Terms of Use - The English School Dubai

What personal data do we collect about you?

We process personal data about visitors to our website; prospective, current and past students and their parents; staff and contractors; and other individuals connected with or visiting our school.

The information we may collect from you includes:

names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, emergency contact information;
IP addresses, location data, and website statistics and analytics;
website cookies;
students’ date of birth, nationality, family details;
admissions, academic, disciplinary and other education related records, references, examination scripts and marks;
parents’ employment data;
financial information and identification documents (e.g. for fundraising);
information relating to your use of our website (for example, domain name, IP, address and cookies); and
any information you independently choose to provide to us (for example, if you send us an email or call us about an application for your child to the school).

As a school, from time to time we also need to process personal data which is designated as “sensitive” or “special category personal data” in order to facilitate our school operations and activities. Such data includes personal data regarding a data subject concerning:

health;
special education needs;
biometric data;
information relating to safeguarding and child protection/welfare
race ethnicity; or
religion.

How do we obtain your information?

We collect most of the personal data we process directly from the data subject concerned (or often in the case of students, from their parents. In some cases, we collect data from third parties (for example, referees/references, and previous schools) or from publicly available resources.

We also collect data about you when:

you have expressed an interest in having a student attend our school;
you have registered to attend (or have attended) one of our events;
you visit our website;
you sign up to receive email our newsletter and/or prospectus;
you have expressed an interest in working for, or with, us; or
you are employed by us or an organisation with whom we have a business relationship.

How do we use your personal data?

We may use or process your personal data for the following purposes:

(a) the selection and admission of students;
(b) analysing website traffic, demographics and behaviour through the use of analytical tools and cookies;
(c) the promotion of our school through our website[s], our prospectus and other publications and communications (including through our social media accounts);
(d) to support students with their learning;
(e) to monitor and report on student progress;
(f) to provide appropriate care to our students;
(g) to assess the quality of our services as a school;
(h) to keep the students safe (e.g. food allergies or emergency contact details);
(i) to meet our legal duties placed upon us by applicable educational regulatory authorities;
(j) to respond to any queries, requests, or comments that you may have;
(k) to process your payments;
(l) to review, develop and improve the services which we offer;
(m) to comply with our legal obligations;
(n) to carry out background and reference checks, where applicable.
(o) to communicate with you about your employment with the school.
(p) to carry out our obligations as an employer.

What is our legal basis for processing your data?

We may process your personal data for the above purposes based one or more of the following legal bases:

Legitimate business interests: We use your personal data to operate, enhance, and minimise any disruptions to the services we provide you. Additionally, we have a legitimate interest in sharing information about services, offerings, and events that we believe will be of interest to you.
Performance of a contract: We may process your personal data when it is necessary to fulfil a contract we have with you or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.
Consent: If we specifically request your consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose.
Legal obligations and employment rights: We may process your personal data to fulfil our legal obligations or exercise our rights related to your employment.
Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements: We process your personal data to comply with applicable legal and regulatory obligations.
Public interest: In some cases, we may process your personal data when it is necessary for reasons of public interest, such as equal opportunities monitoring.

With whom do you share your data?

(a) schools that the students attend after leaving us;
(b) our local authorities, including the Ministry of Education, Dubai Health Authority
and the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority;
(c) youth support services, where applicable;
(d) third party service providers and subcontractors who provide a service to us
(including but not limited to marketing, data processing, IT and office services);
(e) any member of our group; and
(f) any other competent authorities if we are legally required to comply with a
request for data.

We will only transfer your personal data outside the UAE under the following circumstances:

The third party receiving the data has implemented suitable safeguards to ensure the security and protection of your personal data, in accordance with applicable laws.
The transfer is essential for the fulfilment of a contract between us and you (e.g., an employment contract).

What rights do you have over your personal data?

Under data protection laws, you have the right to:

obtain access to, and copies of, the personal data that we hold about you;
correct the personal data we hold about you if it is incorrect;
require us to erase your personal data in certain circumstances;
require us to restrict our data processing activities in certain circumstances;
receive from us the personal data we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of your transmitting that personal data to another data controller;
object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to any of our particular processing activities where you feel this has a disproportionate impact on your rights (including a right 3 to object to receiving fundraising or communications, and to object to our profiling you for the purposes of fundraising or keeping in touch);
where our processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of our processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

If you would like to exercise any of your rights under data protection law for which we are the data controller or if you have any questions or concerns about how we are using your personal data, please make your request by emailing us at [email protected]

Please note that these rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled or required to refuse requests where exceptions or exemptions apply.

We will respond to any such written requests as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within statutory time limits.

If you feel that we do not comply with applicable data protection and privacy rules, you may lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority.

How do we retain and store your personal data?

All personal data is securely stored in accordance with legal requirements. We retain personal data only for legitimate purposes, relying on one or more of the lawful bases as set out above, and only for so long as necessary for those purposes, or as required by law.

When determining the suitable duration for retaining personal data, we take into account various factors. These factors include the quantity, type, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risks associated with unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process the data, alternative methods to achieve those purposes, and the relevant legal obligations.

We store the data we collect about you on servers located in the UAE, but it’s important to note that your data may be transmitted, stored, and processed in countries that have different data privacy regulations compared to the UAE. This includes individuals working for us or our suppliers located outside the UAE. In order to fulfil the service you requested, it may be necessary to transmit, store, or process your information across different countries and entities. By providing your information, you acknowledge and consent to this. We are committed to handling your information securely and in accordance with this Privacy Notice, and we will take all necessary and reasonable measures to ensure compliance.

Full Privacy Notice