Who are we?

We are Science Foundation Ireland, of Three Park Place, Hatch Street Upper, Dublin 2 (“SFI”, “we” or “us”). SFI funds oriented basic and applied research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), which promotes and assists the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland. More details in relation to the functions of SFI can be found in the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Act 2003, as amended.

SFI is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Any personal data collected by SFI must be processed and stored in accordance with this policy and Data Protection Law. This policy explains what personal data is collected and the purposes for which it is used and may be disclosed in accordance with applicable Data Protection Law. This policy also sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. In this policy, “Data Protection Law” means all applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and the Data Protection Act 2018 with effect form 25 May 2018 and any legislation which amends, extends, consolidates, re-enacts or replaces same.

Our data protection contact for the purpose of Data Protection Law is Declan McGrath. This privacy policy was last updated: 9th May, 2018.

Why do we collect your information?

We collect and process your personal data to manage and administer the relationship between you and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), to fulfil our statutory functions, to comply with our statutory obligations and to evaluate and improve SFI’s performance.

The legal basis for processing your personal information

• compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject e.g. disclosure of payments/grants to revenue;
• the performance of a task carried out in the public interest e.g. to fulfil our statutory functions; and
• that you have provided consent for the processing for one or more specific purposes e.g. where you have asked us to send you updates on our activities.

Information you give to us

SFI will only use your personal data for the purpose it was collected or to perform the services requested.

You may give us your personal data by filling in forms on our websites e.g. www.sfi.ie and www.smartfutures.ie and www.sfiengage.ie or by uploading data to our web portals, by applying for a grant, and/or by corresponding with us by phone, email or otherwise.

This includes:

• personal data that you volunteer for example, by emailing us, filling in an on-line form replying to a tender, applying for a grant, and/or by using SFI’s Award Management System SESAME;
• statistical information gathered automatically when you visit the website;
• personal data provided voluntarily in using our websites; and
• personal data provided voluntarily when making an enquiry, request, giving us your business card or contact details, entering a competition or reporting a problem or performing a similar activity.

If you send an email to a general email address (e.g. info@sfi.ie) then that email, including any personal data, may be accessed and processed by more than one SFI staff member. The information you give us may include your name, address, email address and phone number, financial and credit card information, business card, personal description, photograph, your CV or mini-biography including your work experience. We may collect personal data about teams of reviewers/grant awardees where the personal data is provided to us as part of a grant application process. Personal data relating to all team members will continue to processed for administration purposes for the duration of any grant awarded.

How do we use this information?

We will use this information:

• to fulfil our statutory functions, to comply with our statutory obligations and to evaluate and improve SFI’s performance;
• to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;
• to process on-line applications for awards through SFI’s Grants and Awards Management System (SESAME);
• to manage relationships by recording interactions with industry on SESAME;
• to provide you with the information that you request from us;
• to notify you about changes to our organisation;
• to communicate any upcoming SFI events;

• to analyse feedback and commentary provided voluntarily on sfiengage.ie;

• to ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer; and
• to evaluate and improve SFI’s performance

Information we may collect from you

With regard to each of your visits to our websites we may automatically collect the following information:

• technical information, including the Internet Protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform; and
• information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) clickstream to, through and from our site (including date and time); products you viewed or searched for; page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page and any phone number used to call our customer service number.

How do we use this information?

We will use this information:

• to administer our site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes;
• to improve our site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
• to evaluate and improve SFI’s performance;
• to allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so; and
• as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure.

We will not disclose such Personal Data relating to a user to any other party, unless:

• we are required to do so by law; or
• it is necessary in order to complete the user’s request or answer the user’s query.

Information we recieve from other sources

We may receive information about you if you use any of our websites or interact with any of the other services we provide. In this case we will have informed you when we collected that personal data that it may be shared internally and combined with other personal data.

We may collect personal data about you from publicly available sources such as LinkedIn.

We also work closely with third parties (including, for example, government departments, business partners, sub-contractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, search information providers, credit reference agencies) and may receive information about you from them.

Combining your data

We may combine personal data which we hold with personal data you give to us or personal data we collect or receive from third parties about you. We may use such combined personal data for the purposes set out above.

We will not use your personal data for a purpose that is materially different from the purpose(s) for which it was collected without first asking your permission and giving you an opportunity to “optout” of such use.

Who we might share this information with ?

In order for us to fulfil our statutory functions, we may share your personal data with selected third parties as reasonably necessary in connection with the activities referred to above, including:

• Our sister agencies such as IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Government Departments such as the Department of Enterprise and Innovation, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Taoiseach, as well as other affiliate bodies such as Engineers Ireland.
• Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the purpose of fulfilling our statutory functions, to comply with our statutory obligations, to evaluate and improve SFI’s performance and for the performance of any contract we enter into with you;
• Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site;
• Industry and other sister agencies for the improvement of education and minority representations in the fields of Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM). We do not disclose personal data relating to identifiable individuals to Industry and other affiliate bodies, but we may provide them with aggregate information;
• Registrants’ school details that are submitted through the website’s forms may be published on the website; and
• Where required in order to comply with any legal obligation. This includes exchanging personal data with companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.

Do we transfer your information outside the Eurpoean Union or the European Economic area?

Yes, personal data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”), including to a jurisdiction where the level of