We made some improvements to both our platform and our services. These improvements allow us to share more relevant information with you and notify you of events that you might be interested in attending.
These improvements change how we use some of the personal information we collect about you.
We know that you use BridgeU to make some fairly important decisions about the right career for you and, ultimately where you will study at university. Your privacy and personal information are really important to us and we understand you might have a few questions about what’s changed - and why.
This article is designed to explain the improvements & changes we’ve made and to explain why we’ve made them. We’ll also explain what you can do and who you should talk to if you have any questions or concerns about the changes we’ve made.
As well as this article, we’d encourage you to read our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
Our Privacy Notice is where we explain how and why your personal information is used by us.
Our Terms of Use are the rules you have to comply with when you use our platform.
Both articles have been updated to be simpler to understand and easier to read (no one enjoys a pointlessly complex legal document).
Let’s explore these changes in a bit more detail.
When did these changes happen?
Before we discuss the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, we should probably talk about the ‘when’. The changes we’ve made to our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice came into effect on Thursday 6th May 2021.
What’s changed & why?
We know that exploring your career options and deciding on the right higher education pathway for you, is an important decision. It’s also not an easy one.
We’re always looking for ways that we can share more relevant information and events that will help you make those key decisions. Let’s briefly look at a few quick examples.
Information & Relevant Content
At every step of your decision-making journey, we’ll always try to share relevant content that might help you.
For example, we might share articles that allow you to learn more about a particular destination country, or help you with an aspect of the application process that you’re having trouble with.
Or let’s say you’ve expressed an active interest in one of the universities or courses on BridgeU. We might share information with you on the BridgeU platform that helps you learn more about that university and course before you make any further decisions.
Events
We’ll sometimes arrange events with universities from around the world, to help you learn more about a particular university or to help you learn more about a certain kind of career path. If we think this is an event that will interest you, we’ll notify you on the BridgeU platform.
Exclusive Opportunities
We’ll provide you with information about opportunities that are only available to students who use the BridgeU platform; for example, exclusive scholarships for BridgeU students.
What these changes mean for you
Under our old Terms of Use and Privacy Notice, BridgeU only processed your personal information on behalf of your school. For example, your school would give us your school email address so we could build your BridgeU account.
Your school was, and continues to be, what is called a data controller, meaning they decide what personal information to hold and what it is used for.
So here’s what’s changed:
Under our new arrangements, BridgeU will be also classed as a controller of your personal information for some purposes, such as deciding how to recommend the useful information and events we mentioned above.
In order to improve the quality and variety of information and events we let you know about, we’re partnering with universities worldwide.
Sometimes when we partner with universities, we will share some personal information about you where you have told us you are interested in the university, by adding them to your shortlist or application list.
We should be clear that we’ll only share:
- Your name
- Your date of birth
- The name of your school.
We will not share your email address, or other contact details, with universities that you tell us you are interested in.
We share this information because our partner universities, who sometimes pay us for certain services, wish to know how students first decided to get in touch with them. We may send your name, date of birth and school name so that they can know that you used BridgeU.
Where we share these partners with other companies in our group we may also send this personal information to those companies for the purpose of administrative support services.
What do I need to do?
If you’re happy about what we’ve explained so far in this article, you don’t have to do anything else.
If you have concerns about your personal information being shared with universities where you have already told us that you are interested in them, by adding them to your BridgeU shortlist or application list, then please contact us here to raise any questions you have or, if you wish, to ask us not to share the information.
After Thursday 6th May 2021, if you don’t want your information to be shared with universities that you become interested in, you can choose not to add them to your shortlist.
If you do have any objections or questions, you can contact us at the link above.
We would encourage you to speak to a counsellor or teacher at your school, or your parents if you are unsure about anything we have shared with you in this article. You’re also welcome to contact us if you have further questions.
What about universities and courses I shortlist now that this change has come into effect?
If you do not want your information to be shared with a university after 6th May 2021, you can simply choose not to shortlist that university or add it to your application list.
Where to find more information
As well as this resource, our simplified Terms of Use and Privacy Notice are available for you and your parents to read.
Don’t forget, the whole team at BridgeU is always here to help you too, and to answer any questions you might have.
As we said at the beginning, your privacy and personal information is important to you and that means it’s important to us. So if you need any help or advice, please feel free to ask!