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Data Protection (GDPR) Privacy Notice

UK Swift Science Data Centre

Information you need to know

The UK Swift Science Data Centre is part of the University of Leicester. Further information on the institution can be found on the University website . The University of Leicester is the Data Controller for your information.

The Data Protection Officer is:
Parmjit Singh Gill,
Interim Data Protection Officer
University Of Leicester,
University Road,
Leicester,
LE1 7RH
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)116 229 7946.
Email: dpo@leicester.ac.uk.

This privacy notice explains how we use your personal information and your rights regarding that information

What information are we collecting?

The apache web server as standard logs all page requests it receives, and any internal errors in serving those pages. Each log entry contains the IP address of the requesting machine, and the user agent (i.e. web browser). Under GDPR, your IP address is your personal data.

If you use our on-demand services, your IP address may be used to create a unique temporary location to store your products, and basic details of your request (including IP address) are stored in a log file. If you request that you are emailed a notification when your job is completed then your email address is written to a temporary file to enable job submission, which is then deleted when the job is executed.

The XRT product generator also requires you to supply and validate an email address. This is stored in a secure database.

Why are we collecting your data?

We collect IP data in order to collect statistics on the usage of our facilities, needed to support bids for funding. Logging these data also enables us to provide better support in the event of issues, and has security benefits. We require your email address in order to use the XRT Product Generator so that we can control access, deal with abuse, and offer improved support.

How will we use these data?

In order to justify continued financial support from the UK Space Agency we have to demonstrate the frequency with which UKSSDC services are used, and the range of countries from which those services are used. By storing the IP addresses as above, we can create anonymous usage statistics by country. For example, we may create a bar chart showing the average number of user object requests per day as a function of time, or country from which the request was made. No attempt is made to identify individual users, although we may occasionally filter out IP addresses with origins in specific academic institutes associated with the project (normally, University of Leicester addresses).

In the event of page errors occuring, we may use the log files to help trace the origin of the error, whether it is user-agent dependent etc.

For our on-demand services, your IP address is used to create a unique storage area for temporary products, for usage reporting, and also for possible debugging issues: if you report a problem to us, being able to identify your job in the logfiles makes it easier to find a solution.

If we find evidence that our system is being mis-used or abused, we may use the log information to identify the IP address(es) of the offending machines, and either block them or redirect them to a page explaining that they have been temporarily barred from our services and inviting them to contact us.

For the XRT product generator, your email address is used to grant access to use the tools, and to enable you to retrieve details of jobs you have previously submitted. In the event that your jobs generate a large number of errors, or are suspected of abusing the system, we will use your email address to contact you about the issue.

We keep data for a duration as defined by the data retention schedule.

What is the legal basis for processing the data?

Under GDPR, the legal basis for storing these data is that it is in our legitimate interest.

Who do we share your data with?

Your personal data will not directly be shared with anybody. The aggregated, anonymised usage statistics will be shared with UK funding agencies, usually the UK Space Agency.

How long will we process your data for?

Log files will be stored for the lifetime of the UK Swift Science Data Centre, as demonstrating historical usage is an important aspect of justifying future funding.

Temporary directories which include your IP address are kept for up to a week (depending on available disk space) unless you explicitly request, and are granted, a longer period of time.

Email addresses registered to use the XRT product generator will be stored for the lifetime of that service, or until you contact us and ask us to delete the record of your email address.

What are your rights, and how do you enforce them?

You have the right to be request a copy of the information we hold concerning you, to ask for this to be erased, to object to our usage of these data and to correct any misinformation we hold.

To exercise these rights, a request must be made in writing to the Data Controller, identified at the top of this page. For IP addresses, we have no way to directly identify individuals from these data, therefore any such request must specify the IP address(es) used.

How to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioners Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)303 123 1113.

Email contact can be made by via the ICO website.