Information Exchange Policy
Strategic Commitment
Riverside Training (Spalding) Ltd hereby known as Riverside afterwards, needs to collect and use certain types of information about Data Subjects with whom we come into contact in the course of our work. This personal information must be collected and dealt with appropriately; including ensuring it is kept secure when stored at the Riverside premises and when it is exchanged with other organisations.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of information in the course of exchanging it with delivery partners, funding bodies and other agencies as required. Its purpose is also to ensure checks are undertaken on unknown individuals requesting personal data.
Policy
This policy applies to:
- All Riverside Staff
- All Freelance Staff
- All Delivery Partners operating on behalf of Riverside
It applies to paid staff and volunteers.
Information initiated by Riverside
All Riverside staff and volunteers must have read and apply the requirements of all associated polices when handling and exchanging information.
Delivery partners who exchange information with Riverside must have their own policies and procedures to ensure the secure exchange of information. Delivery partners should have information classification guidelines and procedures in place for document handling and labeling. It is the role of Riverside to ensure these are fit for purpose.
Riverside will work with funding bodies to ensure the security of information exchanged via batch uploading and online MIS services; this includes ensuring the security of passwords and secure access fobs/tokens where applicable.
Riverside will monitor the effectiveness of our information exchange practices and take remedial action where required in line with the requirements of all associated policies.
The method used to exchange information is dependent on the classification of the information.
For the data classifications, Restricted and Confidential, electronic data must be encrypted for exchange using PGP Desktop. This is located on the MIS Officer’s computer. When submitting data to the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) by e-mail, the data must appear in a password protect Excel/Word Document attached to the email. The password should be sent to the Agency under cover of a separate e-mail.
When sending any E-mail then the following disclaimers must be included.
E-mail Disclaimer – The following disclaimer must appear on ALL emails
This email and any attachments are only intended for the original recipient. They may contain confidential information. If you have received this email by mistake, please notify the sender now and delete all paper and electronic copies. The contents of this email may contain personal views. These views may not be the views of Riverside, unless clearly stated. The contents of this email do not constitute a contract. Riverside will not accept liability for financial or other loss or damage to property that recipients may suffer as a result of this email.
1. Information and data requested by other parties
The recipients of any request by e-mail or telephone must ensure the data request is a valid one and that the requester can be traced.