The Scottish Government is the sole owner of the information collected on its websites. The Scottish Government processes personal data for the purposes of aiding its work with the Scottish Ministers to improve the well-being of Scotland and its people.
Registration
A user does not have to register to use the Scottish Government website, but a user must register if they wish to receive daily, weekly or monthly news, information and updates about the Government via email and mobile.
The registration information we require to allow a user to register is the full name and email address of the user if they wish to receive email updates, and mobile details including the mobile telephone number and network provider if a user wishes to receive messages to their mobile.
It is optional for the user to provide demographic information such as occupation and gender, and other preferences such as regions or topics of interest, but encouraged so we can provide a more personalized experience to the user.
This information is stored securely on our database until such time as a user chooses to unsubscribe from receiving news stories. Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletters and other updates may opt-out of receiving these communications by clicking unsubscribe option on any email communication received or the user may contact us to opt-out.
Sharing
- Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our website. - Third Party Intermediaries
We use an outside contractor to manage our user database. This company does not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes. - Service Providers
We partner with other third parties to provide specific services. For example database development, push mobile technology and hosting. When the user signs up for these particular services, we share names, or other contact information including mobile number and full contact information with the third party service providers so that the third party can supply these services. These third parties are not allowed to use personally identifiable information except for the purpose of providing these services.
Users of our site are always notified when their information is being collected by any outside parties. We do this so our users can make an informed choice as to whether or not they should proceed with services that require an outside party.
Search
The site uses Google Custom Search to search and index site content. Please see the Google Privacy Policy for information.
Surveys
From time-to-time our site requests information from users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and address), and demographic information (such as postal code). Contact information will not be shared with any third parties unless we give prior notice and choice. Though we may use an intermediary to conduct these surveys or contests, they may not use users' personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.
Correcting/Updating/Deleting/Deactivating personal information
If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as postal code, phone, email or postal address), we provide a way to correct, update or delete/deactivate users' personally identifiable information. This can be done by contacting us by email or phone.