Privacy Notice

Version 1.0; created 27/06/2019

This privacy notice sets out the basis on which we will process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us.

1. Who we are

This is a website/mobile application as part of the Alert Non-native Species Project (https://alert.brc.ac.uk/) and run by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) .

• CEH is a wholly owned research centre of the Natural Environment Research Council, now part of UK Research and Innovation.
• Alert Non-native species

CEH is the controller for all processing of personal data for the purposes of the Alert species website.

2. Why do we collect personal information and who do we collect it from?

The Alert species website collects personal data in order to administer, run and share results of the occurrence of Non-Native species in Great Britain.

In data protection terms we are using the ‘legal basis’ of ‘public task’ for collecting, processing and sharing (see below) your personal data.

We may collect your personal data if you have an account setup on this website and you supply butterfly monitoring data or act as a co-ordinator or expert verifier.

We will collect the following personal data about you:
• Name (as a recorder, a scheme co-ordinator or as a verifier)
• Email address
• Location and date of any butterfly monitoring records you submit

In data protection terms we are using the ‘legal basis’ of ‘public task’ for collecting, processing and sharing your personal data.

In addition to the information we ask you to provide through the website, we also collect information automatically about visits to the site using Google Analytics and in our server logs. This does not include any personal data but does include
• Your IP address
• The pages you request, when you request them, and how you interact with them
• The type of device and browser you use


We use this information to support our work in various ways including monitoring performance, improving design, protecting against malicious behaviour and supporting funding applications.

3. How are we storing your information and will we share it?

All of your personal data that we collect will be stored securely in a database for as long as you are signed up with Alert Non-Native species website. If you no longer wish to be registered with Alert Non-Native species website, please contact brc@ceh.ac.uk to let us know. The component of your personal data that forms part of the biological record (i.e. your name as a recorder or as a verifier, and the location and time of the record) will be kept permanently as part of the scientific dataset. 

Sharing your email address with others

We will not openly publish your email address.  National monitoring scheme co-ordinators and expert volunteers working with us, who we appoint to the role of verifier, will have access to your email address in order to carry out their role in support of Alert Non-Native species website.

Sharing your name that forms part of the biological record

Biological records produced by the Alert Non-Native species website will also be shared with other organisations and individuals worldwide for purposes of scientific research. Your name will be included as part of the scientific records in these datasets.  Once the Non-native species dataset is published it will be freely available for redistribution.   As use of Non-Native data is for research in the public interest it is retained as part of our work and your personal data (recorder and verifier name) will remain public; open data can be downloaded, remixed, and redistributed by third parties.

Where data is openly published it will be available to anyone and it will be available for use anywhere.

Other than as set out above, and except where we have a legal obligation to so do, we will not share your personal data with anyone else, nor will we transfer your data outside the European Union.

4. Your rights and our contact details

You are entitled to access any of your personal data that we hold. You can view the personal data we hold of yours by logging in to your account on the Alert Non-Native species website. Alternatively please contact brc@ceh.ac.uk with as much detail as possible on the information you would like us to provide and we will aim to respond within one month.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we have relied on public task as the lawful basis for processing. You also have the right to request that we restrict or stop processing, rectify or delete your personal data (with the exception of names from datasets that have already been published openly). Where the personal data we hold has not been supplied by yourself, you are entitled to ask how we obtained the personal data. You can request that your Alert Species user account is cancelled at any time by emailing brc@ceh.ac.uk

Please contact Mark Hinder - UKRI NERC mark.hinder@nerc.ukri.org if you wish to progress any of these rights.

If you have any concerns about how your personal data is being used, we will try to answer any questions you have. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. You also have the right to an effective judicial remedy against decisions of the Information Commissioner’s Office.

5. Changes to the privacy policy for Alert Species

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. The latest version will always be available at alert.brc.ac.uk\privacy-notice. If changes are made to this privacy policy in the future, a prominent notice will be posted on the website.