Privacy statement

This privacy statement was last updated: September 2005

The Expert Group on Future Skills needs (EGFSN) operates under the aegis of Forfás which provides the Secretariat to the Group. Forfás is the national board responsible for providing policy advice to government on enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation. Forfás is registered as a Data Processor with the Data Commissioner with registration number 0177/a

This page sets out the Forfás policy with regard to the privacy of the users of the EGFSN website. By visiting this website you are agreeing to the terms of this privacy statement. If you are not happy with the terms of this privacy statement and do not wish your information to be recorded, you may wish to leave this site.

Forfás respects the rights of its users and, except for the following list, does not collect personal information through the EGFSN websites:

Statistical information gathered automatically when you visit the website
Information provided voluntarily during subscription to Forfás email Alerts from this website

Information gathered automatically when you visit the EGFSN website

For general web browsing certain information is recorded in the website log files, which may include:

The top level domain name from which you access the internet
The IP address of the computer from which you access the website
The date and time each computer accesses the website
The pages accessed and the documents downloaded by each computer
The type and version of the browsers being used to access the website
The addresses of any third party webpages which refer visitors to our website
Keywords used in search engines and directories to find our website
Keywords and phrases used to search our website

This information is used for statistical purposes only – including

to find out how many people are visiting the website;
to identify what pages are accessed most frequently;
to help us improve the information we are supplying to our users;
to make our website more user friendly.

This information is made available to an agent of Forfás who provides an analysis and reporting service to Forfás. This agent of Forfás is registered with the Data Protection Commission and has provided written confirmation to Forfás that they will comply with the relevant data protection obligations by keeping information secure and not using it for any purpose other than which it was provided.

An archive of these website log files and associated analysis and reports are retained indefinitely in Forfás as a way of measuring patterns of website traffic over the years and in order to facilitate future planning.

Cookies

The EGFSN website does not use cookies.

Information provided voluntarily during subscription to Forfás email Alerts

Some pages of this website allow you to subscribe to the Forfás email alert system.

If you use the subscription form to subscribe to alerts your email address is automatically added to the subscriber database. Alternatively, if you send an email request to subscribe to these alerts, your email address is received by a member of the Communications Department in Forfás who adds your name to the subscriber database.

We will only use your email address for sending you communications for which you have specifically subscribed or requested. All email newsletters include details of how you can unsubscribe.

An email address is the only information required in order to complete your subscription. Where you voluntarily provide additional information during the subscription process (such as name, address or job description) this information will either be deleted or used for statistical purposes.

Subscriber lists are kept on a server belonging to and administered by an agent of Forfás who provides the email alert software to Forfás. This agent of Forfás is registered with the Data Protection Commission and has provided written confirmation to Forfás that they will comply with the relevant data protection obligations by keeping information secure and not using it for any purpose other than which it was provided.

For backup purposes, copies of email Alert subscriber lists are stored on secure servers to which

a limited number of Forfás staff within the Systems Department have physical access
a limited number of Forfás staff within the Communications Department and the Systems Department have access via the internal network

Disclosure of personal information

Forfás will not disclose a user's personal information to any other party, unless

it is required to do so by law, or

it is necessary in order to complete the user’s request or answer the user’s query

Security of your personal information

Due to the nature of the internet we cannot guarantee the security of any information whilst it is being transmitted to us via the internet.

However, we take our security responsibilities very seriously and take all reasonable steps (both technical and organisational) to protect your personal details once they have been received by Forfás.

Staff who have access to personal information gathered from the website are made aware of Data Protection responsibilities. Names of the Forfás staff members who have access to this information are available on request.

Information that is no longer in use is retained on backup tape for no longer than 1 year.

Your right of access to personal information

You may inform us of any changes in your personal data and in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2003 we will update or delete your personal data accordingly.

To find out what personal data we hold on you or to have your personal data updated, amended or removed from our files please contact us using the details below.