Privacy statement
This Privacy Statement provides information about the ways in which QQI collects, stores, shares or keeps personal data.
QQI holds and processes personal data about many different types of people such as its current and past employees, students, holders of awards made by QQI and its legacy awarding bodies (NCEA, NCVA, HETAC, FETAC), suppliers, contractors, members of the public who use our services or contact us, etc.
We process this data to carry out our functions under the 2012 Act and to comply with the law. This personal data is subject to data protection legislation and QQI is committed to complying with all legislative requirements. This statement outlines how we use the personal data that we collect and store, and also our privacy practices when you use this website. We are not responsible for privacy practices of other websites which we provide links to.
In general, we do not transfer your Data outside of the EEA. If data is transferred outside the EEA, measures consistent with the legislation are put in place to ensure adequate protection of that data.
The personal data that we collect about you depends on your engagement or relationship with QQI or your use of our website.
The data collected is included in the following data protection statements.
Under Data Protection legislation, we must have a lawful basis for using personal data. The lawful basis relates to our functions under the 2012 Act. These include the following:
- Making Awards
- Managing the National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC)
- Managing Qualifax
- Delegating Authority to make awards
- Reviewing and advising on Quality Assurance practice in education and training providers
- Validating programmes
- Authorising the use of the International Education Mark
- Ensuring that learner protection arrangements are in place
- Ensuring that appropriate access, transfer and progression mechanisms are in place
- Managing the Accreditation and Coordination of English Language Services Scheme (ACELS)
If we need to use your personal data for a purpose that is unrelated to, or incompatible with, the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected, we will inform you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain personal data, which might include yours, if we are involved in legal proceedings or complying with legal obligations, a court order, or the instructions of a government authority.
If any of your personal data is shared with a third party, as described above, we will ensure that your personal data is handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s obligations under the law.
You directly provide most of the data that we collect. This includes:
- Identity information including name and date of birth
- Contact information including postal address, e-mail address and telephone number
- Award Information including student name, and grades
- Education Details/Qualifications
- Business information including, trading name, job title, profession, VAT number
- Payment information including credit/debit card details and bank account numbers
We will retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which we collected it, and in accordance with any requirements that are imposed by law. For some processing activities we may keep data for a long time e.g. awards records, while for other activities data will be deleted after a shorter period, e.g. queries are deleted after two years.
To ensure the security of your personal data we:
- limit access to your personal data to those with a legitimate need to know, and ensure that they are subject to confidentiality; and
- have procedures for dealing with data breaches (the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, your personal data), including the notification of you and/or the Data Protection Commission’s Office when we are legally required to do so.
With your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may use your personal data for other purposes. This may include contacting you by email and/or telephone with information, news and updates on our services. You may stop QQI from contacting you. If you no longer wish to be contacted please contact us below.
Under Data Protection legislation, you have the following rights:
- The right to be informed about our collection and use of your personal data.
- The right to access the personal data we hold about you.
- The right to have your personal data corrected if your personal data held by us is inaccurate or incomplete.
- The right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to ask us to delete, or dispose of any of your personal data that we hold,
- The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data.
- The right to object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes.
- The right to withdraw consent at any time to us using your personal data.
- The right to data portability. You may request a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or business in many cases.
- Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. We do not use your personal data in this way.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights please contact us below.
QQI reserves the right to modify this Privacy Statement at any time. This may be necessary if the law changes, or if we change our business in a way that affects personal data protection.
This Privacy Statement was last updated on 04/12/2023.
If you have any questions about QQI’s Privacy Statement, or the data we hold on you, please contact us.
Quality and Qualifications Ireland
26/27 Denzille Lane
Dublin 2
D02 P266
Ireland
dpo@qqi.ie
If you wish to make a complaint, or if you feel that QQI has not addressed your concern in an appropriate manner, you may contact the Office of the Data Protection Commission:
Data Protection Commission
21 Fitzwilliam Square South
Dublin 2
D02 RD28
Ireland
Email: info@dataprotection.ie
Tel: +353 57 868 4800 or +353 761 104 800
www.dataprotection.ie
