Data privacy notice – student councelling services

This data privacy notice describes how the ancillary student support services at the University of Oulu process the personal data of the counselling clients. The notice has been prepared in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679).

Data privacy notice

Data controller and contact information:

The University of Oulu is the data controller, and the unit in charge is the ancillary student support services under academic affairs.

Contact details of the unit in charge:

Contact details of the data controller, i.e. the University of Oulu, are as follows: University of Oulu, PO Box 8000, FI-90014 University of Oulu; street address Pentti Kaiteran katu 1, Linnanmaa, tel. +358 294 48 0000. Contact details of the ancillary student support services are as follows: opiskeluntuki@oulu.fi.

Contact details of the University of Oulu Data Protection Officer:

Contact details of the Data Protection Officer are as follows: dpo@oulu.fi.

What are the purposes of the processing of your personal data?

The purpose of the processing of personal data in the ancillary student support services is to facilitate the design and implementation of the counselling. In addition, pseudonymised personal data are processed for statistical purposes. Statistics are gathered for the purpose of developing the activities of the University of Oulu’s support services to students.

What are the legal grounds for the processing of personal data?

The processing of personal data is based on written consent to the counselling obtained in conjunction with the request for an appointment.

We process the following personal data:

The following data concerning the counselling clients are processed:

  • Name of the student, telephone number and e-mail
  • Faculty and major subject
  • Year of commencement of the studies and number of credits
  • Grounds for seeking the counselling
  • Summary of the counselling
  • Proof of visits on the student’s request
  • Additional data provided by the students themselves

Storage periods of personal data:

We store personal data for four years after the last counselling session.

Sources of data:

We receive personal data from the following sources: data reported by the client, data generated during the counselling and, subject to the client’s consent, data received from the client’s relatives, referring parties and care providers.

Transfer of personal data:

Transfer of data only takes place within the scope of the counselling plan prepared under the client’s consent. Data is processed only in connection with the counselling relationship.

  • In case of further referral, data may, subject to consent stated in the client documents, be transferred to a health care unit/professional or other parties, such as the education planners of the university, as specified by the client.
  • The data is not transferred outside the European Union.

Principles of personal data protection:

Processed data is confidential. Personal data may only be processed by persons whose work requires it (study psychologist, study psychologist trainee, career counsellor, system administrator). All persons who process your personal data are obliged to maintain confidentiality.

The data comprises manual (paper records) and electronic material. Paper records are stored during the counselling and four years after the counselling has ended in locked cabinets inside locked offices with access only by persons involved in the counselling (psychologist, psychologist trainee, career counsellor).

Electronic material consists of data gathered when the appointment was made. The appointment form is SSL secured and accessed using the student ID. Appointment data is stored 24 hours starting from the time of submission in the service provider’s password-protected system with access only by persons involved in the counselling, or the system administrator, when necessary. After this, the data will be sent via SSL secured e-mail to the Service Desk system of the university. During the counselling relationship, the data is stored in the Service Desk on a university server with access only by persons involved in the counselling and system maintenance, when necessary (study psychologist, study psychologist trainee, career counsellor, system administrator). After the counselling has ended, the data is deleted from the system.

Rights of the data subject:

You have the following rights concerning your personal data:

  • Right to request access to your personal data and right to request rectification or erasure of said data.
  • Right to request the restriction of personal data or oppose the processing of personal data.
  • Right to request the transfer of personal data to another system.
  • Right to withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. The withdrawal of consent shall primarily be addressed to the party the consent was given. If this is impossible, you can contact the data controller’s unit in charge.

To exercise the rights stated hereinabove, contact the ancillary student support services (opiskeluntuki@oulu.fi) after which your request shall be processed in accordance with the university’s practices.

Please note that the applicability and scope of your above-mentioned rights will be specified on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and that you do not have the above-mentioned rights in all cases.

Right to appeal to the supervisory authority:

In addition to the rights mentioned hereinabove, you have the right to file a complaint about the processing of the personal data with the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman acting as the supervisory authority. The contact details and opening hours can be found on the website of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman.