QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using any of our websites then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd may change this policy from time to time. Changes to our policy will be updated on our websites only. You should check our policy from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any modifications. This policy was last updated on 20th June 2022.

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

• Name and job title
• Contact information including email address
• Demographic information such as postcode, preferences, and interests
• Other information relevant to customer application to awards
  

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to process your application and to provide data to the Jury to enable voting on your specific award category.

This means we will:

• create a profile about you to help us understand your application;
• Entries will be made available to the Jury Panel through the awards management platform for scoring;
  

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we safeguard and secure the information we collect online via electronic and managerial procedures.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added, and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system. Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website

Links to other websites

Our websites may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Right to access personal information

Under the law any individual has a right to ask for a copy of the personal information held about them. This means that you can ask for the information that the QS holds about you. This is known as the right of ‘subject access.’

When making a request you will need to give us:

• a request in writing (by post or by email) We may need to ask you to provide:
• proof of your identity
• proof of your home address
• any information that we reasonably need to locate the information you have requested (for example the website or event you registered for)

Although you should submit a request in writing, if you would like to speak to someone in person, you can contact the Data Protection Officer using the following details:

Data Protection Officer QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd This policy was last updated on 20th June 2022. 1 Tranley Mews London NW3 2DG United Kingdom Phone: +44(0) 207284 7200 Email: dpo@qs.com

Rights concerning the processing of your personal information

Right to restrict processing of personal information

In some situations, you have the right to require us to restrict the processing of your personal information. We may restrict your personal information by temporarily moving the information to another processing system, making the information unavailable to users, or temporarily removing published information from a website. We may also use technical methods to ensure the personal information is not subject to further processing and cannot be changed. When we have restricted processing of personal information, this will be clearly indicated on our systems.

You can require us to restrict processing in the following circumstances:

1. You are concerned that the information we hold about you is inaccurate. You can ask us to restrict the information until we are able to determine whether the information is accurate or inaccurate;

2. We are processing your personal data unlawfully and you do not want us to delete the information but restrict it instead.

3. We no longer need the information for the purposes for which we collected it, but they are needed by you for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims;

4. You have objected to the processing (see below), and we need to decide whether the legitimate grounds we have to process the information override your legitimate interests.

Processing you think is unlawful

If you tell us that you think we are processing your personal information unlawfully, but you do not want the information to be erased, you have the right to require us to restrict the processing of that information. We will ask you for an explanation about why you think the processing is unlawful and may also ask that you provide evidence to support this view.

Processing of personal information you think is inaccurate

You can tell us if you think the personal information we are processing about you is factually inaccurate. If we find that personal information we are processing about you is inaccurate, we will take appropriate steps to correct the information.

Right to erasure of personal data (“the right to be forgotten”)

In the following circumstances, you have the right to require that QS securely deletes or destroys your personal information:

• If the personal information we hold about you is no longer necessary for the purposes for which we originally collected it.
• The processing is based on consent – if you have previously given your consent to QS collecting and processing your personal information, and you notify us that you withdraw your consent.
• If you think QS has processed your personal information unlawfully.
  

If you think any of the above situations apply, we may ask you for an explanation and further information to verify this.

Right to object to processing

You have the right to object to QS processing your personal data in the following circumstances:

Personal information used for direct marketing

If we are using your personal information to send you direct marketing, you have the right to object at any time. If you exercise this right, we will stop processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes. However, we may keep your information on a “suppression list” to ensure your information is not added to any marketing lists at some point in the future.

Right to data portability

If you have provided your information to QS, you have the right to request and receive a copy of that information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. There are some situations in which the right to data portability does not apply. For further information, please contact: dpo@qs.com

Exercising your rights concerning the processing of your personal information

If you wish to exercise any of the above rights concerning the way in which we process your personal information, please contact:

Data Protection Officer QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd 1 Tranley Mews London NW3 2DG United Kingdom Phone: +44(0) 207284 7200 Email: dpo@qs.com

Your right to complain to a national data protection regulator (data protection supervisory authority)

If you think we have processed your personal information unfairly or unlawfully, or we have not complied with your rights under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), you have the right to complain to a national data protection regulator.

Complaints about how we process your personal information can be considered by the UK (United Kingdom) data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted using the following details:

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF UNITED KINGDOM Website: www.ico.org.uk. Email: casework@ico.org.uk.

If you live in a country or territory located in the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA), and you think that some, or all, of the issues you are concerned about have taken place in your country of residence, you can complain to your national data protection regulator. For contact details of national data protection regulators in the EU and EEA, please use the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en….

You should be aware that from 25 May 2018 onwards, the EU or EEA regulator you first contact may not be the regulator that deals with your complaint. They may refer your complaint to another data protection regulator, and several regulators may work together to determine the outcome of your complaint. The overall handling of your complaint will be dealt with by a “lead supervisory authority,” which will be allocated during the complaint handling process.

If you live outside the EU or EEA, and the data protection issue you are concerned about relates to the processing of personal data in the country you live in, you may be able to complain to your national data protection or privacy regulator. Details of some national data protection or privacy regulators are detailed in the above link. Alternatively, you may be able to find details of your national privacy or data protection regulator by searching the internet.

If you have a concern about how we have processed your personal data, many data protection/privacy regulators will ask that you contact us first, outlining your concerns, allowing us to try and put the issue right,

What we use cookies for

QS use cookies to check whether or not you are logged in and to identify which of our high availability servers you are looking at. We also use cookies to help collect analytics data to constantly improve your on-site experience. It is your legal right to opt-out of this data collection if you so wish.

Analytics

We use two analytics packages in order to constantly improve your browsing experience on TopMBA.com, TopUniversities.com, qs.com and some of our other web properties.

These packages are: • Google Analytics • IBM CoreMetrics

To opt out of Google Analytics data collection, you will need to remove all cookies which begin with two underscore characters.

Examples include: • __utma • __utmb • __utmc • __utmz

Removing a cookie

Removing a cookie varies depending on which browser you are using.

Firefox To remove a cookie, Right Click on the page you are looking at and select ‘View Page Info.’ A dialogue window will then open. Choose the security tab from the top of the window and then choose ‘View Cookies.’ You are then able to remove any cookies you wish from your machine. To prevent cookies from being set on your machine, chose ‘Menu->Options.’ A dialogue window will open. Choose ‘Privacy’ from the tabs at the top and choose the checkbox that says ‘Do not allow sites to track.’

Internet Explorer To prevent a current page from tracking choose ‘Tools -> Safety -> Tracking Protection’ from here you can set your preferences for analytics tracking. Choose ‘Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy’ From here you can set your preferences for the types of cookies that you will accept and from where.

Safari To prevent tracking if you are using Safari choose ‘Tools -> Preferences -> Security’ and then choose your preferences from the ‘Accept Cookies’ section.

Chrome To manage your cookie options in Google Chrome choose ‘Tools -> Settings -> Advanced Options -> Privacy -> Content Settings.’ Then choose the options that you would like for cookies on your machine and then select ‘Ok’ to save.