system) used to access the page
• Date and time pages were visited

1.3 Cookies

We do not use cookies on this website. Please see the University of Bristol’s Use of cookies of the University website page.

2. How we get the personal information and why we have it

2.1 How we get the personal information

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons.

For membership, Consumer Lab will collect your data using our Sign Up Form available on the Consumer Lab website. All data are stored on our marketing automation platform, MailChimp.

For hub events, Consumer lab will collect your data using Eventbrite and other ways of registering for one of our events.

For funding applications, Consumer Lab will collect your data from the Expression of Interest and/or Application Forms. If successful, further data will be ascertained through project progress reports and final reports.

2.2 Why we have this personal information

For membership, Consumer Lab processes the information to:

• Distribute our mailing list for members of the hub (e.g. newsletters about our activities, invitations to events, information about partnership opportunities)
• Give priority notification of Consumer Lab funding calls
• Gather a deeper understanding of who our members are for equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring

For hub events, Consumer Lab processes the information to:

• Process registrations, administer and deliver large-scale hub events
• Process registrations, administer and deliver ECR training

For funding applications, Consumer Lab processes the information:

• To conduct due diligence on prospective grant holders
• For the Impact Account Panel to review and recommend (or not) funding of applications by the BBSRC
• To administer and deliver funding to successful applicants
• To coordinate project progress reports, post-project completion reports, and demonstrate the value of this initiative

3. How we handle the data we collect from you

3.1 Data Protection Legislation

The University is the data controller for your personal data that it collects. As your data controller the University has notified its activities to the Office of the Information Commissioner as required under the GDPR and is listed in the Public Register of Data Controllers. Personal information will only be collected and/or processed by the University in accordance with the GDPR.

3.2 Disclosure of your information

• Except as set out in this policy or as required by law, your personal data will not be provided to any third party without your prior consent.
• Except as set out in this policy, the information you provide to us will be held on our servers and computers in the UK. It may be accessed by or given to third parties some of whom may be located outside the European Economic Area who act for us for the purposes set out in this policy or for other purposes approved by you. Those parties process information and may provide support services to the University or on the University’s behalf.
• Countries outside the European Economic Area do not always have strong data protection laws. However, we will always take appropriate steps to ensure that your information is used securely by third parties in accordance with this policy.

3.3 Membership

• Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing membership information is (a) Consent: Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by clicking unsubscribe or by contacting consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk.
• We will use the details we collect to keep you informed about our news, events and funding opportunities. We use Mailchimp to send and receive emails (including newsletters). By submitting your information, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. You can read Mailchimp’s privacy notice and other information about how the service operates here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/
• We will keep your contact details on our mailing list until you unsubscribe. You have the right to have inaccurate data corrected. Please let us know if your data is inaccurate by emailing consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk.
• We will not share your data with anyone outside of the Consumer Lab and its governing bodies. When submitting your details to Consumer Lab (such as your email address), you’re accepting that any of the programme partners can get in touch about relevant delivery mechanisms or support on behalf of the hub. Please see a list of partners below:
  • University of Bristol
  • University of Sheffield
  • BBSRC
  • DEFRA
  • Innovate UK
  • MRC
  • British Nutrition Foundation (OIRC coordinators)
• As of March 1^st, 2024, Consumer Lab will be sharing specific information about our members with BBSRC. This information was submitted by members upon joining the hub. The information being shared will be strictly limited to our members’ names, institutions, and job titles. This information will be used by BBSRC solely for the purpose of cross-referencing against their list of applicants to the Diet and Health OIRC annual call. The shared data will be retained by BBSRC for a maximum of 6-months and will then be permanently deleted from their records.

3.4 Hub events

• Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing Hub Event information is (a) Consent: Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk.
• We will use the details we collect to keep you informed about our events that you have signed up to on Eventbrite or other ways of registering for one of our events. See Eventbrite privacy policy.
• Information supplied when registering for a Consumer Lab event will be used to communicate event details and may be shared with the Consumer Lab programme partners. Please see a list of partners below:
  • University of Bristol
  • University of Sheffield
  • BBSRC
  • DEFRA
  • Innovate UK
  • MRC
  • British Nutrition Foundation (OIRC coordinators)

3.5 Funding applications

• Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing information on funding applications is (b) Contractual obligation.
• We will contact you about  funding opportunities you have applied for or expressed an interest in. 
• Your application will be shared with experts from our Impact Account Panel who will assess and provide comments on the application’s suitability for funding as part of our decision-making process.
• Unsuccessful applications will be retained for up to six months after the closing date for the round of applications they were submitted to allow for advice regarding possible re-submission.
• Successful applications will need to be retained for seven years from the end of their funding period in keeping with financial regulations.
• Information and updates about number of applications and funded projects may be shared with the Consumer Lab programme partners. Please see a list of partners below:
  • University of Bristol
  • University of Sheffield
  • BBSRC
  • DEFRA
  • Innovate UK
  • MRC
  • British Nutrition Foundation (OIRC coordinators)

3.6 Automatic information

• We may use and analyse the information we collect so that we can manage and improve the Consumer Lab website. Demographic and statistical information about user behaviour may be collected and used to analyse the popularity and effectiveness of the website. Any disclosure of this information will be in aggregate form and will not identify individual users.
• The University also uses services from Google on this application to measure and analyse visitor information. These services are Google Analyticsand Firebase.
• Consumer Lab will not (nor will it allow any third party to) use the statistical analytics tools to track or collect personally identifiable information of visitors to this website. Consumer Lab will not associate any data gathered with any personally identifying information from any source as part of our use of the statistical analytics tools.

4. Links to external websites

This website may contain links to other websites that are outside the University’s control and are not covered by this privacy policy.

5. Information security

We take the security of your data seriously. Consumer Lab adheres to the University of Bristol’s Information Security Policy.

6. Changes to our privacy policy

We regularly review our Privacy Policy and updates will appear on this page. This policy was last updated on 20 February 2024.

7. Your rights

You can find out more information about your rights under data protection law on the ICO website (https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/).

For membership and hub events;

• You have a right to withdraw your consent to be on our mailing list at any time by clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ on the bottom of Mail Chimp emails or contacting consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk. You have the right to remove yourself from a hub event by contacting consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk
• You have the right to have inaccurate data corrected. Please let us know if your data is inaccurate by contacting consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk
• You have the right to access information held about you. Please email consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk if you would like to request this.

For funding applications;

• You will have the same rights as for membership and hub events above with the exception that, since this is contractual, you will not have the right to erasure of data. You will still have the rights to correct any application, for example – to update contact details, or to ask us to stop processing your application.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

8. How to contact us

Should the information we hold about you be incorrect, you can change and update your personal information and you can have your information corrected by contacting us at consumer-lab@bristol.ac.uk.

The Data Controller

The University of Bristol is the Data Controller and is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with Data Protection legislation.

We allow you to challenge data we hold about you and where appropriate you may have the data erased, rectified, amended, or completed. For complaints or queries about the privacy policy or data protection queries generally please contact:

Data Protection Officer, University of Bristol, Beacon House, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK

Email: data-protection@bristol.ac.uk

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk