Privacy Policy

This privacy policy (“Policy”) describes how Website Operator (“Website Operator”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, protects and uses the personally identifiable information (“Personal Information”) you (“User”, “you” or “your”) may provide on the waterstrategy.org website and any of its products or services (collectively, “Website” or “Services”). It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update this information. This policy is linked to our services in hydra.org.uk, but it does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.

Collection of personal information

Personal information means any information which relates to or identifies you as an individual and includes opinions about you or information which may not explicitly identify you (e.g. where your name has been removed) but which nevertheless does identify you if it is combined with other information that is readily available. We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us when you create an account, publish content, and fill any online forms on the Website. When required this information may include your email address, name, or other Personal Information. You can choose not to provide us with certain information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the Website’s features. Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us. We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to do so by providing us with a legal basis or valid condition. Most commonly, we will use your personal information to be able to create an account and generate statistics of the number of users registered and their location. Your personal information will not be shared with third parties.

Collection of non-personal information

When you visit the Website our servers automatically record information that your browser sends. This data may include information such as your device’s IP address, browser type and version, operating system type and version, language preferences or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Website, pages of our Website that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Website, access times and dates, and other statistics.

Managing personal information

You are able to access, add to, update and delete certain Personal Information about you. The information you can view, update, and delete may change as the Website or Services change. When you update information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised information in our records. Some information may remain in our private records after your deletion of such information from your account. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.

Use and processing of collected information

Any of the information we collect from you may be used to personalize your experience; send notification emails such as password reminders, updates, etc; run and operate our Website and Services. Non-Personal Information collected is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding Website usage. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular user of the system.

We may process Personal Information related to you if one of the following applies: (i) You have given their consent for one or more specific purposes. Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing (by opting out), without having to rely on consent or any other of the following legal bases below. This, however, does not apply, whenever the processing of Personal Information is subject to European data protection law; (ii) Provision of information is necessary for the performance of an agreement with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (ii) Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) Processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Data is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Information transfer and storage

Depending on your location, data transfers may involve transferring and storing your information in a country other than your own. You are entitled to learn about the legal basis of information transfers to a country outside the European Union or to any international organization governed by public international law or set up by two or more countries, such as the UN, and about the security measures taken by us to safeguard your information. If any such transfer takes place, you can find out more by checking the relevant sections of this document or inquire with us using the information provided in the contact section.

Your rights in connection with personal information

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:
• Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it
• Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected
• Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing
• Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it
• Request the transfer of your personal information to another party
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, you should contact the University Data Protection Officer by email: dataprotection@manchester.ac.uk. Alternatively you can write to The Information Governance Office, University of Manchester, Christie Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Further information about your rights is available from the University’s data protection web pages.

The right to object to processing

Where Personal Information is processed for a public interest, in the exercise of an official authority vested in us or for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us, you may object to such processing by providing a ground related to your particular situation to justify the objection. You must know that, however, should your Personal Information be processed for direct marketing purposes, you can object to that processing at any time without providing any justification. To learn, whether we are processing Personal Information for direct marketing purposes, you may refer to the relevant sections of this document.

How to exercise these rights

Any requests to exercise User rights can be directed to the Owner through the contact details provided in this document. These requests can be exercised free of charge and will be addressed by the Owner as early as possible and always within one month.

Privacy of children

We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, please do not submit any Personal Information through our Website or Service. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce this Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through our Website or Service without their permission. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Information to us through our Website or Service, please contact us.

Cookies

The Website uses “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for statistical purposes to operate our Website and Services. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you will not be able to use and experience all the features of the Website and Services.

Information security

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in its control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed. Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and our Website cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third-party, despite best efforts.

Data breach

In the event we become aware that the security of the Website has been compromised or users Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third-parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the user as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will post a notice on the Website.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Policy relating to the Website or Services at any time, effective upon posting of an updated version of this Policy on the Website. When we do, we will post a notification on the main page of our Website. Continued use of the Website and Services after any such changes shall constitute your consent to such changes.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By using the Website or its Services you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to use or access the Website and its Services.

Contacting us

If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact us at waterstrategy@manchester.ac.uk. If you have any questions about how your personal information is used by the University as a whole, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please consult the University’s data protection webpages at https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/privacy-information/data-protection/privacy-notices/. If you need further assistance, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer (dataprotection@manchester.ac.uk)”

This document was last updated on April 28, 2021.