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Privacy Policy

Company Details:
GradeMaker Ltd,
Devas Street
Manchester
M15 6EX
UK

Last Updated: July 2023

Who we are

GradeMaker Ltd has recently been acquired by AQA Education Group of companies. AQA Education are the leading awarding organisation of GCSE and A Levels across England.

This means that assets, including personal data, are now owned and controlled by AQA Education as the recipient organisation. This Updated Privacy Information document has been compiled in relation to your personal data that is being handled both by GradeMaker and the new data processor, AQA Education Group, as part of the acquisition of GradeMaker. There may be some rationalisation of customer data into one central location and combined service offerings in the future. See AQA’s Privacy Notice here.

Our commitment to privacy

This privacy notice explains how we collect information from you via our websites
(https://www.grademaker.com & https://pro.grademaker.com) or in any manner expressly described in the privacy statement and how this information is then used. When you provide us with your personal data in the manner described, you consent to the processing of all such personal data as set out in the privacy statement. Please read this privacy statement
carefully and revisit this page from time to time to review any changes that we may have made.

The personal information you provide to GradeMaker and AQA is important. Utilising your personal data means that we can offer you services that best meet your needs, including new and innovative services.

Data you provide will be held securely and in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Your personal details will not be disclosed to third parties outside of AQA Group. GradeMaker or AQA are not responsible for deciding how information you enter into the GradeMaker platform is processed; data is processed on behalf of your organisation. Each customer remains the Data Controller. Use of the GradeMaker platform will be on the understanding that your organisation is adhering to the Data Protection Legislation as it applies to you.

We may use your personal data for other purposes as long as they are compatible with the purposes in which they were collected. If there is an expectation that your personal data may be used for another unrelated purpose, we shall inform you prior to that further processing.

Where there is a requirement to transfer personal data outside of the UK/EEA to a third country, not deemed adequate by the UK GDPR, then additional safeguards are in place to facilitate this to occur.

The personal data in relation to this engagement will be processed for periods in line with current retention policies and where we have a lawful basis to do so. There is no automated decision making or profiling conducted on any personal data and we do not collect special category or criminal data from our customers.

If you have any questions or comments about how we handle your personal information, please email us at info@grademaker.com. You may also use these contacts to tell us about any concerns you may have about our privacy statement. You can also view AQA’s Privacy Notice here – https://www.aqa.org.uk/about-us/privacy-notice

The Information we collect

When requesting further information through our website (https://www.grademaker.com), we ask you to provide us with more complete information about you and your company/institution including:

  • Title;
  • Full name (First name, Last Name)
  • Contact Email Address;
  • Full address and contact details;
  • The nature of your enquiry or quotation request;
  • Where you heard about us.

You can also decide to give us your mobile telephone number and your personal email address but you only need to do this if you want us and/or our approved partners to contact you about your submitted enquiry.

You may also provide personal/company data through:

  • Calls to our offices;
  • Letters and e-mails;
  • Customer feedback forms
  • Meetings and Conference discussions

In general, if you contact us, we may keep a record of your query or complaint for a reasonable time in case you contact us again.

If you are asked to provide personal information which goes beyond anything covered elsewhere in this policy by GradeMaker Ltd please check with a Director of the Company before giving any information.

When you access our online authoring service, through our website
(https://pro.grademaker.com) you provide the following information (either directly to us, or through your organisation), or we gather the following information electronically, in order to allow us to provide you with the service you require:

  • Email address
  • Full Name (First Name, Last Name)
  • Mobile telephone number (if required by your organisation to provide a 2-factor authentication service)
  • Internet Protocol (IP) Address

How we use the information we collect

We use your company/personal information (provided for a query through
https://www.grademaker.com):

  • To answer your queries or complaints;
  • To deliver our services, for example digital asset management
  • To support your business;
  • To provide services;
  • To carry out administration;
  • For obtaining any relevant professional advice;
  • As may be required by law or in connection with legal proceedings (including where we intend to take legal proceedings), or as may be necessary to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights;

We use your personal information (provided for access to our online authoring service at https://pro.grademaker.com):

  • To deliver our services by allowing you access to our system
  • To personalise our services to you by displaying your name whilst you are logged in to our site, and to personalise notification emails that you choose to receive from us
  • To provide 2 factor authentication services (in the case of mobile phone number), if required by an organisation you are undertaking work for, through our service.

In the case of your IP address, we use this to provide an audit trail of access and changes to content within the GradeMaker Pro system – as this provides valuable information to Awarding Organisations and Regulators who are interested in the effective and correct development of assessment items and papers.

