Privacy Policy

General

References in this privacy policy to "we", "our" and "us", etc. are references to us, Student Pads. We are committed to protecting your privacy and respecting the confidentiality of information which you provide when you visit our website at www.studentholmes.net. At the same time, we want to try to ensure that you obtain full value from our website and from the services which you may want to receive via our website.

We are registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "1998 Act"). The Data Protection Register is open to view. We uphold the relevant data protection principles and process all personally identifiable information about you ("personal data") in accordance with the 1998 Act and other relevant legislation. This privacy policy explains what information we may collect about you when you visit our website and how we may use it.

You should read this privacy policy in conjunction with our website terms and conditions, of which this privacy policy forms a part. By agreeing to our terms of use, you are consenting to our processing of your personal data in accordance with this privacy policy. Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted on our web site and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.

The information we collect

It is possible to use our website without providing any personal data. However, we may automatically collect certain information about you when you use our website, including by our use of "cookies" (see below), such as the IP address of your computer and the dates and times of your visits.

In some areas of our website we may ask you for personal data, such as your name, address and e-mail details, that will enable us to make your site visit a more rewarding experience for you and/or to contact you after your visit. Examples of this might be where you complete an online form asking for a copy of a prospectus or to book a place on an open day with us, where you ask for information about a job vacancy, or where you subscribe to an online newsletter. In some other areas of our website, where you can register for a newsletter or download a PDF, we will ask you for more detailed information about yourself.

How we may use this information

We will retain this data for a reasonable period or for as long as the law requires.We will not disclose any of your personal data collected via our website to any third party, other than in circumstances set out in this privacy policy and/or where you have given us permission to do so, unless we are required to do so by law.

We may use personal data collected from you via our website to manage and monitor use of our website. Otherwise, we will only use this personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless you have given us permission to use it for other stated purposes. There may be circumstances in which we will ask you to agree to us disclosing your personal data to certain third parties, or transferring it outside the United Kingdom. However, we will not do this without your permission. However, before transferring your personal data in these circumstances, we will do our best to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place to protect your privacy.

Cookies

When you visit our website we may send "cookies" to the browser on your computer, even if you do not provide us with any personal data. Cookies enable us to recognise you (by a unique number allocated to you) when you return to our website and so to personalise your return by, for example, customising web pages based on which areas of the website were previously of interest to you. If you have previously provided us with personal data, then cookies may enable us automatically to fill in your name and other information when, for example, you complete an online form.

Cookies also enable us to compile anonymous, aggregated statistics which help us understand how our website is used and so how we may improve it. It is not possible for cookies to read personal information on your computer and/or to find out any personal information about you. However, you can refuse to accept cookies by modifying the settings in your browser, but this may limit the functionality of web pages on our website, or your access to our website.

Subject Access Requests

Under the 1998 Act you are entitled to be told if we hold any personal data about you. If we do hold any personal data about you, you are entitled to be given a description of the data, to be told for what purposes the data are processed, and the people (or classes of people) to whom the data may have been disclosed. A request for a copy of information held about you is called a "Subject Access Request". To make a subject access request, please contact our Data Protection Officer at the address below. Please note that we are entitled to, and do, charge a fee for providing this information.

Security

Our website and our computer systems have security measures in place with the aim of protecting the loss, misuse or alteration of personal data held by us.

Other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites which are outside our control and are not covered by this privacy policy. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of any such linked websites.

Core Services

The core functionality of Studentpads is provided through the website at www.letsuni.org, and includes accommodation searching and message boards for students to communicate with one another about accommodation, backed up by lots of information on accommodation-related topics; accommodation providers can use the service to promote their properties.

The property finding functionality is not 'live' on the site all year round, to discourage students from look for their housing too early in the academic year. However, the Information Guides are available all-year-round, and we encourage students to access them whenever they need to.

Conditions and Standards

The service has at its core a drive to improved conditions in student accommodation. We will achieve this by working with existing standards, such as the Accreditation Scheme, and educating students about the benefits of picking accommodation that meets these standards.

We recognise that landlords and other accommodation providers are doing so as a business, and by encouraging students to select standards-compliant accommodation we will be making a strong business case for landlords to meet the standards.of students, you can still book a single room as part of a flatshare with other fellow students. We will try to match you with suitable flatmates at your discretion.