Privacy Centre

We may change this privacy notice from time to time to reflect our privacy practices and further changes to the legislation. We therefore encourage you to regularly check this privacy notice for changes and updates. This policy was last reviewed on 22 May 2018.

The Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and its associated charity IoL Educational Trust (IoLET) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This privacy notice applies to personal data collected and processed by us.

CIOL and IoLET, registered office Dunstan House, 14a St Cross Street, London EC1N 8XA, are data controllers of your personal data and we are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can contact us by post (to the above address) or by email or phone:

• CIOL: membershipteam@ciol.org.uk
• IoLET: qualifications@ciol.org.uk
• Telephone: +44 (0)20 7940 3100

This notice covers the qualification, examination and membership services we provide and the benefits of membership we offer. It does not cover any external websites which may be reached from links within our website (www.ciol.org.uk) or via our email communications. In such cases we will make it clear that you are moving to another website; you should always read the privacy notice of any site you subsequently visit.

You are advised to read this privacy notice carefully. The notice also applies if you are not a CIOL member or IoLET examination candidate and you interact with us, for example, by:

1. Applying for membership or entering for an exam
2. Registering for a CIOL event, to attend in person or online
3. Contacting our Membership Services or Client Services teams by telephone, email or any other means
4. Using our online website contact form to make an enquiry
5. Contacting one of our divisions, societies or networks via our website or by email

CIOL and IoLET must have a lawful basis in order to process your data. There are six lawful bases for processing data, details of which can be found on the ICO website.

We have determined the following as our lawful bases for processing your data:

1. Contract

CIOL requires your personal data in order to fulfil your membership with us, to make available all services and benefits of membership and to keep in touch with you about your membership. This lawful basis also applies to linguists who are in the process of applying for CIOL membership.

IoLET requires your data in order to process your exam entry and to keep you informed about your examination including notifications about the examination itself, your results, your final award and any subsequent enquiries about results and appeals (as applicable).

2. Legitimate interests

CIOL and IoLET will only use your data in ways you would reasonably expect in conjunction with:

• CIOL membership
• IoLET qualifications and examinations
• Studying a language or language specialism such as translating and interpreting
• Working as a language practitioner
• Relevant training opportunities

In addition, if you are a past examination candidate or lapsed CIOL member, we may use your personal data to keep you informed of CIOL/IoLET news and updates. You will be given the opportunity to opt out of these communications every time we contact you or by contacting us by phone, email or post. 

Membership (all grades)

It is important that the information we hold for you is accurate and up-to-date.

CIOL members can view the personal data we hold via their online My CIOL account. You can make changes in real time or alternatively you can contact the membership team on membershipteam@ciol.org.uk or by phone on +44 (0)20 7940 3100.

IoLET examination candidates

If you are an IoLET Affiliate member you will also need to advise IoLET Client Services of the changes by email to qualifications@ciol.org.uk or by phone on +44 (0)20 7940 3100.

Non-members

If you are applying for CIOL membership (all grades), the data you supply in your application will be treated in the same way as the data we hold for CIOL members.

Current members

CIOL will retain and use your data whilst processing your application, whilst your membership is active and throughout the renewal period (up to six months after the date your membership renewal is due).

Lapsed members

If you allow your membership to lapse, we are legally required to retain financial data for a period of seven years to comply with regulatory audit requirements. We will only retain your name, your unique CIOL number and the financial data associated with your membership record.

In addition, CIOL may contact you to invite you to reactivate your membership or to share with you CIOL news and updates; we will hold your data for up to three years for this purpose. When you initially join (or renew your membership) we will ask for your consent to keep in touch with you.

Examination candidates

Under legislative and regulatory requirements IoLET retains sufficient evidence of exam candidates' work or assessment decisions. Details of what information is kept, why it is kept and the retention period can be found in IoLET's separate Retention of Information policy which can be accessed here.

All membership data is stored securely on our membership database. The systems are hosted domestically in the UK and the contractor, UKFast, is fully compliant with GDPR and ISOs 27001, 27018, 22301, 9001, 14001, Cyber Essentials+ and additionally hold an attestation of compliance as a PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider. Staff access to data systems is managed stringently through the use of two-tier admin levels, two-factor authentication login processes and strict, automated password management.

If you are also taking an examination with IoLET, the information you provide on the examination entry form will also be securely stored on a separate qualifications database.

Our membership database is integrated with our website, through which personal information flows, for example new applicants' information will be submitted via the CIOL website.

Members (including applicant members)

The personal information we collect depends on why you are engaging with us.

