Privacy Policy

ESSA Scholarship Hub

Privacy Notice

Education Sub Saharan Africa (“ESSA”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Our purpose is to join up, focus, and increase impact for everyone investing in education in sub-Saharan Africa.  

One of the ways in which we do this is via our Scholarship Hub (the “Hub”), on https://africanscholarshiphub.org/. The Hub is a resource for students and scholarship providers alike, offering a searchable database of scholarship offerings available to sub-Saharan African students. Students can find information about more scholarships which are relevant to them. Scholarship providers can reach a wider audience of applicants, and receive information about the types of students who are interested in their scholarships.  

This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) sets out how we collect and use your rights and options relating to your personal information if you choose to engage with the Hub.  

This Notice is about the Hub, specifically. For more information about how ESSA uses your personal information when you interact with our website (www.essa-africa.org), please see our general privacy notice. If we start a new project or activity, we may provide you with new privacy notices with more information. 

1. WHO WE ARE AND HOW TO GET IN TOUCH?

We are Education Sub Saharan Africa, a charity based in England and operating in sub-Saharan Africa.  Our charity number is 1166958.  Our company number is 10101086.  Our registered address is 3rd Floor Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1JB, United Kingdom.  We operate as ESSA.

If you want to know more about what personal information we have about you, how we use it, or if you just want to ask us a question, then get in touch via our email: info@essa-africa.org

 

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM AND ABOUT YOU

When we use the phrase “personal information” we mean any information that could be used to identify you.  At its simplest, this could just be your name and your email address.  Personal information will also include the list of favourite scholarships you may save, and the information you upload to your account.

The personal information that we collect and use about students who access the Hub includes, but is not restricted to:

• Name
• Email address
• Social media handles
• Gender
• Nationality
• Marital status
• Number of children
• Level of study
• Country of residence
• Level of funding sought (partial or full scholarships)
• Place of scholarship (for example, remaining in sub-Saharan Africa or travelling)
• Preferred academic subjects
• Scholarships you have added to your “favourites” list
• You interaction with the Hub (for example, scholarships you have searched for)
• Your communication preferences
• Records of your communications with us
• Any other information you provide to us

The personal information that we collect and use about scholarship providers listed on the Hub includes, but is not restricted to:

• Name
• Email address
• Your organisation, and your position at your organisation
• Your interaction with the Hub
• Your communication preferences
• Records of your communications with us
• Any other information you provide to us

Certain types of personal information are sensitive and need more protection. For example, information about your race or ethnic origins, political opinions, sex life or sexual orientation, religious beliefs, health information, biometric and genetic data. This data is know as ‘special category data’. There are also special rules about the use of criminal information (information about criminal convictions or allegations about criminal convictions).  

We will not usually collect these types of personal information about you. We will only process these types of personal information about you if we have a valid reason for doing so and only if the law allows us to do so. One example is if a particular scholarship bases its eligibility criteria on special category data, for example a scholarship intended to benefit disabled students. 

We will collect information about you:

a) Directly whenever you interact with us. 

For example, when you register for an account with us, either as a student or a scholarship provider.

b) Indirectly from another source. 

For example, if your organisation lists you as the primary contact for a scholarship, or if your teacher signs you up on the Hub. You may also see an advertisement from us on your social media feed (see the section on social media marketing below for details). 

c) When it’s available publicly. 

For example, we regularly search publicly available resources to include scholarships on our database, including contact details for further information or applications about those scholarships.

 

We will also collect and use your personal information by using cookies on the Hub. Please see our Cookie Notice for more information. 

We may combine your personal information from these different sources for the purposes set out in this Notice. 

 

3. WHERE AND HOW WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In order to administer the Hub, the personal information we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”).  For example, it may be processed by our staff operating outside the EEA.

Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal information, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. Where your personal information is transferred, stored and/or otherwise processed outside the EEA in a country that does not offer an equivalent standard of protection to the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate safeguards designed to protect your personal information and to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Notice.  These appropriate safeguards include the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission or UK Government. 

If you have any questions about the transfer of your personal information, please contact us using the details in section 1.
 

4. HOW AND WHY WE WILL USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

 

We use your personal information in order to operate the Hub.  

 

If you are a student, we will use your information to: 

a) Provide you with relevant search results for available scholarships 

b) Allow you to “save” a list of favourite scholarships on your dashboard 

c) Provide you with relevant information about the available scholarships  

d) Provide you with guidance about applying to scholarships in general 

e) Provide you with updates about the scholarships you have expressed interest in 

f) Respond to any questions you have and communicate with you 

g) Analyse your use of the Hub, to improve the Hub and highlight other areas and activities which may be of interest to students 

h) Report back on the effectiveness and impact of our work with the Hub 

i) Satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us or where we need to take steps to protect ourselves or others, for example in relation to regulatory, government and/or law enforcement bodies with whom we may work 

j) Help with the establishment, defence and/or enforcement of legal claims 

k) Send email newsletters about education opportunities and updates from ESSA (If you have opted in). 

