Privacy notice

This Privacy/Transparency Notice describes how the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team use data provided to us by NHS England and is intended to demonstrate how we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2018. The policy may be updated at any time. 

What is the purpose of the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments Team?

Our studies arise from clinical problems facing patients and clinicians in the treatment of several different types of cancer. For many of them multiple treatment options are available, and selecting the best is often difficult. Individual treatment decisions can only be made on an informed basis if patients and clinicians have information on the absolute magnitudes of both the likely benefits and the risks of all available management options. These can then be compared and the option with the best chance of a favourable outcome identified. Our overall research aim is to provide reliable information to do this. 

What types of data does the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments Team hold?

The Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team does not hold any information that is about you and from which you can be identified, i.e. personal data. It holds only data from which your identity has been removed, i.e. anonymous data. 

How the University uses your data

The Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team process anonymous data only for the purpose of performing scientific (medical) research being carried out in the public interest. This is known under data protection law as our 'legal basis' for processing data.  Please note that we may process data that relate to you without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law. The University of Oxford Policy on Data Protection can be accessed via this link: https://compliance.admin.ox.ac.uk/how-we-use-your-data 

Who has access to your data?

Access to the anonymous data held by the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team is limited to a small team of people within University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health within a strictly controlled data environment. All these individuals have undergone special training in handling confidential data and the data system they use is highly secure. 

Transfer of data outside the UK

Data held by the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team are stored on secure servers within the UK.  There may be occasions when we transfer the data outside the UK, for example, to a researcher who is collaborating with us for the purpose of our research. Such transfers will only take place if both of the following apply:

• the country receiving the data is considered by the UK to provide an adequate level of data protection; and
• the transfer is governed by approved contractual clauses. 

Retention period

The Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team carries out long term studies.  At present the team is funded by Cancer Research UK until March 2027.  Further funding will be sought to keep it going beyond this but if these bids are not successful then the data will be retained five years after the closure of the grant to ensure all research using them is finished.  At that point they will be destroyed. 

Security

All data held by the Benefits and Risks of Cancer Treatments team is stored securely in accordance with the University of Oxford’s policies and procedures. Further information is available at the University’s Information Security website http://www.infosec.ox.ac.uk.

Your rights

Under certain circumstances and by law you have certain rights with respect to your data. A summary of these rights is available here: https://compliance.admin.ox.ac.uk/individual-rights

If you want to exercise any of these rights or you are dissatisfied with the way we have used your data, please contact the University’s Information Compliance Team at data.protection@admin.ox.ac.uk. The same address can be used to contact the University’s Data Protection Officer. If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns

Contact

If you wish to raise any queries or concerns about this privacy notice please contact
Professor Carolyn Taylor,
Nuffield Department of Population Health,
Richard Doll Building,University of Oxford,
Roosevelt Drive,
Oxford OX3 7LF.