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Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice


This is the privacy notice of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, London office (“JSPS London”, “we”, “us” or “our”). This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data when we process your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.


1. Important information and who we are

Purpose of this privacy notice


This privacy notice aims to give you information on how JSPS London collects and processes your personal data, for example, if you contact us or apply for our funding programme, if we have a business relationship with you or your company.

It is important that you read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notices we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy notice supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.


Controller

JSPS London is the controller and responsible for your personal data.


Information about you is also used by our affiliated entities, including Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (“JSPS”) Tokyo Headquarters in Japan and around the world. When we do so we are regulated under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and we are responsible for that personal data for the purposes of those laws.


We have appointed a data protection manager who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the data protection manager using the details set out below.


By post: Data Protection Manager, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 14 Stephenson Way, London, NW1 2HD

By e-mail: lon-info@overseas.jsps.go.jp

By phone: 020 7255 4660


You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.


Changes to the privacy notice and your duty to inform us of changes


We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This version was last updated on 10 August 2022.


It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.


Third-party links


This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.


2. The data we collect about you


Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).


We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:


Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender.

Contact Data includes address, email address and telephone numbers.

Financial Data includes bank account and related bank information.

Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you.

Profile Data includes your username and password, feedback and survey responses.

Academic Data includes your academic record or achievement.

Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving communication from us.


We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.


If you fail to provide personal data


Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.


How is your personal data collected?


We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:


Direct interactions. You may give us your personal data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:

- apply for our funding or fellowship programme;

- create an account on our website;

- subscribe to our publications; or

- give us feedback or contact us.


Third parties or publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources such as published dissertation, treatise, and reports.


4. How we use your personal data


We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:


- Where you have provided your consent.
- Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
- Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
- Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.


Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.


Purposes for which we will use your personal data


We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.


Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.


Purpose/Activity

Type of data

Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest

To register you as an applicant for the fellowship programme and process your application

(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Academic

(a) Performance of a contract with you
(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to process your application for the fellowship programme)

To fund your research or study and process the payments

(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Financial
(d) Transaction
(e) Academic

(a) Performance of a contract with you
(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to fund your research or study)

To manage our relationship with you which will include:
(a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy notice
(b) Notifying academic events
(c) Taking a survey

(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Profile
(d) Communications

(a) Performance of a contract with you
(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation
(c) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how you use our services)

To facilitate interaction, communication and cooperation between academics, students and researchers

(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Academic

(a) Performance of a contract with you
(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to promote academic discourse)


Cookies


When you use our website we may gather information about you through Internet access logs, cookies and other technical means. ‘Cookies’ are text files placed on your computer to collect Internet log information and user behaviour information. These are used to track website usage and monitor website activity and for other data processing reasons set out in this notice.


Some of the cookies we use are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but parts of the site will not work. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, please contact Data Protection Manager.


Change of purpose


We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.


If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.


Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.


5. Disclosures of your personal data


We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table Purposes for which we will use your personal data above.


- JSPS Tokyo Headquarters (Japan)
- JSPS Bonn Office (Germany), JSPS Stockholm Office (Sweden), JSPS Strasbourg Office (France)
- JSPS Beijing Office (China), JSPS Bangkok Office (Thailand)
- JSPS Washington Office (US), JSPS San Francisco Office (US)
- Professional advisers including lawyers, auditors and accountants.


We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.


6. International transfers


We share your personal data within the JSPS organisation in the world. This will involve transferring your data outside the UK.


Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:


- We will transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data. Those countries include Japan and the countries in the European Economic Area.


- Where we transfer your personal data to countries without an adequate level of protection for personal data, we will use specific contracts approved for use in the UK which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK.


If any of the above safeguard is not applicable, we will obtain your explicit consent.


Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK.


7. Data security


We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.


We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.


8. Data retention


How long will you use my personal data for?


We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.


To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.


Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available in our data protection policy which you can request from us by contacting us. In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see your legal rights below for further information.


In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.


9. Your legal rights


Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. You have the right to:


Request access to your personal data: This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.


Request correction of your personal data: This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.


Request erasure of your personal data: This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data 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 data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.


Object to processing of your personal data: You have this right 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 as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.


Request restriction of processing your personal data: This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios;

- If you want us to establish the data's accuracy.
- Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.
- Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
- You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.


Request transfer of your personal data: You can request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.


Right to withdraw consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.


If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.


No fee usually required


You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.


What we may need from you


We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.


Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.


If you are not satisfied with any request you have with us, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the supervising authority in the UK in relation to data protection.