If you are a provider, we will use your information to: 

a) Contact you about your organisation’s use of the Hub 

b) Provide contact details to students interested in applying to your scholarships 

c) Provide your organisation with information about the types of students who have expressed interest in your scholarship(s) 

d) Respond to any questions you may have and communicate with you 

e) Provide you with further information about ESSA and our charitable activities 

f) Analyse your use of the Hub, to improve the Hub and highlight other areas and activities  

g) Report back on the effectiveness and impact of our work with the Hub 

h) Satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us or where we need to take steps to protect ourselves or others, for example in relation to regulatory, government and/or law enforcement bodies with whom we may work 

i) Help with the establishment, defence and/or enforcement of legal claims 

5. when will we get in touch?

When you give us your contact details you may receive follow up information from us directly, including news about the Hub, as well as about any specific information about which you’ve enquired. Some of these communications are administrative (for example to confirm details about your account registration) but others are to promote ESSA and the Hub.  

We will only send promotional materials to your personal email address where you’ve requested to receive them (for example, if you sign up to our newsletter). Signing up to the Hub does not sign you up to receive marketing communications. We may also send promotional materials via email to your work email address (if you work at a company, partnership or other incorporated body) if we feel that you may be interested in hearing more about ESSA and our work.  

You can opt out of receiving promotional materials at any time. To opt out of emails, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our messages. 

If at any time you wish to stop or change how we communicate with you, or update the information we hold, please do get in touch, using any of the options set out in section 1.  

6. LAWFUL BASES

We can only use your personal information if we have a valid reason.  This is known as a “lawful basis of processing”.  Different lawful bases of processing will apply to the different ways in which we use your personal information. Below we explain the lawful bases which we think apply to our use of your personal information:

a) Legitimate interests

This is a flexible lawful basis. It allows us to use your personal information, provided that:

(i) We have a good reason to do so. For example, we may wish to publish information about the types of people engaging with the Hub (but not names), including general information about the various ages and experiences of those involved.  To do this, we would need to analyse the personal data we hold.

(ii) You can reasonably expect we would use your personal information in this way and it’s necessary for us to use personal data.  In other words, the way in which we use your personal information should not be a surprise.

(iii) It fits with your rights and doesn’t affect you unfairly. Your rights are explained in section 10 below.

When we rely on legitimate interests as a lawful basis our use of your personal information must be fair and balanced, and we need to consider the points above. For example, we rely on legitimate interests to list the contact details of scholarship providers on the Hub.

b) Consent

This is where we ask your permission to use your personal information for a specific purpose.  For example, we will ask to use a photo of you to promote the Hub before putting it on our website.  You always have the right to withdraw your consent.  Just send us an email or call us using the details set out in section 1.  

c) Legal obligation

This is where we need to process your information to comply with a legal obligation.  For example, we are under a legal obligation to report to the Charity Commission about our charitable activities.  

 

7. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

We keep your personal information for as long as we reasonably need to use it for the reasons we set out in section 4. For as long as your account is active, we will keep your personal information on record so that you can access the Hub.  

If you no longer wish to use the Hub, you can activate our “delete account” function, which will delete your account and all information associated with your account. We will retain anonymised information about your use of the Hub, but nothing that is identifiable to you. If you are a provider and you activate the “delete account” function, we will retain your name and your organisation’s name, so that we do not upload information about you in the future.  

If you are a student and have activated your account and then do not log-into your account for [1 year], we will send you a notice that we intend to delete your account in [30 days], unless you request otherwise. If you are a scholarship provider, we will retain information about you and your scholarship for as long as that scholarship remains available and you are the primary contact.  

If you request to receive no further contact from us, we will keep some basic information about you on our suppression list in order to comply with your request and avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future. 

 

8. WILL WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION? 

We use suppliers to help operate the Hub. For example, we engaged a company to design the Hub which provides ongoing technical support to keep it running. We have written agreements in place with our suppliers that require them to keep your personal information safe, and to only use your personal information in line with our instructions.  

We will share aggregate information about the student users of the Hub with scholarship providers, to give them information about the audience of applicants they are reaching. This information will not identify any individual student. 

We will also share anonymised information with our stakeholders, including universities and other educational charities operating in sub-Saharan Africa. 

If we share your personal information with any other third party, we will usually let you know in advance.  

There are other circumstances where we may need to share your personal information without necessarily notifying you in advance, for example:  

• If we transfer the operation of the Hub to another organisation 

• With our professional advisors, including lawyers 

• Where necessary to protect our or a third party’s interests 

• If we are under any legal or regulatory obligation to do so 

• In connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings, in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights 

 

9. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA

The Hub has links to other websites, such as the websites of other scholarship providers. This notice only covers how ESSA uses personal information, and does not cover these other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy notices on other websites you visit. 

