Privacy Policy Studyportals B.V.

This Policy was last updated on 17 July 2024.

At Studyportals, we deeply believe in the protection of your data and privacy and we care how it applies to you, as a user of our website(s). In this Privacy Policy (‘Policy’), you can find information about how, whether, and why we collect and use your personal information on all of our Studyportals B.V. websites (collectively, the ‘Website’), including, but not limited to, Bachelorsportal.com, Mastersportal.com, PhDportal.com, Shortcoursesportal.com, Distancelearningportal.com, Preparationcoursesportal.com, Admissiontestportal.com and Scholarshipportal.com. This Policy applies to any personal information that is gathered when you use our services, visit our Website, or otherwise interact with us. We have divided this Policy into different sections. Please go to the relevant section below for further information. The processing of your personal data complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’), the Dutch GDPR Execution Act and the Dutch Telecommunications Act.

About us

We are Studyportals B.V. (Chamber of Commerce 769.39.219), in the rest of this document referred to as Studyportals.

We maintain our headquarters at:
Klokgebouw 280
5617 AC
Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

For more information visit: https://studyportals.com/about/

Please note that some of the processing described in this Policy we undertake as controller, but for some of the processing we may merely act as processor and the educational institutions and other organisations for which we collected your information or to whom we disclosed your personal information, which will act as controller. Please check the privacy policy of the educational institutions concerned to find out how they process your personal data.

Types of personal data we process

General

We may collect and process, whether or not on our own behalf or on behalf of one or more educational institutions, the following categories of personal information:

• Name, email address and other identifying information
  For example, we may record your name, email address, gender, date of birth, nationality, country of residence, education history, achievements, or language test scores. If you opt to use our Best Fit tool, we may also record your work experience and funding situation.
• Your contact details and personal account/registration details
  Your contact details may include: your address, telephone number, and email address. When you create a personal account or register for a service, we may also record your sign-in details and other information you provide when you create your personal account or fill in a registration form.
• Our communication with you
  When you send us an email, or chat with us online or via social media, we save your correspondence with us.
• Information we collect when you use our Website
  • When you visit our Website or use our services, we may register your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring website, web-browsing behaviour and (AI) – chat history.
  • We may receive an automatic notification when you open (or open a link from) a newsletter.
• Information in relation to social media
  Depending on your social network settings, we may receive information from your social network provider. For example, when you sign in for our services using a social network account, we may gather publicly available information you give us access to from your social network profile, including your contact details, interests, and social network. For more information on the personal data that we receive from your social network provider, and how to change your privacy settings, please refer to the website and the privacy policy given by your social network provider.
• Information you choose to share with us
  You may also choose to share information with us. For example, when you leave a comment for us on Facebook, fill out a survey, submit a contact or application form, leave a review or submit an entry for a contest or scholarship, you have opted to share personal information with us.

Cookies and similar technologies

When you use our Website for the first time, a cookie notice is shown. Studyportals uses the information collected through cookies strictly for the purposes stated in the Cookie Statement, found below.

The use of Artificial Intelligence

Studyportals uses AI-methodology within the chat-services.  Currently, only your location and nationality are used to provide personalized results. Your input during the chat is utilized solely to improve your specific session. Your input is not used to train the general AI-model. None of your personal data or user behavior data is submitted into the AI tool. Studyportals can decide to add additional profile information to further personalize the conversation.

How we collect your data

Studyportals collects personal information in a number of ways. Information is obtained, for example, when you visit our Website, register on our Website, communicate with us via social media, or subscribe to our newsletter.

We may also receive personal information from associated educational institutions, subsidiaries, partners, or other service providers.

We collect some information by accessing your publicly available data, such as your Facebook or LinkedIn public profile.

