Use of Data and GDPR

Puzzle of the Week strongly believes in the importance of privacy and transparency when dealing with data. The processes involved have been designed to meet GDPR rules despite the fact Puzzle of the Week is not an “economic activity” and as such is not covered by the regulation. This page is designed to give you a transparent and detailed description of how and why your data is used by Puzzle of the Week. One of the most important things to note is that in this system you do not ever disclose student data to Puzzle of the Week. The students submit their own data and give consent for Puzzle of the Week to share it with you.

Overview

Below is a diagram showing how data is handled at Puzzle of the Week. In red are all the data used at each stage.

Sharing of Data

Puzzle of the Week will not share or sell any data submitted by your school or students to any third party at any point.

Use of Emails

Teachers' email addresses are used to send puzzles updates, results, and for general Puzzle of the Week communication. You will not receive any third party promotions or communication.

Students' email addresses are used to track multiple submissions from each student and to send results to those students. Puzzle of the Week will not use student email addresses for communication of any kind other than concerning results for the competition. Student email addresses are not even shared with their teachers.

Storage

All data are stored securely online using Google Drive. Personal data from previous competitions are deleted at the end of each calendar year apart from the historic leaderboards on the “previous results” section of the site.

Personal Choice

Consent should be given freely by all parties, therefore a student should never be told that they "must" submit an answer or be pressured into doing so, only encouraged.

GDPR

Below are some of the key aspects of the GDPR regulations and details of how Puzzle of the Week is meeting them.

Consent: The consent agreements on each form are explicit and copies of them can be seen at the bottom of this page.

Breach Notification: If there were to somehow be a form of data breach ‘resulting in a risk to your rights and freedoms’ you will be notified as soon as reasonably possible once Puzzle of the Week is aware of the breach.

Right to Access: You have the right to obtain confirmation from Puzzle of the Week as to how your personal data is being processed, we will offer that when requested but it is detailed on this page. Puzzle of the Week will provide a copy of your personal data, free of charge, in an electronic format at your request. Students are already sent a summary of this data at the conclusion of each puzzle and teachers can see all data held on their live feedback documents at any time.

Right to be Forgotten: At any point students or teachers can have their data removed (including from previous years’ leaderboards) at their request. Data from each annual competition are deleted by the end of the calendar year in which that competition concluded.

Privacy by Design: The system was completely redesigned in 2018 with consent, public anonymity and transparency of data use being built in from the very beginning. Puzzle of the Week has also minimised the student data shared with teachers (i.e. teachers cannot see student email addresses).

Data Protection Officers: Puzzle of the week does not require a data protection officer as it is run by one volunteer and as such is 249 people short of the 250 employee threshold for this regulation.

Consent

Below are copies of the exact consent that is given by teachers when they register their schools and by students when they submit an answer.

Consent agreement on the form for teachers registering schools:

Consent agreement on the form for students submitting an answer: