Privacy & Data Management Policy

Introduction

This Privacy and Data Management Policy applies to 4Sciences Group Ltd, also referred to as “we”, “us” or “our”. 4Sciences Group Ltd provides professional advice on all aspects of Higher Education and research management.

4Sciences Group Ltd is serious about protecting your privacy and maintaining the security of any personal information collected or received from you.

This policy describes how we process any personal data that we might collect from you or that you might provide to us. Personal data in this context is defined as any information relating to any living individual that can lead to identifying that individual.

The legal basis

The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), as passed into UK law in the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

4Sciences Group Ltd is registered as data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); our registration number is A8755209. We, as the data controller, are responsible for how your personal data is processed and for what purposes.

4Sciences Group Ltd does not have a data protection officer, as Article 37 of the GDPR does not require us to do so.

Data collection

Client interactions

We primarily collect personal data from you as part of client interactions, be it initial enquiries, the contracting process or subsequent project delivery. Where a project involves working with other individuals, we will seek informed consent from any individual prior to collecting their personal data.

We also keep personal data to manage sub-contracts or any staff or consultants working for us. We might also use personal data to inform you of news, services or activities. In addition, we use publicly available data for research or marketing purposes. We are required by law to keep personal data in order to maintain our company accounts and records. We will do so for the periods we are required to.

Research and evaluation activities

Mixed-methods research and evaluation studies are part of our portfolio.

Informed consent will be obtained prior to any engagement with participants. Surveys will state the purpose of the research, the legal basis for processing, and how the data will be used. Personal details are only requested where necessary or when voluntarily provided (e.g., for followup contact) and will deleted after completion of the study. If no personal details are supplied, only technical information such as IP addresses may be processed.

Interviews may be conducted in person or via telephone, email, or videoconferencing. Participants are informed of the purpose, format, and whether recording or note taking will occur. Participants may choose to remain anonymous, in which case any identifying information will be removed from transcripts, and recordings will not be shared. Interview recordings may be processed by third party transcription software under appropriate data processing agreements. Recordings are retained only for as long as necessary and deleted within 24 months of project completion unless otherwise required by law or consented to by the participant.

Our website

Our website may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). This content is not covered by this policy, as it is outside our control. It behaves in exactly the same way as if the visitor has visited the website that is providing this content. How that website is treating your data is governed by their privacy policy. This website does not use any cookies.

Data management

4Sciences Group Ltd takes the security of any personal data very seriously. We are complying with our obligations under GDPR and DPA by storing your personal data securely and protecting it from loss, misuse or unauthorised access through using secure soft- and hardware systems. We only collect data we require to conduct our business and only keep it for as long as we are legally required to. Tax law for example requires us to keep client data for six years. 4Sciences is Cyber Essentials certified.

Your rights

You can request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes which are exempt under GDPR or DPA.

Contact details

For any queries, complaints or to exercise your rights you can contact us on enquiries@4sciences.co.uk.

You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office on 030 3123 1113, via email or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

Version control

This version is dated January 2026.