Privacy policy

Last updated: 9 August 2024

1. Introduction

Unite students (registered as Unite Integrated Solutions) is a subsidiary of the UNITE Group Plc and is the data controller for the personal data we process unless otherwise stated within this notice. We are the UK’s leading provider of student accommodation and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This privacy notice has been designed with our higher education partners and website visitors in mind.

This notice covers personal data collected by Unite Students that can identify you as an individual or is capable of doing so. It does not cover general, statistical, aggregated or anonymous information or personal data collected by third party organisations outside of our instruction, or individuals or other websites which the Unite Students higher education website may link to. Where third parties collect your personal information their own privacy notices will apply. We encourage you to read their privacy notice to understand how they process your information.

If you have a question about something in this notice or would like to contact our Data Protection team, please see the ‘How to Contact Us’ section.

For more information about how we process personal data:

• To provide a Home for Success for students, see our Unite Students Privacy Notice;
• Of our Unite Foundation scholars, see our Unite Foundation Privacy Notice;
• When individuals apply to work with us, see our Careers Privacy Notice; or
• If you are part of a Unite Group consumer panel or research group, see our Unite Group Privacy Notice.

2. The information we process about you

From our website

When you visit this website, we use essential cookies for basic site functionality. We also collect information, in the form of optional cookies, about your website interactivity, behaviour and interests, including the pages you visit.

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. For information about how we use cookies and to update your preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.

When we conduct research

We work with a third party to conduct research about our customers’ opinions on their room, the building, and their experience of living with uS. Our lawful basis for processing this information is legitimate interest so we can better understand their needs and improve our service offering. Research participation is optional. The information we collect is aggregated, however students can also consent to have their individual testimonials included in our promotions, publications, and similar distributions.

We distribute an optional reputation survey to individuals from our higher education partners with whom we are in regular contact, in order to learn about what we do well as a business and how we can become a more trusted and valuable partner to universities. The survey is designed to collect anonymous responses which are aggregated to form each institution’s trust score and net promotor score (NPS). Our lawful basis for collecting this information is legitimate interest.

When we publish a podcast

We host a monthly Unite Students Accommodation Matters podcast which features guest speakers each episode.

If you listen to our podcast, we collect aggregated data about your interaction such as how many times it is played, liked, shared, and downloaded. Our podcast channel is hosted by Podbean but you can also access the episodes on Spotify, Google, Amazon, and Apple Podcasts. If you subscribe to or access one of our podcasts through a listed third party organisation, we encourage you to read their privacy notice to understand how they are processing your data.

If we contact you about being a guest speaker, we collect your name, job title, place of work, and contact detail(s). We may also request a short bio and a headshot, and process information you disclose during the discussion, such as your opinions.

When we send out a newsletter

When you first register to receive our newsletter, we collect your email address. You can unsubscribe at any point to stop receiving further newsletters from us – either via the newsletter itself or see the ‘Contact Us’ section below for further details.

We also send our newsletter to our education partners who can opt to stop receiving the newsletter in the same way. Our lawful basis for sending this newsletter is legitimate interest.

When we send each newsletter we collect information about your engagement with the content, specifically if it is delivered to your mailbox, if you open the email, and if you open a link within.

When you contact us

If you contact a member of our Higher Education Engagement team directly, you may provide information such as your email address, your name, and any additional data in your message or email signature.

3. How long we keep your information

The periods for which we keep your information will vary according to the purpose for which we use the information. To work out how long we keep each data record for, we consider why we hold it, how sensitive it is, how long the law says we need to keep it, and what the risks are.

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 it was collected or for which it is to be further processed. We have an internal data retention schedule that details how long we keep each data record and we will securely delete your information in line with this.

4. How we protect your information

We have many physical, electronic, and procedural security measures in place to protect your information:

Personal data stored in our secure system is restricted, with additional access restrictions depending on the type of data being stored.  We have strict security procedures covering the storage and disclosure of this information in order to prevent unauthorised access. Our employees can only access data that is appropriate and necessary for their role and we carry out identity verification checks before disclosing any personal information to approved parties.

Where we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information necessary for them to deliver the required services. We carry out security due diligence to ensure they have satisfactory security and confidentiality measures in place, and contracts are in place to ensure they only use it for the purpose for which it was intended.

5. Your rights in relation to your personal data

We have summarised below the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We process and respond to all requests regarding personal data within one calendar month, but if the request is going to take longer to process we will advise you of this.

We may ask for additional information to verify your identity to ensure we are sharing personal data with the correct person or that we believe is necessary to comply with a request. Please note that whilst we will carefully assess every request we receive, we may not always have to comply. When this happens, we will explain why.

Your right to be informed

You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your personal data and your rights. Therefore, we are providing you with the information in this privacy notice.

Your right of access

You have the right to access the personal data we hold about you.

Your right to correct the personal data we hold on you

You have the right to correct, amend, or update your personal data if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

Your right to erase your personal data 

You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data although, for legal reasons, we might not always be able to do it.

Your right to restrict the processing of your personal data              

You have the right to restrict, ‘block’ or suppress further use of your information if:

• the accuracy of your personal data is contested;
• your personal data has been processed unlawfully by us but you do not want to request erasure; or
• we no longer need your personal data for our original purpose but it is required to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

When processing is restricted, we can still store your information but may not use it further. We keep records of people who have asked for further use of their information to be ‘blocked’ to make sure the restriction is respected in the future.

Your right to withdraw consent

If you have given your consent to allow us to process your personal data, you also have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Your rights in relation to automated decision making including profiling          

Automated decision making is a decision made by automated means, without any human involvement, which has legal consequences or something to a similar effect (e.g. credit checking). We don’t typically carry out automated decision making, but if we were to, we would make it clear where decisions are being made.

Your right to data portability

You have rights to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes in a commonly used machine-readable format, and to have your personal data transferred to another data controller on your request.

Your right to object to processing

You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your situation at any time, to the processing of your personal data that is based on us exercising our legitimate interests. If we can show compelling legitimate grounds for processing your personal data which we consider override your interests, rights and freedoms, or we need your personal data to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, we can continue to process it. Otherwise, we must stop using the relevant information.

You have the absolute right to object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.

Your right to make a complaint

If you are unhappy about the way in which we have used your personal data, please let us know by contacting us as detailed below and we will try to resolve your complaint. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right to lodge a complaint about the way we handle or process your personal data with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

6. Updates to this Privacy Notice

This notice was last updated on: 13th August 2021.

Historic versions can be obtained by contacting dataprotection@unitestudents.com.

If we change the way in which we use or share your personal information we will send you a just-in-time notice or update this Privacy Notice. 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.

7. Contact details

If you have any questions or complaints about how we use your personal information please contact our Data Protection team on dataprotection@unitestudents.com.