Data Protection Privacy Notice – Website and Publications

This privacy notice was updated on 20 June 2022.

Further to the Convention Establishing the Square Kilometre Array, SKAO has been established as an international intergovernmental organisation. As an intergovernmental organisation, the SKA Observatory (“SKAO”) is not legally bound by UK data protection legislation, but instead follows its own Data Protection Policy. SKAO’s Data Protection Policy builds on the best practice from data protection laws of its three host countries: Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

This Privacy Notice explains what you should expect in relation to personal information about you which is collected, handled, and processed by SKAO.  

SKAO acknowledges and agrees that any personal data of yours that it handles will be processed in line with the SKAO Data Protection Policy.  

To ensure that SKAO processes your personal data fairly, SKAO will inform you of information such as:

  • Why SKAO collects your data
  • How it will be used
  • With whom it will be shared

What is this privacy notice for?   

This privacy notice explains how SKAO uses your personal data in relation to your use of the SKAO website and inclusion on the SKAO mailing list.

The information SKAO may collect

SKAO will request the information below when you register to join the SKAO mailing list:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Nationality (optional)
  • Country of residence (optional)

If you wish to sign up to the SKAO mailing list to receive SKAO publications, you can do so here.

Please refer to the SKAO Cookies information below relating to the use of the SKAO website.

What is the basis for processing your personal data?

SKAO will process your personal data, that you have provided, for the purpose that you have provided it for. This includes but is not limited to receiving future issues of SKAO publications, new SKAO products, information about engagement opportunities, or other outreach activities. By registering to join the mailing list, you are providing your consent to receive this information. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

SKAO uses your personal data on the basis that this is necessary:

  • Where the SKAO has a legitimate interest
  • To align with legislation

Who will your personal data be shared with?

Within SKAO, your data is shared only with those who need access for the processing purposes set out above.

SKAO may share some of your personal data with external organisations including those listed below:

  • Contact magazine, other publications

A third-party provider, MailChimp, is used to deliver SKAO publications and to send out invitations to outreach and engagement events. SKAO gathers statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies to help SKAO monitor and improve its e-newsletter and engagement activities. For more information, please see Mailchimp’s privacy notice.

Similarly, SKAO magazine Contact is hosted on a platform called Issuu, that SKAO also uses to gather statistics to help SKAO monitor its readership’s location (country), habits (preferred pages, read time spent, etc.). For more information, please see Issuu’s privacy notice.

  • WordPress/Drupal

SKAO hosts its own websites, but currently uses a third party service, WordPress.com, as a Content Management System for the SKAO public website, the science website and the country mini-sites. WordPress is run by Automattic Inc. SKAO uses a standard WordPress service to collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help SKAO improve it. For more information about how WordPress processes data, please see Automattic’s privacy notice. The future SKAO website currently under development will be using a separate Content Management System called Drupal, with its own privacy notice.

How SKAO stores your personal data

Personal data is either stored on SKAO owned servers at the UK based SKAO Global Headquarters or within a SKAO Member State (Cloud-Based). Personal data is also stored on encrypted laptops and mobile devices that belong to SKAO.

How long does SKAO keep your personal data?

SKAO will retain your personal data where there is an ongoing legitimate business need to do so. In order to determine the retention period, SKAO will consider whether it has a contractual need to retain the data, and whether the data is necessary to continue to provide SKAO newsletters and other publications to you. You may request that SKAO delete your personal data at any time.

Data Protection and third party websites

This website may contain hyperlinks to and from other third party websites, please note that SKAO assumes no responsibility or guarantee for third party content or data provisions.

Your rights

Under the SKAO Data Protection Policy, you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data. SKAO will seek to honour these rights.

You have the right to request from SKAO access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data, the right to restrict processing, object to processing as well as in certain circumstances the right to data portability.

Where you have provided consent for the processing of your data, you have the right (in certain circumstances) to withdraw that consent at any time which will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent was withdrawn.

You have the right to lodge a complaint to SKAO if you believe that it has not processed your personal data in line with the SKAO Data Protection Policy.  

Data Controller

The Data Controller is SKA Observatory. You can contact SKA Observatory at:

SKA Observatory

Jodrell Bank

Lower Withington

Cheshire

SK11 9FT

United Kingdom

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer is responsible for advising SKAO regarding compliance with the SKAO Data Protection Policy, and monitoring its performance against it.

If you wish to contact SKAO regarding your data or lodge a complaint, the Data Protection Officer is Samantha Lloyd. Samantha can be contacted at dpo@skao.int or you can write to Samantha at the above address.

Amendments

SKAO reserves the right to change these data protection provisions, at any time, effective for the future.

Noting SKAO’s legal status as an intergovernmental organisation, nothing in this Privacy Notice will be deemed or interpreted as a waiver, express or implied, of any privileges or immunities accorded to SKAO by its constituent documents or under international public law.

Last modified on 04 July 2022