Collecting personal data - do's and don'ts

It is your personal responsibility to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when Processing personal data. Here are some top tips to help you with this:

Collecting data do's

  • Do state a clear reason why you are collecting the data and how it will be used.
  • Do state clearly how long you intend to keep the data.
  • Do supply contact details
  • Do allow people to unsubscribe from email lists, and access, update or erase their data if required.
  • Do share sensitive data securely
  • Do store sensitive data securely. You should keep your records up to date and delete data that is no longer required.
  • Do delete data in a secure way
  • Do include an opt-in tick box for each additional way you want to use their data.

For more guidance please refer to ICT's Be Secure (IT Security) pages.

Collecting data don'ts

  • Don't ask for personal data that is not required for your study. If the survey can be anonymous do not ask for names.
  • Don't ask for sensitive data unless it is needed for your study. For example, ethnic background, political opinions or religious beliefs.
  • Don't pass data on to third parties, unless it is lawful to do so.
  • Don't automatically opt people in to mailing lists, newsletters or studies.
  • Don't use data from one study for another purpose without people's consent.
  • Don't send targeted promotional emails to contacts unless you have specific opt-in authorisation. Read more about marketing emails.
  • Don't use one generic consent opt-in for different uses of subject's personal data. You must be specific.
  • Don’t offer incentives for gaining consent.

Further guidance

This list is not exhaustive and it is highly recommended that you read Processing personal data and the .

If your survey is part of medical research then specific rules apply on Research Governance.

Qualtrics is a powerful and easy to use online survey tool available to all College staff. Qualtrics allows you to build and distribute your own 51³Ô¹ÏÍø branded surveys. You can embed Qualtrics surveys into your College webpages which are responsive for use on mobile devices.

Contact your for more help with surveys and collecting data.