Third parties

To achieve the purposes set out in this privacy statement we may need to give your information to our service providers (including our approved partners), agents, professional advisors, member companies of our parent company the AQA Group and auditors.

When you submit an enquiry, we will tell you which of our approved partners will be delivering the appropriate service. Following receipt of an official order, our selected approved partner (or partners) will have access to your name and contact details to help us deliver our services to you.

When you are using the GradeMaker Pro system, we may provide your personal data to approved third parties in order to provide services (such as 2-factor authentication) which are required to allow you to access our services and system.

We will not give your information to any other third parties not associated with your enquiry, or your access to our services, approved or unapproved, without your express permission, conducted in writing.

Communications between you and GradeMaker Ltd may be monitored by GradeMaker staff to check the quality of our support.

Keeping you informed

We will use your information to send you regular updates about:

  • Our services and materials;
  • Additions to the website; and
  • Specific activities such as customer feedback surveys and competitions.

If you wish to use GradeMaker services but do not wish to receive this information, please contact us with a request to be removed from our mailing list (both electronic and paper based). You can also opt out of any non-operational email communications by unsubscribing from within.

We will never use your sensitive data for marketing purposes or to target you for customer feedback purposes without your express consent.

Protecting your personal information

As part of the AQA Group of companies we are required to take appropriate technical measures to protect your personal/company information including making a regular backup of our system and data. We have security measures in place to make sure any company/personal information we collect is secure. All parties with access to your information are subject to confidentiality obligations.

If you think someone else knows your login password to access our systems, or is using it, tell us immediately and change your password using the facilities and processes supplied.
Even though we take appropriate technical steps to protect your security, you should remember that data transmission over the internet cannot always be guaranteed as 100% secure so you use the website at your own risk.

Keeping your personal data

We keep company/personal data:

  • For as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for;
  • As required by law; or
  • To enforce or defend legal claims.

We will keep this information for a reasonable time – currently 4 years (48 months) from the last date of access to the GradeMaker system / interaction with GradeMaker regarding a business transaction.

Cookies, analytics and targeted advertising

Please review our Cookie Policy for more information.

Your rights

You have several rights under the data privacy legislation. This includes, under certain circumstances, the right to:

  • Access your data – you can access your data at any time if you cannot self-serve. Please be specific about what you want to know. We’ll need to confirm your identity before we release data to you.
  • Correct your data – you can ask us to correct any data we hold about you that’s inaccurate.
  • Request erasure – you have the right to ‘be forgotten’, in certain circumstances, mainly to withdraw consent at any time if consent is relied upon. This doesn’t apply if it would prevent the performance of a contract with you. Or if there’s another legal requirement for us to keep your data. If erasure is not possible, you may be able to ask us to restrict processing.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your data – you can suspend the processing of your data under certain circumstances. For example, pending a review of the accuracy of the data or after you have objected to our use of the data, and we need to establish whether we may lawfully continue processing it.
  • Request the transfer of your data – in some cases, you can ask us to transfer the data you originally provided to us to yourself or to another company. This only applies to data you provided directly, or that we observed about you through automated means.
  • Object to the processing of your data – you can object to our processing of your data for direct marketing purposes, based on our stated legitimate interests (defined in the table above). In some cases, we may have compelling lawful grounds to process your data which override your rights and freedoms.
  • Object to automated decision-making – you can also object to the processing of your personal data where profiling is being used to make assumptions about your behaviours or preferences; for example, to target marketing communications. You have the right not to be subject to automated decision-making and can require that any such decisions are reviewed by a human.

Make a request, complaint or contact us

We take the handling of your personal data very seriously. But, if you feel your data is being handled in a way that breaches data protection legislation, you can make a complaint.

We may charge a reasonable fee if your request is unfounded, repetitive or excessive. We can refuse to follow your request in these circumstances. We’ll always try to respond to any legitimate request within one month. It may take us longer if your request is complex or you’ve made many requests. In this case, we’ll let you know and keep you updated.

As a security measure, we may ask you to confirm your identity. This ensures that:

  • personal data isn’t disclosed to any person who doesn’t have a right to receive it
  • your right to access your data or to exercise any of your other rights.

We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us

If you wish to contact or complain to GradeMaker about any portion of the handling of your personal data, please provide your complaint to: info@grademaker.com or alternatively contact AQA Group at: GDPREnquiries@aqa.org.uk