Purposes of processing your data

We process personal information for the following purposes:

Providing services to you

Studyportals processes personal data to provide our services. For example, personal data is processed so, for example:

• Based on the country or field of study that you choose, we can send you programme recommendations that we believe best match your profile;
• To make your user experience easier and more effective, we may assess how you use our services, and combine this data with information collected via your personal account, registration details, cookies, and similar technologies. This combination enables us to, for example, optimize our search algorithms, assess your admission chance or match with particular education opportunities;
• You can contact education institutes through our Website, by means of an electronic form. By sending an enquiry, you also create your own user account, enabling you to view the inquiries you sent.

For these purposes, Studyportals processes the following personal data: name, digital contact details, demographic information, shortlisted programmes, disciplines and countries of interest, funding situation, preferred start period, previous education information, work experience.

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for these purposes for pursuing its own legitimate interest or those of the educational institutions; with the legitimate interest being to allow Studyportals to provide the best service it is able to, in order to align you with the educational institutions of your choice.

To communicate with you

Studyportals processes contact details to communicate with you, answer your questions, or handle your complaints. This applies to both students and (potential) clients/customers/partners.

For this purpose, Studyportals processes the following personal data: communication history, name, digital contact details, message. For (potential) clients, the following data is also processed: phone number, employer, country.

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for this purpose to pursue its own legitimate interests or those of the educational institutions; with the legitimate interest being Studyportals to be able to communicate with you for providing the best service it can to align you with the educational institutions, scholarship providers, test providers and other service providers of your choice. Especially, the legitimate interest services is that Studyportals, an educational institution or other service provider concerned can respond in an effective and timely manner to any questions or complaint you might have.

For processing student applications for specific universities

Studyportals processes personal information to enable students to apply for specific universities through Studyportals rather than through the university website. For this processing of your personal data information, Studyportals will act as a mere processor processing your information on behalf of the educational institution concerned.

For this purpose, Studyportals processes the following personal data on behalf of the educational institution: name, digital contact details, analog contact details, passport, educational transcripts, CV, various credentials (e.g. English language proficiency), demographic information, shortlisted programmes, disciplines and countries of interest, funding situation, preferred start period, previous education information, work experience.

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for this purpose because it is necessary for pursuing the legitimate interests of the educational institutions; with the legitimate interest being Studyportals to be able to communicate with you for providing the best service it can to align you with the educational institutions of your choice.

Allowing you to provide reviews

Studyportals processes personal information when you have left behind a review about a specific educational institution or a specific program.

For those purposes, Studyportals processes the following personal data (whether or not by means of a rating): programme, educational institution, personal life and overall experience with respect to the educational institute and its location. Studyportals will then expose your overall rating of the institution, which will appear on our portals along with any extra comments you have made.

Please note that any written reviews may be checked by Studyportals before exposing, automatically or manually, because Studyportals wants to make sure only high-quality reviews are being exposed. We only remove reviews in the following situations:

• In case Studyportals or another organisation or institution can prove a respondent did not study at the reviewed institution or program.
• When the review includes abusive language, swearing, discriminatory remarks, threatening, or personal political, sexual, religious, and ethical viewpoints.
• When the review promotes illegal or commercial activities.
• In case the review is written by a reviewer 5 or more years after they have studied at the institution.
• When reviews are not the personal experience or opinion of the respondent.
• If reviews repeatedly address fellow reviewers on a personal level.
• If reviews are exposed in a repeatedly disturbing way.
• If it includes contact details like phone numbers, addresses or links to other websites.
• If reviewers pretend to be another person or organisation than itself.
• If we suspect that a review isn’t genuine; for example, might be used to target a competitor.
• If a review contains content that violates the rights of another person or an organisation, intellectual property rights, and privacy rights.
• Reviews entered by the threat of extortion.
• If a review doesn’t contain information about the university or programme in detail.

If you come across a review that includes any of the above, let us know: reviews@studyportals.com

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for these purposes because this is necessary for pursuing its legitimate interest or that of the educational institutions. These legitimate interests being that student reviews have found to be extremely helpful when aligning potential students with the best fitted educational institution or programme which is the core of Studyportals’ services.

