KnowledgeShare is made available by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and we are committed to protecting the privacy of people who use the system. This page lets you know what personal information we collect, how we use it and how we safeguard it.
KnowledgeShare is used by healthcare library and knowledge services to provide a range of evidence services to healthcare staff and students, as well as staff from affiliated health and care organisations. KnowledgeShare can also be used to connect users together in order to collaborate and share knowledge. As you use KnowledgeShare, we want you to be clear how we’re using information and the ways in which you can protect your privacy.
Our Privacy Policy explains:
- what information we collect and why we collect it
- how we use that information
- the choices we offer, including how to access and update information
In the policy we refer to the library and knowledge services on KnowledgeShare that serve your organisation as “your LKS”.
If you have any questions about the policy please contact us.
Information that we collect
In order to ensure that your LKS staff can contact you and easily identify you in the system we store your name, email address(es), phone number, organisation, department, work location, job title and role. We also store information used to identify you by authentication systems, such as OpenAthens. This information may be added by you through self-registration or by your LKS, at your request and on your behalf.
If you ask to receive KnowledgeShare targeted evidence updates the system will also store your professional interests. If you use the evidence search service the system will store information about your requests. If you book onto information skills teaching the system will store information about your bookings and attendance. The system will also store any evaluative information you provide about KnowledgeShare services.
This information is used to allow you to log in to KnowledgeShare, to maintain a record of the work done for you by library and knowledge services, and to send you email updates.
KnowledgeShare also allows you to connect with other users of the system by creating contacts or forming groups. We collect information to facilitate this. Finally we also collect information about your preferences and settings in relation to privacy and what communications you receive from us.
KnowledgeShare uses cookies to identify you as a user of the service. Cookies are small text files that a website or web service may put on your computer or mobile device when you first visit a site or page. The cookie enables KnowledgeShare to recognise your device whilst you are using the service.
KnowledgeShare uses essential cookies to identify users when they login to the service.
Sharing your information with others
We work with external organisations to:
- store the information held on KnowledgeShare
- develop the software and fix bugs
- manage email delivery
These organisations are provided with access to your information in order to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
Your information is also used by your LKS in order to deliver the services that you have requested from them. Often your LKS will add or update your information (at your request).
Users who are logged into KnowledgeShare can see selected information about you (see below for details). Login to KnowledgeShare is managed through OpenAthens from Jisc and is available to NHS staff and students and affiliated staff according to the NHS OpenAthens eligibility criteria.
All registered users can see the most basic information that we hold about you: your name, job title, department, and organisation.
You may choose to share further contact information (including your professional interests) with other registered users in your own organisation or with other registered users on KnowledgeShare. In addition, you may choose to let other users know that you have requested an evidence search (you may choose to share or not share this information on a request-by-request basis). Sharing of this contact information is based on opt-in consent that we will ask you to provide when you sign up for KnowledgeShare. You may change your privacy settings by logging into KnowledgeShare or making a request to your LKS.
It is the responsibility of your LKS to record and keep a record of your consent if given via them rather than directly via KnowledgeShare.
We want to ensure that your KnowledgeShare record can be transferred from one LKS to another as you move between organisations. In some circumstances access to your information will be transferred and you will receive email notification if this happens.
Anonymised information will be used for reporting on usage of KnowledgeShare services.
The results of evidence search requests will be anonymised and shared. You may choose to be associated with the evidence search request in order to promote knowledge sharing.
We will share your information with others where required to do so by law. We will never sell your information to anyone, or share it in a way not described in this notice without your permission.
Further information about the lawful basis on which we process and share your data is available on request.
What we do with your information
We will display selected information about you to logged-in users on the KnowledgeShare website as described above.
We will email you in order to communicate with you about services you have requested (including requesting your evaluation to help improve services). We will email you to provide targeted evidence updates if you have requested them (these can be switched off by logging into KnowledgeShare or making a request to your LKS). We will retain rolling six-month logs of who has updated your data and when the update was made. We will also email you periodically to check that the information we have is up-to-date.
You may choose to receive additional emails including bulletins, newsletters or information about your LKS or about KnowledgeShare. Receiving these additional emails is based on opt-in consent that we will ask you to provide when you sign up for KnowledgeShare. You may change your communication settings by logging into KnowledgeShare or making a request to your LKS.
Your LKS may transfer your contact information from KnowledgeShare to another electronic library management system in order to communicate with you about services that you request such as document supply or book loans.
Accessing and updating your personal information
If you are eligible for an OpenAthens password then you will be able to log into KnowledgeShare in order to update the information we hold about you. You can also request this information at any time from your LKS using the email address on their page on KnowledgeShare or directly from us.
As mentioned above you can log in to KnowledgeShare to update your privacy or communication settings or ask your LKS to make changes on your behalf.
Information security
Data is stored within the UK. Data transferred via the Internet to all KnowledgeShare sites (including training sites) are secured with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption provided Entrust (www.entrust.com).
Email integration is provided by SendGrid, a company based in the US whose data processing agreement with us ensures that they meet UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.
Technical safeguards, such as firewalls and antivirus software are used to help ensure that your information is kept safe and only disclosed to people who are authorised to view it. Any data transferred via email is encrypted if not sent via NHS email. We back-up your data daily and encrypt the back-ups. We review our information collection, storage and processing practices, including physical security measures, to guard against unauthorised access to systems.
We restrict access to personal information to employees of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Library and Knowledge Service, your LKS, and other partners who need to know that information in order to process it for us (as described above). Staff at these organisations are subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations. We do not keep detailed logs of all data changes beyond six months due to data storage issues and the relatively low sensitivity of the data held.
Information you submit online via the KnowledgeShare website, or share with us by email, can never be 100% secure. Any information you share in this way is communicated at your own risk. You must keep OpenAthens usernames and passwords confidential, secure and only use them according to relevant instructions. We will never ask you to share your password with us.
Deleting your information
We will keep your information for as long as you are making use of your library and knowledge services. We will unassign you from your library and knowledge service when we know you have left or if you have not used any of our services for three years. Once unassigned we will keep your information for a further two years (in case you return to using the services after a break). The system will only store as much information about you as is required, and will securely destroy any personal information about you when it is no longer of use.
Linking to third party websites
The KnowledgeShare site and emails produced by KnowledgeShare contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites. If you follow a link to any other sites, please note that such sites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies. Please check their policies before you submit any information to such sites.
Compliance and cooperation with regulatory authorities
We regularly review our compliance with our Privacy Policy and adhere to the UK General Data Protection Regulations.
Contact us
If you have any concerns related to this privacy policy, or have queries about the use of your personal information, please contact uhsussex.knowledgeshare@nhs.net.
