Specific Privacy Notice: Academic Expertise Portal

Our Contact Details:

Contact: Data Protection Officer

Company: Satellite Applications Catapult Limited (reg. 07964746)

Address: Data Protection Officer, Electron Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QR

E-mail: gdpr1@sa.catapult.org.uk

About Us:

The Satellite Applications Catapult (the Catapult) is an independent innovation and technology company, created to foster growth across the economy through the exploitation of space. We help organisations make use of and benefit from satellite technologies and bring together multi-disciplinary teams to generate ideas and solutions in an open innovation environment. The Catapult is a not-for-profit research organisation.

Website: https://sa.catapult.org.uk/.

Catapult’s General Privacy Notice: https://sa.catapult.org.uk/terms-conditions/privacy-policy/

Context for this specific Privacy Notice – Overview:

We, the Catapult, collect and process Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on individual researchers to populate the Academic Expertise Portal . This information has been provided to us directly by universities or gathered through desk-based research. Information on individuals based at your institution has been collated as they are working within the space sector. We store this information in our secure database to support the delivery of the Academic Expertise Portal.

Purpose of the Processing  – We will  process this data to gain a comprehensive understanding of the academic capabilities within UK universities related to the space sector. This insight enables the quantification and analysis of these capabilities, which supports the development of policies, identifies gaps, and informs investment and funding decisions. Additionally, the processing of this data enables us to support collaborations for future innovative work in space-related research and development. The data will be made available publicly on the Academic Expertise Portal but in anonymised, generic format from which individual researchers will not be identifiable. The data we collect may be shared with external organisations, such as regional Space Clusters, where there is a legitimate interest in accessing this information to foster collaboration, research opportunities, and sectoral growth. Any data shared will be limited to what is relevant and necessary for such purposes and will comply fully with applicable data protection laws, including GDPR.

Benefit – It is anticipated that this work will benefit the Catapult in the development of our understanding of the academic capabilities in the UK space sector as well as academic institutions, Government bodies and research and innovation communities. The benefits should  include enabling individual researchers and professional to better understand where impactful research is happening in the UK, which can help align their objectives with relevant work happening today.

We process this data under the legal basis of legitimate interests, as such, we can share this information with external organisations where that interest is applicable, unless an individual in any way opts out and wishes to remove themselves under the terms of this Specific Privacy Notice.

 TYPE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

Data is processed securely and in alignment with GDPR requirements. We seek to ensure that all internal handling processes meet or exceed industry standards as outlined by the Information Commissioner’s Office General Data Protection Regulations.

We currently collect and process the following types of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of ‘Data Subjects’  to support the Academic Expertise Portal:

• Individual Names: Full names of researchers working within the space sector.
• Professional Titles and Roles: Information about job titles, academic positions, and roles within your institution.
• Contact Information: This includes email addresses and telephone numbers provided by universities or obtained from publicly available sources.
• Research Publication Data: Details of research publications relevant to the space sector, including journal articles, conference papers, and other academic contributions.
• Online Profiles: Links to publicly available professional profiles, such as Google Scholar and ResearchGate, where researchers share their work.
• Institutional Affiliations: Information about the researcher’s affiliated university department, faculty, or research group.
• Publicly Available Information: Additional details made available in the public domain via university websites or other open-access resources.

This information has been carefully gathered to ensure its relevance to the purpose of fostering collaboration and advancing innovation within the space sector. Only information that is necessary and appropriate for this purpose is processed.  All information will be regularly updated as detailed later in this Notice.

HOW WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION, THE PURPOSE WHO WE SHARE WITH

We are only listing academics that directly work in the space sector and are experts in their respective fields. Furthermore, the scope is restricted to those currently employed by UK research institutions. The estimated dataset, once complete, will include up to 3,600 individuals, representing a focused and manageable amount of data necessary to achieve our purpose without excessive or unnecessary processing.

