Privacy policy
The UNITE Group Plc (Unite Students) is committed to protecting your privacy. We treat your privacy seriously and this Privacy Policy explains how we use and share your personal information and how you can exercise your rights in relation to your personal information.
We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office.
Who We Are
UNITE Integrated Solutions plc is a subsidiary of The UNITE Group Plc known as Unite Students. Unite Students is the UK's leading provider of affordable, high quality accommodation for students and key workers. Please visit the 'Contact us' section for contact information on UNITE Group or alternatively visit www.unite-group.co.uk.
When this Privacy Policy applies
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected by Unite Students. The Privacy Policy does not apply to any collection of personal information by third party companies, individuals, organisations or via other websites which the Unite Students website or the Unite Students app may link to. Where third parties collect your personal information their own privacy policies will apply. We urge you to read these carefully.
What we mean by personal information
When we refer to personal information in this Privacy Policy, we mean information that can identify you as an individual or is capable of doing so. By personal information we don't mean general, statistical, aggregated or anonymous information (the types of personal information we will collect will be information that is used for the purposes of processing your application and finding you a suitable room).
How we collect information about you
You may provide personal information when communicating with us (for example, when you fill out your registration form to become a tenant, if you sign up for additional services or if you contact us with a query or complaint). You may order a product or a service and give your name, e-mail address, delivery address, credit or debit card number and expiry date (or relevant bank account details), so that the order can be processed and your products (or services where appropriate) delivered to you. Sometimes you may be asked for your telephone number. If you enter a competition or promotion we will ask for your name, address and e-mail address and any other relevant information.
We will collect information about your tastes and preferences both when you tell us what these are and by analysis of customer traffic, including by using cookies (as described below). It may be that some of the personal information you give us (for instance about your lifestyle or health) is sensitive personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any such information ("sensitive information") will only be collected by us with your express consent. It may be that you provide to us details of credit or debit cards or bank accounts in order to make payments to us. Any such information ("confidential financial information") will be used only for the specific purpose for which it is provided.
If you are a guarantor, your information may have been provided to us by the tenant. For guarantors we request name and contact details, nationality and information about your relationship with the tenant.
How we use your information
We use your information for the following purposes:
• to process your application for a tenancy;
• to administer your tenancy;
• to communicate with you and respond to your requests;
• to process payments;
• to recover any unpaid sums due to us;
• to prevent and detect criminal activity, fraud and misuse of or damage to our property;
• to invite you to form part of our consumer panel or research groups;
• where we have your consent to do so, to contact you about other products and services that we think may be of interest to you;
• to personalise your visits to our website; and
• to help us develop the design and layout of our website to ensure it is as useful and enjoyable as possible.
Other information we may collect
We may collect traffic data related to your use of and access to our services. Such data would include time spent online. We may use this information to understand and keep you informed about what is the best internet access package for you according to your use of the services.
We may provide aggregated statistics about our sales, customers, traffic patterns and other site information to third parties, but these statistics will not include any information that could personally identify you. If you are an on-line customer, the information collected from the website is not anonymous. We use this information along with your preferences to tailor content, services and offers for you.
How long do we keep your information
The periods for which we keep your information will vary according to the purpose for which we use the information.
Unless there is a specific legal requirement to keep your information we will not keep it for longer than necessary for the purposes for which the data was collected or for which it is to be further processed. We have an internal data retention policy that details the duration for which we keep certain categories of data.
Disclosing your information to third parties
We may share your personal information with third parties in the following ways:
• where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do so – this will include sharing your personal information with local councils for the provision of electoral roll services;
• where we use third party suppliers to provide services to us (for example, our IT providers) and they need access to your personal information in order to deliver that service;
• where it is necessary to do so to protect or defend our legal rights or the legal rights of others;
• we provide your name and email address to UCAS so that they can provide us with aggregated profile information about our tenants;
• if you are a tenant and you fail to pay your rent we may contact the guarantor and inform them of this failure when exercising our rights under the guarantee;
• if we sell our business or a property we will transfer information relating to tenants and guarantors to the new owner;
• if you have agreed that we may do so, we will share your personal information with identified third parties so that they can contact you with details of their products and services.
We may also provide aggregated statistics about our sales, customers, traffic patterns and other site information to third parties, but these statistics will not include any information that could personally identify you.
How we protect your information
When you review your account information or order services or products online, Unite Students offers the use of a secure server. The secure server software encrypts the information that you input before it is transmitted to us. In addition, we have strict security procedures covering the storage and disclosure of your information in order to prevent unauthorised access and to comply with statutory data protection requirements. This means that sometimes we may ask you for proof of identity before disclosing any personal information to you.
Cookies explained
A cookie is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive by your web browser, or stored as a temporary object in your web browser for the time of that connection.
When we use cookies
During the online registration process we allocate cookies during the registration process for our services. These cookies will hold information collected during your registration and will allow us to recognise you as a web visitor and provide you with the services you require. The type of cookie that we use is known as a 'session-based' cookie and is allocated to your computer only for the duration of your visit to our web site. The second type of cookie is known as a 'persistent' cookie. These cookies will remain on your computer for a period of time set for each cookie.
How they work:
• Limit how often you see a particular advertisement or announcement on our web site
• Identify your preferences when customising content for you
• Provide you with relevant self-help information
• Record how many times you visit a page or advertisement
• Limit and record how often you can vote in our polls
• Confirm you are a registered user and save your login details when accessing certain services on our website
• Collect statistics on the use of our services
• We may also use cookies and web beacons to ensure that our mailing tools are working properly
Other companies which advertise or offer their products or services on our web sites may also allocate cookies to your computer. These cookies are used:
• To serve advertisements on our site and track whether these advertisements are clicked on by users
• To control how often you are shown a particular advertisement
• To tailor content to your preferences
• To count the number of anonymous users of the site
• To provide security within shopping baskets or transactions
The types of cookies they use and how they use the information generated by them will be governed by those companies' Privacy Policies. We have no control over these.
How you can refuse or opt out of cookies: Most browsers are set by default to accept cookies automatically, but usually you can alter the settings of your browser to prevent automatic acceptance and prompt you every time a cookie is sent to you or to allow you to choose not to receive cookies at all. For further information on cookies and how to manage them you can go to www.allaboutcookies.org
Updates to this Privacy Policy
If we change the way in which we use or share your personal information we will update this Privacy Policy. We will notify you of any significant changes and where necessary we will obtain your consent before using your personal information for any new purpose..
Your rights in relation to your personal information
You may request access to your personal information. If you wish to do this there will be a fee of £10.00 until 25 May 2018, following which there will be no fee.
You also have the right to request that inaccurate information is updated or erased.
If you have consented to us sending you marketing communications you can request that we stop using your personal information for this purpose at any time.
All requests to exercise your rights in relation to your personal information should be sent by email to customerservices@unite-students.com.
If you are unhappy about the way in which we have used your personal information please let us know by contacting customerservices@unite-students.com and we will try to resolve your complaint. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office.
Contact details
If you have any questions or complaints about how we use your personal information please contact our customer services team on 0300 303 8645 or from overseas on +44 117 302 7497.