 For statistical research

Studyportals processes personal information for the development and optimisation of its services. We use automatic tools to perform statistical research into general trends. We broadly examine how our users behave towards our services, as well as the preferences our users set. Statistical research helps us develop better services and offerings, allowing us to improve the design and content of our Website. We can also advise higher education institutions on how they can better serve you.

For this purpose, Studyportals processes the following personal data: name, digital contact details, demographic information, shortlisted programmes, disciplines and countries of interest, funding situation, preferred start period, previous education information, work experience, IP address, cookies and comparable services, browser data, device specifications, referring website, browsing behaviour and website interactions, social media likes. We may also combine such aggregated data with information we receive from our subsidiaries, educational institutions, or from public sources.

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for this purpose because Studyportals has a legitimate interest in developing and optimising its services. You can object to this processing on the basis of your particular situation.

For direct marketing purposes

Studyportals processes personal information for (direct) marketing purposes. This means we may use your personal information to send you newsletters, promotions, or other marketing communications. We use the results of our analysis to tailor our marketing communications to your specific interests and preferences. For example, if our analysis shows that you may be interested in certain types of programmes or a specific country, we may customize our newsletter and Website with content that are relevant to you. We may use different channels for our marketing communications, such as email, social media, and your personal online account.

For this purpose, Studyportals processes the following personal data: name, digital contact details, demographic information, shortlisted programmes, disciplines and countries of interest, funding situation, preferred start period, previous education information, work experience, IP address, cookies and comparable services, browser, device specifications, referring website, browsing behaviour and website interactions, social media likes.

We may also combine such aggregated data with information we receive from our subsidiaries, educational institutions, or from public sources.

Studyportals is allowed to process personal data for this purpose because you gave consent or because Studyportals has a legitimate interest. The consent can be withdrawn at any moment, and you can object at any moment to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes when such processing is based on Studyportals or the educational institutions’ legitimate interest. The withdrawal of consent or exercise of your right to object does not affect the lawfulness of the processing prior to the moment of withdrawal or exercise of the right to object.

You may object or revoke your consent for receiving marketing communications at any time, by following the instructions in the relevant marketing communication or by sending an email to GDPR@studyportals.com.

To initiate and evaluate business relationships

Your personal data will be processed for the entering into agreements and the performance thereof to the point of commercial services and the managing of the business relations which emerge from them, including the performance of activities aimed at the expansion of our client database.

Disclosing or sharing data with third parties

General

We reserve the right to release personal information without your consent or without consulting you, when we deem it necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to enforce our terms and conditions, to protect the security of this Website, or to prevent fraud.

Other institutions or businesses

You can contact education institutes through our Website, by means of an electronic form. The details in your inquiry will then be shared with the institute you are trying to contact.

We may share personally identifiable information (such as name, nationality, and email address) with carefully selected education institutions, to verify the status of your application or enrolment, evaluate and manage the performance of our business agreements or initiate new agreements. Some of these institutions may also have access to your information so that they may consider further marketing campaigns or recruitment measures. We will inform the education institutions that they are not allowed to use your personal information for any reason other than mentioned above.  Users should note however that, how these educational institutions use this data is not governed by our privacy policy. Therefore, we cannot be held responsible for how the data is utilized once it is shared with them. Educational institutions have separate policy practices for which Studyportals has no responsibility or liability. For further information on how such institutions use your information, please visit the applicable privacy policy of that institution.

Third party websites

Our Website contains links to third-party websites. If you follow these links, you will exit our Website. This Policy does not apply to third-party websites. Studyportals cannot accept liability for the ways in which these third-party websites use of your personal data. You use these websites at your own risk. For more information on how these third parties treat your personal information, please check their respective privacy policies (if available).