1. How we get your personal information and why we collect it:
2. How: We may collect information from you directly, but in most cases, details will be collected via the relevant representatives of the Academic Institutions at which you are engaged and/or you undertake relevant research for In Order To:

Populate the Academic Expertise Portal: We gather information on researchers/Data Subjects’ subject areas of expertise based on their research publication data. This includes analysing publicly available information such as journal articles, conference papers, and academic contributions. The purpose of this data collection is to accurately categorise research expertise within the space sector for inclusion in the Academic Expertise Portal. It is important to note that this portal is designed to highlight subject areas of expertise, not to advertise or promote individual researchers and personal identifiable information will not be publicly available and only disclosed on enquiry where relevant legitimate interest has been correctly vouched through our procedures.

• Collate Yearly Reports on Academic and Research Trends: We use collected data to produce yearly reports that track academic and research trends across the UK. These reports support public investment decisions and inform policy-making, particularly in areas relevant to the growth of the space sector. By analysing aggregated and anonymised data, we aim to guide effective resource allocation and identify emerging areas of expertise and innovation. All personal identifiable information is refreshed on an annual basis to ensure it is current and correct.

We also collect information about you indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

• Desk Based Research: We conduct desk-based research to gather publicly available information. This includes reviewing institutional websites, academic publications, conference proceedings, and online professional profiles (e.g., Google Scholar and ResearchGate). This approach allows us to identify researchers working in the space sector and compile details relevant to their areas of expertise, as publicly shared by their institutions or through their academic activities.
• Information Provided by Internal or External Contacts:
  • Internal Contacts: Personal information may be shared with us by other teams or departments within our organisation to support the objectives of the Academic Expertise Portal.
  • External Contacts: Names and other details may be shared indirectly by trusted external stakeholders, such as Space Clusters, research networks, or government entities as part of their reporting. These contacts provide us with information they believe is relevant to our mission of fostering collaboration within the space sector.
• Individuals can privately submit their information to be included on the Academic Expertise Portal (where relevant) via a form on the SCC website or by emailing a representative of the Catapult directly. Please note that decisions regarding the relevance of any research for the purpose of listings on the Academic Expertise Portal is in the sole opinion and discretion of the Catapult administrators of the Academic Expertise Portal.

1. We use the information collected in order to
2. Connect Higher education institutions (HEIs)
3. Connect HEIs with businesses and/or clusters
4. Collate reporting on Academic trends in the Space Sector for internal and external purposes

For more details, see also the Context Section and section A above.

1. We may share this information with:
2. The public generally through the Academic Expertise Portal but only in pseudonymised format where the identity of individuals is not disclosed.
3. Internal Catapult Employees
4. We will limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
5. External Organisations: We may share relevant information with external organisations for the following stated ‘Permitted Purposes’ only:

• Space Clusters: Regional Space Clusters that are actively working to foster collaboration, research partnerships, and innovation in the space sector. Sharing this information helps to strengthen connections between academia and industry.
• Government and Intergovernmental Bodies: Relevant government entities involved in public investment, policy-making, and supporting research and innovation. Sharing data with these bodies helps guide decisions that align with national priorities and foster sectoral growth.
• Commercial Organisations: Companies with a legitimate interest in academic collaboration, research partnerships, or other mutually beneficial activities related to the space sector. Sharing this information supports innovation and the development of commercial opportunities that align with the interests of the researchers and institutions involved.
• Academic and Research Institutions: Higher Education Institutions or Research Organisations with an interest in connecting with other research institutions where mutually beneficial activities are being undertaken in the space sector.

External organisations that process your information are also subject to security and confidentiality obligations and, may only do so for the Permitted Purposes stated above and in accordance with GDPR requirements and Catapult specific procedures for this purpose.

In all cases, the information shared will be limited to what is necessary and appropriate for the specific reason within the broader purpose set out in this Notice. We ensure that any sharing of data complies with GDPR, including the principles of transparency (ie. only as indicated in this Privacy Notice), proportionality, and accountability as detailed in this Notice.  We will not sell, resell, lease or license your personal data to any third parties.

