Privacy notice - Skills Development Scotland (SDS)

Data controller and contact details

Scottish Borders Council (including your child's school) is the data controller. We are responsible for ensuring your child’s data is handled safely.

  • Address: Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA
  • Enquiries: 0300 100 1800 | customeradvice@scotborders.gov.uk
  • Data Protection Officer (DPO): dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk

Protecting your child's identity

Before using any application, we assess if we can achieve our goals without using personal data:

  • Anonymisation: We use non-identifiable data for general reporting whenever possible.

  • Pseudonymisation: We use unique ID numbers instead of personal data within the software to add a layer of security against unauthorised identification.

Information we use and purpose

We have determined the minimum data required for sharing with Skills Development Scotland which is part of a data transfer.

The following data relating to young people who are eligible to leave school in the coming school year will be shared. Certain fields - including telephone numbers - may contain personal data relating to third parties (such as parents, carers or guardians).

Data shared by Scottish Borders Council to SDS:

Personal Data

  • Forename
  • Surname
  • Preferred Forename
  • Address
  • Postcode
  • Telephone Number
  • Date of Birth
  • Gender
  • Scottish Candidate Number

Purpose

Data is shared with Skills Development Scotland for the following purpose:

  • For Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to deliver the national careers service, which is dedicated to providing high-quality career information, advice and guidance (CIAG) to Scotland's current and future workforce.
  • This supports children and young people to confidently navigate their career journeys and make informed decisions about their futures.
  • The career services SDS provide for individuals are shaped by the Scottish Government's Career Information, Advice and Guidance Strategy and the Youth Employment Strategy, which aligns with the recommendations of the Commission on Developing Scotland's Young Workforce (DSYW).
  • To enable children and young people to reflect their skills, achievement and qualifications within the My World of Work tool provided by SDS

To enable SDS to manage the SDS Participation Portal. This is restricted to senior staff only.

Legal basis

  • Lawful basis: We process this data under Public Task, as it is part of our official legal duty to provide education and monitor pupil progress in line with the purposes laid out above.
  • Retention: Data is held while your child is at school. Accounts are deactivated and deleted in line with our retention schedule once they leave or stop using the app.

Data sharing and decision making

  • Who sees it: Access is restricted to relevant school staff and Skills Development Scotland (the provider). SDS will only use the data in accordance with the agreed purposes outlined in the Data Sharing Agreement.
  • No automated decisions: This processing does not make use of automatic decisions.

Your rights and complaints 

Depending on your child's age and capacity (usually from age 12 in Scotland), they or their parent/guardian have the right to access their data or request corrections. They may also ask us to restrict processing or object in certain circumstances. For concerns or to exercise your rights, please contact the Headteacher or visit our Data protection and your rights webpage.

How to raise a complaint

We aim to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer by email dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk or phone on 0300 100 1800.

However, you also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection matters with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who can be contacted by

  • post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
  • phone on 0303 123 1113
  • Visit the ICO website

If your complaint is not about a data protection matter, visit our Making Complaints webpage for more information.