We have provided social media plug-ins to allow you to easily share content from our website and, in doing so, your personal information will be disclosed to these social media platforms. When you share content using these buttons, a new page will pop up from the relevant social media platform. If you’re already logged into your account on that social media platform, then you will probably be automatically logged into this pop-up page, so that you don’t have to log in again. If, however, you are not logged in (or if you are not registered with the social media platform), the page will ask you for your information.  

We have no control over how social media platforms use your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy notices on the various social media platforms you use. 

Find out more about how these social media platforms use your personal information: 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

10. Social Media Marketing

We may contact you via your social media profile in order to make you aware of us. We use tools available on Facebook and Instagram (called ‘custom audiences’ or ‘lookalike’ audiences) in order to help direct our services to the right audiences. This is primarily students who may benefit from what ESSA is able to offer (i.e. young people based in one of the countries in which we operate). If you do not want us to use your personal data for social media marketing, please let us know by contacting us using the details set out in section 1 above. 

Both Facebook and Instagram’s services are provided by Facebook Inc. 

You can learn more about interest-based advertising from Facebook by visiting this page: https://www.facebook.com/help/164968693837950. To opt-out from Facebook’s interest-based ads, follow these instructions from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/help/568137493302217

Facebook adheres to the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioural Advertising established by the Digital Advertising Alliance. You can also opt-out from Facebook and other participating companies through the Digital Advertising Alliance in the USA http://www.aboutads.info/choices/, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada in Canada http://youradchoices.ca/ or the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance in Europe http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/, or opt-out using your mobile device settings. 

ESSA’s Facebook page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/EducationSubSaharanAfrica. ESSA and Facebook are joint controllers i.e. we are both responsible for how your personal information is used. 

Visit the Facebook Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policy.php for more information about how Facebook manages personal data or contact Facebook online, or by mail: Facebook, Inc. ATTN, Privacy Operations, 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States. 

Facebook Insights 

We use the Facebook Insights function in connection with the operation of the Facebook Fan Page and on the basis of the GDPR, in order to obtain anonymised statistical data about our users. 

For this purpose, Facebook places a cookie on the device of the user visiting our Facebook Fan Page. Each cookie contains a unique identifier code and remains active for a period of two years, except when it is deleted before the end of this period. 

Facebook receives, records and processes the information stored in the cookie, especially when the user visits the Facebook services, services that are provided by other members of the Facebook Fan Page and services by other companies that use Facebook services. 

For more information on the privacy practices of Facebook, please visit Facebook Privacy Policy here: https://www.facebook.com/full_data_use_policy 

11. EXERCISING YOUR RIGHTS

You have rights relating to your personal information. When we use your personal information you have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of your personal information.

We may ask you for proof of your identity (for example, a copy of your passport). If we are satisfied with proof of identity, we will give you a copy of your personal information, unless an exemption applies.  If you want to know more about how to request your personal information, the Information Commissioner’s Office (or “ICO” for short) has useful guidance: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/your-right-of-access/

• Ask that we erase the personal information we hold about you. 

We may not be able to erase your personal information (for example, we may need to keep your personal information for a legal reason), but we will consider your request and let you know.  You can also delete your personal information yourself by using the “delete account” function on the Hub, though as we set out in section 6, we may retain some basic information about you for our records.

• Ask that we correct any personal information that we hold about you which you believe to be wrong.

You can also log into your account and update your account information at any time.

• Ask that we restrict the use of your personal information if you believe that the information, we hold is wrong, or that we don’t have a valid reason for using your personal information.

• To change your mind and withdraw your consent.

• Ask us to stop using your personal information, if we are using it for legitimate interests. 

• Ask us to stop using your personal information, if we are using it for legitimate interests.  

We may not need to stop, but we will need to show a good reason to continue to use your personal information. 

• In limited circumstances, request that we transfer your personal information to you or another party.  

If you want to learn more about the rights discussed above or your other rights, the ICO has useful guidance on these rights and when they apply: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/  

If you have any concerns about the way we are handling your personal information, or if you’ve asked a question or raised a complaint that we haven’t dealt with, you can contact the ICO directly: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/  

 

12. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY NOTICE

We may update this Notice. If we update this Notice in a way that significantly changes how we use your personal information, we will bring these changes to your attention where reasonably possible. Otherwise you can access the latest version of this Notice on the Hub.  

 

COOKIE NOTICE

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This information will be used to compile reports about the website activities for the website operator and will facilitate provision of additional services in relation to the Site and internet utilisation. If you do not want to receive cookies, you may set your web browser to reject them, if your browser permits this. If you block cookies you may not be able to access all or parts of our website. 

The website currently uses the following cookies: 

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Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the Site, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.