Other countries

Studyportals may share your personal data to countries outside of your country of residence. This might occur in the course of sharing information with education institutions or our subsidiaries, with whom we have explicit agreements with how they can or cannot use the data. In most cases, these agreements will be in the form of a written and signed Data Processing Agreement. Some of these countries may not have an adequate level of personal data protection compared to the level of protection provided in your own country. Studyportals does not systematically store your information outside the European Economic Area (‘EEA’), and does not transfer your data outside of the EEA without either your consent or after ensuring adequate safeguards that allow the safe transfer of your personal information.

If you contact, apply to, or enrol at, an education institution through Studyportals which is located outside the European Economic Area, your data will necessarily be transferred to that country.

Security and retention

Studyportals takes the safeguarding of your information very seriously. Studyportals will take appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against loss or unlawful use. These measures include but are not limited to: facilities protected by appropriate security measures, encryption of devices, version tracking and access to our databases is limited to key personnel and IP addresses and use of it is logged. Personally identifiable information and account activity are also protected through the use of user names and passwords. In order to help maintain the security of your information, you should protect the confidentiality of your user name and password.

Your personal data will be retained for as long as required for the purposes described in this Policy, or insofar as is necessary to comply with our contractual or statuary obligations, and to solve any disputes. In most cases, your personal data will be retained for forty-eight (48) months after your last activity, or until you request deletion. Studyportals retains your data for that period to optimize their services to you throughout your educational period, which statistical research has shown to usually span a period of more than thirty-six (36) months.

Your Rights

You can request access to or a copy of your personal data collected by us. You may also request the rectification and removal of personal data or the restriction of the processing of your personal data, if there is a reason for doing so. You also have the right to data portability. You also have the right to object to a processing on grounds relating to your particular situation or against the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. More information on your rights is available at https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/onderwerpen/avg-nieuwe-europese-privacywetgeving/rechten-van-betrokkenen.

To exercise your right(s), please send your written request, to:

GDPR@studyportalsmail.com

or

Studyportals BV
People and Culture
Klokgebouw 280
5617 AC Eindhoven,
the Netherlands.

In order to ensure that the request you are submitting on your behalf is legitimate, in some cases it may be necessary for us to obtain further proof of identity either in person or via webcam. This is only necessary in those cases where we have doubts about the identity of the person submitting the request.

Modifications to this Policy

This Policy is effective as of 12 July 2018 and replaces our previous privacy policy. We reserve the right to alter or otherwise make changes to this Policy. We will notify you of any changes by posting the revised policy on our Website and notifying you through a banner or in case of very material changes to the Policy, via email. Changes take effect as soon as the Policy is posted.

Questions or complaints

If you have any question or complaints about the processing of your personal data, please send an email to us at GDPR@studyportals.com. We will be happy to assist you. If you feel that your rights have been violated, you may also lodge a complaint with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (www.autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl). For more information on the protection of personal data, please consult the website of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

The Data Protection Officer for Studyportals is Mr. Egin Lengton and he can be reached directly via GDPR@studyportals.com.

Cookie Statement Studyportals B.V.

Last updated 24 May 2018.

About Cookies

Websites use techniques that increase user-friendliness and make the websites as interesting as possible for each visitor. The best-known examples of such techniques are cookies and scripts. (hereafter ‘cookies’). Cookies may be used by website owners or by third parties – advertisers, for example – who communicate via the website you visit.

The use of cookies is safe. No personal information, such as a telephone number or an e-mail address, can be traced back to cookies. As a result, cookies cannot be used for e-mail and telemarketing actions.

We think it is important that you know which cookies our Website uses and for which purposes they are used. We want to guarantee your privacy and user-friendliness as much as possible. Below you can read more about the cookies that are used by and through our Website and for which purposes.

 This cookie statement applies to www.studyportals.com and all associated domains, by Studyportals B.V., located at Klokgebouw 280, 5617 AC, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Associated domains include, but are not limited to, Bachelorsportal.com, Mastersportal.com, PhDportal.com, Shortcoursesportal.com, Distancelearningportal.com, Preparationcoursesportal.com, Admissiontestportal.com and Scholarshipportal.com.

For which purposes do we use cookies?