Data Refreshes: All data collected is returned to the University on a yearly basis to:

• Update any changes; and
• Confirm that they are still happy for us to store and process the data under the agreed terms.

No significant changes in technology or context have occurred that would alter the expectations of the individuals or institutions involved. We do not plan any new or innovative uses of the data beyond the original purpose for which it was collected. However, should this potentially change this position will be reviewed to ensure compliance with GDPR and update the data contributor and this Specific Privacy Notice shared to all affected researchers/data subjects through our established communication channels.

Should you require any further explanation of how we are using your data, we are happy to provide an explanation. We have already implemented several safeguards to minimise any potential harmful impacts, including:

• Not sharing individual information publicly on the Academic Expertise Portal or dashboards.
• Allowing individuals to opt out at any time and promptly removing their data if requested – please see details below:

THE LAWFUL BASIS

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

that we have a legitimate interest to process for the reasons, the purposes and in the manner indicated in this Specific Privacy Notice.  This legal basis to process specifically includes your right to opt out of processing as detailed below.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Legitimate Interest

Where we indicate that we rely on the lawful ground of ‘legitimate interest’ to use your personal data – it is in our legitimate interest to assess and maintain the quality of our services to facilitate space related opportunities for people.

In deciding to use legitimate interests, we have carefully considered the need to balance our legitimate interests with yours and to ensure that your interests are not overridden by ours. That balancing includes provision of an express right to you to opt out of the processing of your personal details related to the Academic Expertise Portal.

• Opt Out:

If you do not wish for your personally identifiable information to be listed in the Academic Expertise Portal you can request that you are delisted and all personally identifiable information relating to you will be removed. You can do this at any time by contacting us at:

 ncct@sa.catapult.org.uk , or alternatively Ella Brown (ella.brown@sa.catapult.org.uk) and Patrick Stewart (patrick.stewart@sa.catapult.org.uk). We will also notify our Data Protection Officer in these events. If you decide to opt out, we will only keep a record of your contact details to ensure we do use your personal information in connection with the Academic Expertise Portal nor contact you in the future about this matter.

Consent – Marketing

We may use your personal information if you work for a business that we work with or have in the past.  If you do not wish to receive direct marketing from us, you will have the ability to unsubscribe from all such communications at any time by:

• Contacting us; or
• Using the unsubscribe link in any communication where that is used.

If you decide not to receive information from us, we will only keep a record of your contact details to ensure we do not contact you in the future. If we are engaging with you in a private capacity (and not as part of a business we work with or have worked with) we will only send direct marketing to you where you have consented, and you may also unsubscribe as described above.

Online events

If we intend to record an event, you will at a minimum be informed on the day of recording the session, normally verbally, prior to any recording taking place. You will be told of the purpose of the recording and what we intend to do with the recording.

Third-party links:

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

Cookies:

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

HOW WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION 

We are committed to ensuring that we keep your personal information safe and secure. We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. Those processing your information (including any third parties) will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where required to do so.

Your information is securely stored in a restricted-access database, with access limited to authorised personnel working on the project.

We keep Personal Identifiable Information (PII) for up to 7 years. After this period, we will reassess the data to determine if it is still relevant to the project. Any data deemed no longer necessary will be securely destroyed.

Your data protection rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data.

You have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
• Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
• Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object to where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which overrides your rights and freedoms.
• Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:
  • If you want us to establish the data’s accuracy.
  • Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.
  • Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
  • You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, you can do this by contacting us at ncct@sa.catapult.org.uk , or alternatively Ella Brown (ella.brown@sa.catapult.org.uk) and Patrick Stewart (patrick.stewart@sa.catapult.org.uk). We will also notify our Data Protection Officer in these events.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us on the above details if you wish to make a request.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at gdpr1@sa.catapult.org.uk.

Whilst we hope that you would contact us in the first instance to resolve, you can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk