T-REX Privacy Statement

Introduction

This is a statement of the practice of T-REX, in collecting and using your personal data as part of the functioning of the T-REX social network – that is, the use of all web pages within the domain t-rex.ie.

T-REX is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other websites accessed via links to outside of this domain.

Please note that if you share documents or research data via the site (for example, within a Project group) you also have data protection responsibilities. Please be aware of these (they are outlined below, but you should also take steps to inform yourself regarding these duties).

General Statement

T-REX takes privacy very seriously. We aim to collect only that information that is necessary to support and nurture the educational research community on T-REX. We also aim to ensure that you have direct control over that information as much as possible (for example, through the control of who sees information included within your user profile). Furthermore, we are keenly aware of the importance of keeping data shared between researchers on the site safe and secure.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

You provide personal information to T-REX when you register or edit your user profile, when you post or share documents to the site, and through your engagement with the resources on the site.

The data are used only to allow the site to function as a means to support and nurture the community of educational researchers who make up its users. Data are stored indefinitely, unless you choose to delete your profile, by deleting your account.

In addition to enabling the appropriate activity of the site (communication, collaboration, amongst educational researchers), your data are also combined with other information by our technical team in order to monitor the effectiveness and general functioning of the site, through statistics and other “analytics” of various kinds. These analytics are sometimes reported to outside bodies (e.g. funding support bodies), but never include personal information of individual users.

Your Personal Profile

The Name, Username, and Research Interests elements of your user profile are fixed as visible to all users of the site. All other elements of your profile can be designated as private or shared by editing your user profile settings.

Visibility of Your Posts

Who can see your posts depends on where you make it. By default, posts are made to the general activity (All Members) feed, which means that all users of the site can see its content.

If you post to a particular Project or group, then all members of that group can see the post. If the Project's settings indicate that it is a public group, then all posts will also be made to the general activity (All Members) feed. You should check with the person who set up the group, or check in the group's “Manage” tab to confirm settings that apply within groups.

What Steps Do We Take To Keep Your Data Secure?

Only members of T-REX can access any user information. Beyond the core elements of your user profile required to enable communication and collaboration, all other elements are set as private (visible only to you) by default.

All documents shared within projects are accessible only to members within those projects, and, technically, to T-REX site administrators.

It is T-REX policy that all research data uploaded to a project be anonymised before it is posted to the site (even within a private group), but this process is something that must be completed by users prior to uploading such data or files.

User data is accessible by some of T-REX's technical partners (the company who hosts the site on its servers, and the software company responsible for the development of the site, BestSoft Consulting). T-REX will not share your data with any other third parties, and these partners will not have access to your data for any purpose save for the proper maintenance and support of the site's operation.

If you have any specific queries regarding the use or storage of your personal data, you should contact the T-REX Data Protection Officer [t-rex@mic.ul.ie]

Your Data Protection Responsibilities

Sharing Research Data Through T-REX

Within groups on T-REX, you may share documents, and may find it useful to include data that you have collected as part of the project. If you have collected personal data from people (anything that would enable someone to identify a person, this may not necessarily require their name to be included), you must take great care to keep it safe, secure, and use it only for the purposes for which you collected it, and for which you told your participants you were collecting it. Note that this could mean that you may not share the data through T-REX, even privately.

This statement cannot provide you with a primer on data protection for research purposes. If you collect personal information as part of your research, you are strongly encouraged to seek support for data protection considerations.