We use cookies for the following reasons:

• To make sure the Website functions properly
• To measure usage of the Website
• To display advertisements on our Website and on others’ Websites
• To measure the relevance of our information and your interest in the educational offer

Below we make clear how we use cookies for these applications.

Cookies to make sure the Website functions properly

See below for a list of the cookies we use, what data they collect and how long they are used.

Cookies to measure usage of the Website

In order to determine which parts of the Website are most interesting for our visitors, we continuously try to measure, with the help of a third-party software, the number of visitors to our Website and the most frequently viewed parts. We use cookies for this purpose.

The information we collect in this way is used to compile statistics. These statistics give us insight into how often our web page is visited, where exactly visitors spend most of their time, and so on. This enables us to make the structure, navigation and content of the Website as user-friendly as possible for you. The statistics and other reports are not traced back to persons unless they register on the Website.

See below for a list of the cookies we use to gather statistics, what data they collect and how long they are used.

For the cookies that our third parties place and the possible data that they collect, we refer to the statements that these parties provide on their own websites about this; see the links below. Please note that these statements are subject to change on a regular basis. We have no influence over that.

• Google Analytics: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

Cookies for the display of advertisements

These cookies are used by advertising networks who act as intermediaries between Studyportals and advertisers. They are used to show relevant, personalised advertisements or offers through every type of medium (e.g. e-mail, social media, banner ads) based on your behaviour on our Website. They are also used for remarketing advertisements.

These cookies are used to:

• Show relevant, personalised advertisements or offers through every type of medium (e.g. e-mail, social media, banner ads) based on your behaviour on our Website and other websites;
• Limit the number of times each advertisement is displayed;
• Measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign;
• Make a link to social media, so that you can be recognised when you wish to use social media through Studyportals’ Website.

If such cookies are not used, you will still see advertisements. This is because advertisements are also shown which do not use cookies. These advertisements may, for example, be adapted to the content of the Website.

See below for a list of the cookies media agencies, advertising networks, and/or we use in combination with advertisements, what data they collect and how long they are used.

For the cookies that our third parties place for advertising purposes, we refer to the statements that these third parties provide on their own websites; see below. Please note that these statements are subject to change on a regular basis. Studyportals has no influence over this.

• DoubleClick (Google): https://www.google.com/intl/nl/policies/privacy/
• Google AdWords Conversion (Google): https://policies.google.com/privacy

Other / Unforeseen Cookies

Due to the way the internet and websites work, we may not always have insight into the cookies that are placed by third parties via our Website. This is particularly the case if our web pages contain so-called embedded elements; these are texts, documents, images or films that are stored with another party, but which are shown on, in or via our Website.

If you encounter cookies on this Website that fall into this category and which we have not mentioned above, please let us know. Or contact the third party directly and ask which cookies they have placed, what the reason is, what the life span of the cookie is and how they have safeguarded your privacy.

Browser Settings

If you do not want websites to place cookies on your computer at all, you can change your browser settings so that you receive a warning before cookies are placed. You can also change the settings in such a way that your browser rejects all cookies or only the cookies of third parties. You can also delete cookies that have already been placed. Please note that you will need to change the settings separately for each browser and computer you use.

Please be aware that if you do not want cookies, we will no longer be able to guarantee that our Website is working properly. It is possible that some functions of the Website are lost or even that you can’t see certain websites at all. In addition, the refusal of cookies does not mean that you will no longer see any advertisements. The ads will no longer be tailored to your interests and will be repeated more often.

How to adjust your settings varies from browser to browser. If necessary, consult the help function of your browser. If you want to disable cookies from specific parties, you can do so via www.youronlinechoices.com.

Final Remarks

We will have to amend these statements from time to time, for example because our Website or the rules surrounding cookies change. We may change the content of the statements and the cookies included in the lists at any time and without prior warning. You can consult this web page for the latest version.

If you have any questions or remarks, please contact  GDPR@studyportals.com.