Greenhouse School Websites - Website Privacy Policy for Schools

Part 1 - Introduction

The following document is a template Privacy Policy produced by Windich Legal Ltd (www.windich.co.uk) (we or us) for Greenhouse School Websites (Greenhouse). This template was produced in 2018 with reference to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It has not been updated or revised to address changes in UK data protection law arising as a result of Brexit, and you should ensure that if you use this template you take further advice on any changes which may be needed after the Brexit transition period ends (currently expected to be 31 December 2020).

The Privacy Policy is intended for use on school websites developed by Greenhouse and in particular for use in relation to websites which:

• relate to schools based in England and Wales; and
• are primarily “information-only” websites rather than websites through which transactions and e-commerce take place.

The main function of this Privacy Policy is to provide users of the website, and other external third parties with whom your school might deal from time to time (such as suppliers), with information about how your school uses their personal data. As a general principle, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires you to make this information available to any individual whose personal data you handle.

This Privacy Policy does not however address your school’s use of personal data relating to:

• pupils or students;
• parents; or
• staff or job applicants,

and we assume that you will provide separate notices to those individuals to give them the necessary information about how you handle their personal data. Both the Department for Education (DfE) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have issued guidance on the sorts of notices you should provide. You may find it helpful to refer to their websites, and in particular to:

• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-protection-and-privacy-privacy-notices (suggested privacy notices drafted by the DfE for use with staff, parents and pupils); and
• https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/education/ (ICO guidance for the education sector).

Equally, this Privacy Policy does not address any legal matters other than in relation to data protection. It does not, for example, contain any terms which govern the use of content on your web site by visitors, or which govern any sales or other transactions which take place through your web site. You may need additional legal terms to address those matters if they are not already addressed on your web site.

How to use and amend this template

The function of this Privacy Policy is to describe how your school uses certain personal data. That means that, while this document is a generic template which should be suitable for most schools, it may require some customisation to reflect the specific practices of your school or the specific functions of your website. For example, if your website has a chatroom or bulletin board, or if you conduct e-commerce over your website, then you will need to include additional wording.

You will also need to populate the template with some further information, such as contact details for your school and also the details of the individual in charge of data protection compliance at your school.

Finally, the requirements of applicable law (and therefore the wording of the Privacy Policy) will vary depending on whether or not your school is private or publicly-funded.

Some marginal drafting notes are included in the Privacy Policy to indicate which clauses could be deleted, or retained, depending on the circumstances, and to indicate where further information should be included by you.

This document is provided as a free, value-added offering for Greenhouse’s clients.

You should seek legal advice if you are in any way uncertain about the effect of this template, or about how best to edit it.

Part 2 - Legal Terms – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

By downloading and/or using this template you are entering into a legal binding licence agreement with Windich Legal Ltd (we or us) on the terms set out below. If you do not accept these terms you may not use this template. If you have obtained this template as a paid download, then further terms may apply as set out on our website.

Scope of Licence

This template is © Windich Legal Ltd, 2018. You may use the template only as licensed by us. That means:

• if this template was provided to you free of charge, you may not remove the attribution and link to our website at the end of the template;
• if this template is provided to you as a paid download, or if you subsequent pay for a download, from www.windich.co.uk, then you may remove the attribution and link;
• except for retaining the attribution and link if this template was provided to you free of charge, you may freely edit and amend this template (indeed, we encourage you to do so to make sure it is tailored exactly to your school);
• you may use this template on your website, may keep local copies of it, and may provide it to any advisor who assists you in reviewing, editing and amending it, in each case in its original or in an amended form. Otherwise, you may not publish or redistribute it and in particular may not re-sell it. In short: this is for your own use only.

Disclaimer and Liability

This template, together with the guidance contained in it, is provided “as is” and we disclaim all warranties in relation to this template or its subject matter to the fullest extent permissible by law. This template does not constitute, and should not be used as a substitute for, legal advice. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have taken appropriate legal advice in relation to the use and amendment of this template.

Our liability to you in connection with your use of this template will not:

• exceed any sums paid by you to us in connection with it; nor
• extend to any indirect or consequential losses; nor
• extend to any business losses, whether direct or indirect, including without limitation loss of profits, income, revenue or anticipated savings or loss of management time.

Nothing in these terms will limit or exclude any liability to you which cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

Governing law

Your licence to use this template is governed by the laws of England and Wales, and any dispute between you and us will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Who are Windich Legal

Windich Legal Ltd is registered in the United Kingdom under no. 10046012. Our registered office address is c/o Crunch Accounting Ltd, First Floor, Telecom House, 125-135 Brighton Road, Brighton BN1 6AF. We are a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and are not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – see our FAQ for more information. Our VAT registration number is 257028308. We can be contacted at max@windich.co.uk.

 

Download the free template Privacy Policy for schools.