Membership

We collect the following personal data as part of the membership application process:

1. Personal contact details such as title, full name, address, telephone numbers and email address
2. Date of birth
3. Nationality or nationalities (and previous nationality/nationalities)
4. A record of your contact with us e.g. advice given during the application process and as a member
5. CV (if submitted as part of the application or membership upgrade process)
6. Certificates and transcripts of results
7. Evidence of other professional memberships
8. Evidence of the type of work you do as a linguist and your work volume
9. Details of your mother-tongue(s) and your language(s) of qualification
10. IP address the application was submitted from
11. In some cases, your VAT registration number and business website 

Once admitted into membership we will use your personal data outlined in (1) above to fulfill our obligations to you as a member and to deliver the benefits associated with being a member. Information detailed in points (2) to (9) above will form the basis of your membership record; we may need to refer to this information from time to time if, for example, you change your category of membership or apply to become a chartered linguist. Information under (10) above is not stored beyond the application form submission record.

Qualifications

We collect the following personal data as part of the examination entry process, with the exception of (6) which is collected for monitoring purposes:

1. Personal contact details such as title, full name, address, telephone numbers and email address
2. Your date of birth
3. Your current nationality
4. Your gender
5. Your source language and your target language
6. Your ethnic group

Your personal data outlined in (1) above is used to fulfill our obligations to you as an examination candidate and will form part of your candidate record along with points (2) to (5). 

General enquiries

You may also give us your information by:

1. Completing the Contact Us form on the website
2. Calling us
3. Sending us an email or letter

In addition, you may also give us your personal data when booking to attend an event.

However you provide your personal information, we will never pass your details to any other company unless it is in relation to your IoLET examination e.g. an examination centre and/or to fulfill a benefit or service of membership, such as the fulfilment house we use to distribute CIOL's professional journal The Linguist.

When data is passed to a third party, this is always under a formal agreement or legal contract and is on the basis that:

• CIOL/IoLET will only provide the information needed to perform their specific service
• The third party only uses your data for the exact purpose or purposes we specify in our agreement or contract with them
• The third party is also complying with current data protection legislation, as applicable and understands that your privacy is respected and protected at all times
• If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will be securely deleted or rendered anonymous

CIOL and IoLET also work with a range of IT companies who support our website and other business systems. We may also use your data for analytical purposes, in all such cases the data will be anonymised.

Subject Access Requests

A Subject Access Request enables you to find out what personal data we hold about you. Personal data, is defined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as data which relates to a living individual from which the individual can be identified.

If you wish to make a Subject Access Request this needs to be made either in writing or by email. We may subsequently ask you to complete an online form should the information you are requesting be of a complex nature.

Fees: There is no fee for an initial SAR unless the request is of a complex nature or is one of a number of requests relating to the same data subject. In such cases CIOL and IoLET reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee. 

What information are you entitled to under a Subject Access Request?

You can request all the information we hold about you. 

In addition you are entitled to be:

• told whether personal data is being processed
• given a description of the personal data, the reasons it is being processed and whether it will be given to any other organisations or people
• given a copy of the personal data; and
• given details of the source of the data (where this is possible)

You can find out more about your rights by visiting the ICO website.

What is the time limit for responding?

CIOL and IoLET will aim to respond promptly to your Subject Access Request and in any event we will respond within the legal timeframe of one calendar month of receiving it. 

In addition you also have the following rights

The right to rectification

You have the right to ask for inaccurate personal data to be rectified or completed it if it is incomplete. You can make a request for rectification either verbally or in writing. We will respond to the request as soon as possible; legally we have to respond within one calendar month.

Right to erasure (or right to be forgotten)

You can make a request for us to securely and permanently delete all personal information we hold about you in writing (by email) or verbally (by phone), which we legally have to action within one calendar month. Some information we are required to retain for regulatory purposes, specifically in relation to IoLET qualifications and financial records.

Right to restrict processing

You have the right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data. There may be regulatory reasons why this is not possible in relation to qualifications and financial activity.

CIOL members can restrict the use of or suppress the use of their personal data via their online My CIOL account. Or you can make a request to CIOL or IoLET by phone or email; we have a legal obligation to respond within one calendar month.

Right to data portability

The right to data portability allows individuals to obtain and reuse their personal data for their own purposes across different services. This is normally in relation to the financial industry, for example, if you are with one bank and wish to move to another.

Right to object

The current legislation also states that you have the right to object to:

1. Processing based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling)
2. Direct marketing (including profiling); and
3. Processing for purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics

Neither CIOL nor IoLET engage in the activities detailed in points (2) and (3). One of our lawful bases for processing your data is Legitimate Interest (see Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data above). We only use your data in a way you would reasonably expect and only in relation to your membership (or application for membership) with CIOL and/or entering for an IoLET examination.

You can find out more information by visiting the ICO website.

CIOL members

• membershipteam@ciol.org.uk
• +44 (0)20 7940 3100
• Dunstan House, 14a St Cross Street, London EC1N 8XA, United Kingdom

IoLET examination candidates

• qualifications@ciol.org.uk
• +44 (0)20 7940 3100
• Dunstan House, 14a St Cross Street, London EC1N 8XA, United Kingdom

If you are dissatisfied with this policy, have queries about our data protection procedures or wish to lodge a complaint, please contact CIOL or IoLET in the first instance.  Thereafter you have the right to submit a complaint to the Supervisory Authority, the Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF.