Boring. But important. Our privacy policy.

Heriot-Watt University Student Union (HWUnion) takes privacy very seriously. In line with GDPR regulations, this page will provide you with the information you need about how we collect, process and store information about you.

First up, our Data Protection and Information Security Policy

This is the overarching policy that encompasses our approach to Data Protection and Information Security.

Data Protection and Information Security Policy

Information You Need to Know

Below are our Privacy Statements. There are six main ones in total that cover information about:

• Students – our members, our people, our family
• Employees – the brilliant potential, current and former people who have worked with us
• Suppliers and Business Clients - those select few that we work with to provide our services
• Consumers – customers who spend their hard-earned cash with us
• Societies - the people involved in running our societies
• Society Members - how societies look after the information of their members

We also have statements for particular services or projects, including:

• The Advice Hub
• NHS Scotland Test and Protect
• MATES Scheme - project to put similar people together to get to know each other

These statements explain what information we collect, your rights in relation to this information and the legal basis through which we collect this data. The legal basis may be through contract, a legal obligation or where we have assessed a legitimate interest.

• Student Privacy Statement
  How we handle your information as a member of HWUnion
• Advice Hub Privacy Statement New
  How we handle your information when you use our Advice Hub
• Employee Privacy Statement Updated
  How we handle the information of our staff members
• Suppliers and Business Client Privacy Statement
  How we handle the information of companies we work with
• Consumer Privacy Statement
  How we handle the information of our customers
• Society Data Privacy Statement 
  How we handle information provided during affiliation / reaffiliation
• Society Membership Privacy Statement
  How societies handle your information as a member
• MATES Scheme Privacy Statement
  How we handle your information when you join the MATES scheme

How We Will Get in Touch With You

We will only ever contact you to either:

• Fulfil a legal obligation – for example information regarding the Union’s activities related to your membership of the Student Union
• Fulfil a contract – for example contacting staff regarding their employment
• Legitimate interest – for example information regarding your membership of a society or student group or an online purchase

We will only communicate with you in line with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation (PECR) guidance, and if appropriate will include an unsubscribe option if you no longer wish to hear from us.

Cookies (no not the tasty kind!)

Our website uses cookies, which are small files that are downloaded to your device when you use our website. Our website can view these files on future visits for a variety of reasons to help improve your experience of using our site. Below is our Cookies Policy which will help you understand why we set cookies and how they might be used.

Cookies Statement

Got a Question?

If you have a question about our Data Protection, please feel free to contact us on privacy@hwunion.com.